Bill Mitchell Mystery Machine: 1980 Chevrolet Corvette
A handful of people can claim to be the fathers of Chevrolet’s Corvette. While Zora Arkus Duntov has the most gravitas regarding that title, a good argument could be made for Bill Mitchell. As Vice President of Design for General Motors, Mitchell was responsible for the gorgeous lines that defined the car. This 1980 Chevrolet Corvette custom for sale on eBay in Ogden, Utah is claimed to be the product of Mitchell’s design genius in regards to the modifications. However, the evidence is a bit scant. Is there some truth to that claim with a current bid of $27,100 after 34 bids total?
In the history of General Motors, few figures loom larger than Bill Mitchell. As a protege and the successor to Harley Earl at General Motors Styling Section (the initial name was GM Art and Colour Section, but later renamed rather plainly as the GM Styling Section). Harley Earl was not only powerful but flamboyant. Bill Mitchell was even more so and ran the styling section as a benevolent dictator. Insanely talented, he also had what could gently be called a strong personality. Smokey Yunick described him as a “He Coon.” I’ll leave it to you to figure out what he meant by that colorful Florida-based description.
Mitchell loved women, cars, and booze, and all were imbibed in excess. Of the cars, he loved the Corvette most of all. His arguments with Duntov are legendary in the history of the Corvette. Given Mitchell’s considerable power within General Motors, he often won those fights. How can you argue with the guy responsible for some of the most successful automobile designs in history and the financial wherewithal that came with that talent? His resume was extensive and his reign at GM was long. After 19 years as Vice President of Design, Mitchell faced retirement.
That was 1977. After leaving GM, he founded a design consulting firm called William R. Mitchell Design. This effort lasted from 1977 through 1984. Not much is known about this phase of Mitchell’s life. The most prominent source of information I could find was in reference to him designing spacecraft concepts for Rockwell International. There is also a link to someone named Clark Lincoln and Corvette designs attributed to him and Mitchell’s post-retirement business. What I could not find is any evidence that Mitchell produced anything tangible. That doesn’t mean he didn’t produce anything tangible. I just cannot find any evidence. Hopefully one of our knowledgeable readers can assist us.
Why the long prelude about Bill Mitchell after his retirement? The seller of this spectacular 1980 Chevrolet Corvette claims this car is ” one of the few brainchild custom designs of Corvette godfather Bill Mitchell, the designer of the sought-after single-year 1963 Split Window Corvette.” The ad further states, “There’s not a whole lot of info surrounding the car’s customization, as it’s seen little exposure over the past few decades. But, according to various sources, the project started on this car in 1981 with the help or input from Bill Mitchell and was completed a year later. The custom bodywork is readily obvious to the styling of Mitchell, along with the absolutely stunning paint job.”
So, is this 821-mile showpiece a product of Mitchell’s? Maybe. Duntov retired around that time frame and soon became involved in a Corvette custom of his own. Further afield, Andy Granatelli was behind a wild turbine-powered Corvette during this era. It was a popular car to modify because the fiberglass body allowed designers to make changes to an already pleasing shape and produce the panels economically. Ecklers was probably the 800-pound gorilla of Corvette modifications at that time, with many others throwing in as well. It was also the era of show cars because the performance was taken from us by the Feds at that time. This car’s wild excesses in shape and paint fit in perfectly with that period.
There are some questions here. The body panels bear a strong resemblance to those put out by John Greenwood’s company. Greenwood was a Corvette racer of the highest order. His company produced some street cars based on those innovative and aerodynamic racing cars. The wide-body fenders you see on Corvettes of his were designed to cover the much larger racing slicks that the cars needed to be competitive. This car sure looks a lot like one of Greenwood’s production cars, the Turbo GT. Is there a link here to Mitchell, who would have obviously known John Greenwood?
The other piece of evidence we have is a sticker on the glove box door. You can find it 2/3 of the way down the refreshingly exhaustive photo collage of the car in the ad. It advertises Bill Mitchell Hard Core Racing Products. This is likely the firm that built the 450-horsepower small-block Chevrolet engine in the car. Believe it or not, this company is still in business. Perhaps there is some confusion, as there is nothing in the company’s About section that speaks of the auto designer Bill Mitchell. It only says that the company has been in business since the eighties and that Bill Mitchell Jr. took over the company in 2011. Bill Mitchell the designer died of heart failure in 1988.
This is a beautiful car and worth every penny it has been bid up to so far. I hope that one of our very educated readers can provide more information here or may have a recollection of Bill Mitchell jumping into the Corvette customization game during that period. Regardless, it will be interesting to see what this wild custom finally sells for.
Can you shed some light on this car’s history? If so, please share with us in the comments.
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Comments
That’s a Greenwood car, through and through. At least the body panels. I think the seller is stretching his story just a little bit. That said, I’d daily this thing!
