Pininfarina built the Corvette Rondine show car on a production 1963 Sting Ray chassis. Two rooflines were tried: an inward slanting rear window with the roof cut off at the B-pillar and a sloping rear window.
The car was designed by Tom Tjaarda, the Michigan native who had worked for an Italian carrozzerie since 1959. When many manufacturers switched to a unitary chassis construction, the fiberglass-bodied Corvette was a popular subject for Europe’s coachbuilders. Pininfarina was one of them, and at the 1963 Paris Motorshow, they launched the featured Rondine Coupe. The Rondine sports an exquisite shape of which various cues were later found on the Fiat 124 Spyder.
Still owned by Pininfarina, the unique Corvette is seen here at the 2005 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, where the Italian coachbuilder’s 75th anniversary was celebrated.
Source: pininfarina spa.
Images: Barrett-Jackson; www.shorey.net; Pininfarina
Pictured Above: 1963 Chevrolet Rondine by Pininfarina (First Prototype)
Pictured Above: 1964 Chevrolet Rondine by Pininfarina