Photo: Mecum
Since its first appearance in 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette has established itself as one of the iconic American sports cars. And to blame for that is not necessarily the car itself, but the man who represented the driving force behind the nameplate, Zora Arkus-Duntov.
The Belgian-born American is responsible for most of the subsequent evolutions of the car, starting with the SS of 1956, the first true sports Corvette, going through the Grand Sport, and ending with the third generation of the car.
Being a professional racing driver, Duntov obviously envisioned a lot of podium finishes for the car he helped make, and as such he was involved in several projects. Among his first was the 1956 entry in the Sebring 12 Hours race, were five Corvettes managed to marshal on and place nineth overall, winning its class.
In an attempt to bring the racing allure of the model to the road, Duntov and his team at Chevy came up with the optional Rochester fuel injection, a new 4-speed manual transmission, and the RPO 684 package.
Fuel-injected Vettes of that time came to be known as Fuelies, and have since become some of the most valuable of their lineage – just a little over 1,000 were made. The one you see in the gallery above is a Fuelie as well, only one that packs even more hardcore hardware.
Because it comes fitted with the RPO 684 package, this particular one is rarer still. Only 51 were made with this package, and this one is available for sale during the Glendale Mecum auction in March.
But what is the RPO 684?
Essentially, it all boils down to heavy-duty racing suspension, fitted on the car after the lessons learned during the Sebring race a year beforeises heavy-duty brakes, suspension, springs, shocks, stabilizer bar, metallic brakes, cooling fans and fast steering adaptor. And all are there to take the loads the 283 hp V8 engine is capable of generating when throwing the car left and right and forward on the road.
The car as seen here is the result of a restoration process conduced a while back, one that managed to maintain up and running most of the car’s components.
Being a professional racing driver, Duntov obviously envisioned a lot of podium finishes for the car he helped make, and as such he was involved in several projects. Among his first was the 1956 entry in the Sebring 12 Hours race, were five Corvettes managed to marshal on and place nineth overall, winning its class.
In an attempt to bring the racing allure of the model to the road, Duntov and his team at Chevy came up with the optional Rochester fuel injection, a new 4-speed manual transmission, and the RPO 684 package.
Fuel-injected Vettes of that time came to be known as Fuelies, and have since become some of the most valuable of their lineage – just a little over 1,000 were made. The one you see in the gallery above is a Fuelie as well, only one that packs even more hardcore hardware.
Because it comes fitted with the RPO 684 package, this particular one is rarer still. Only 51 were made with this package, and this one is available for sale during the Glendale Mecum auction in March.
But what is the RPO 684?
Essentially, it all boils down to heavy-duty racing suspension, fitted on the car after the lessons learned during the Sebring race a year beforeises heavy-duty brakes, suspension, springs, shocks, stabilizer bar, metallic brakes, cooling fans and fast steering adaptor. And all are there to take the loads the 283 hp V8 engine is capable of generating when throwing the car left and right and forward on the road.
The car as seen here is the result of a restoration process conduced a while back, one that managed to maintain up and running most of the car’s components.
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