Wild machine. Gorgeous paint and interior treatment. Great motor and 3spd Hydramatic, this has show and go. 🏁🏁
Original vetted are boring,this is cool
Relatively easy to run true dual exhaust while
saving the original parts.
I wonder why that wasn’t installed originally.
And I, too, would drive this alot.
“Test” pipe installed in place of the cat conv?
It would be OK if it was factory original than the tacky look it has now.
Damn near every issue of Vette and the other Corvette magazines published in the ’80s featured at least one C3 with an aftermarket body kit like on this car, and ads from several aftermarket fiberglass body kit manufacturers for body panels that looked identical to this. Greenwood was just one of them. The seller offers no evidence to the car’s history or provenance; just some wild-ass claims about the involvement of a flamboyant GM designer who’s been dead for several decades. Without some real documentation it’s nothing more than a well-preserved old customized C3 Corvette from an era where good taste was a rare commodity. Without documentation, this is just a well-preserved but tastelessly-customized relic. Pass!!!!
Several decades? Bill Mitchell died in 1988, exactly three and a half decades ago. I question your use of the word several. The Corvette turned 70 this year.
THAT would several decades ago.
Several is defined as more than two but fewer than many, ergo 3 can accurately be several…
I liked the wide wheelwell flares a lot more than these, just to gaudy for me.
While most of my short motorsports engineering career was as part of the group of Pontiac engineers that Herb Adams assembled (I was the exception — I didn’t work for GM), I worked with Jerry Thompson in 1973-1974, on a widebody Corvette raced at tracks including Elkhart Lake, Mid-Ohio, and the Daytona 24 Hour. Jerry had driven our 1972 Firebird (which Milt Minter had finished 2nd in the Trans-Am series in 1972) at the first Trans-Am race in 1973 under new rules, further away from 5-liter production pony cars. It is my understanding that the wide body kit was designed by Randy Wittine, whom I thought worked at GM Styling Staff. (it was later re-named to Design Staff).
The company, Bill Mitchell Hard Core Racing Products, has no relation to the former head of GM Styling.
Wasn’t This Car on here several years ago in a garage All dusty I’m not Sure but I think Florida
Been sitting Many years and was Very Reasonably priced because of its Long hibernation
It just had Several pictures and was Sold in like 2 days after being posted here on Barn finds
Whoever bought it Really cleaned it up for a Nice presentation
I can’t Imagine there are 2 like that around with the same history and Paint job
I have always thoight Larry Shinoda, Dave Holls, and Harry Haga were the “designers” of the C3 Corvette. Bill Mitchell was their boss. I wonder how much “design” work he actually did? I’m sure I will find out shortly lol.
@Frank, minor correction. Mr. Haga’s first name is “Henry”. I presume your understanding of who did the C3 is correct. Separate from the public relations image Bill Mitchell had in the automotive press, I had a second hand view through my dad’s comments about him, and I met him personally when John Schnella, with the Pontiac studio, arranged for us to take the Firebird race car to the Tech Center. My summary is, he drove people doing the designs pretty hard, and was not shy about steering them in a particular direction. For example, my dad, then head of the analysis part of GM Marketing, wrote a memo with an ascerbic comment about GM Styling’s aging management designing cars in their own image. It didn’t name Mitchell, but it triggered Mitchell to write a memo to his staff, pronouncing that my dad was never ever to be allowed in the styling building again.
The He Coon is “what’s in charge here”.
Google Bard (thier competitior to ChatGPT) says this:
The expression “he coon” is a Southern colloquialism for an old, crafty raccoon. It is often used in a positive sense to describe someone who is wise, experienced, and resourceful. However, it can also be used in a negative sense to describe someone who is sly, cunning, or even devious.
The origin of the expression is unclear, but it is thought to have originated in the American South in the 19th century. At that time, raccoons were often hunted for their fur and meat. The “he coon” was the most prized animal, as he was the largest and most experienced raccoon. He was also known for his cunning and ability to outwit hunters.
The expression “he coon” eventually came to be used in a figurative sense to describe people who possessed the same qualities as the animal. Over time, the expression came to be used in both positive and negative ways.
In Florida politics, the expression “he coon” is often used to describe a seasoned politician who is known for their wiliness and ability to get things done. The expression was famously used by former Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, who once said, “The old he-coon walks just before the light of day.”
Today, the expression “he coon” is still used in the American South, but it is becoming less common. It is still used in a positive sense to describe someone who is wise and experienced, but it is also used in a negative sense to describe someone who is sly or cunning.
Bill Mitchell wouldn’t suffer that steering wheel on a soap box derby car.
Looks like that movie car from Corvette summer or The Wraith
Bill’s connection with Rockwell after he left GM is interesting.
One time, I was underneath the fiberglass nose of my ’70 Vette and there was a Rockwell International sticker on it.
Rockwell built the bodies. I don’t know the exact time frame but someone will let me know shortly.
SOLD for $30.675.