C2 in 2011
Clear lines, a long hood at the front, the signature split-window at the back and the round rear lights. These are characteristics familiar to anyone with a love of American classic cars. The Rossi 66 is a reverent reincarnation of the Corvette C2. The Rossi Motor Company have based their contemporary version on the second Corvette generation built in 1963. It was during this year only that Vettes with the split rear-window rolled off the assembly lines. The designer David R. has sought to combine the best visual elements of all the classic Corvettes. This includes as an imperative the rear aspect of one of the most coveted Corvette models of all times. While Rossi succeeds brilliantly with his modern homage to the C2, under its aesthetic bodywork beats the heart of a C6.
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- The designer David R. has sought to combine the best visual elements of all the classic Corvettes.
A visual update
As with the 1963 Sting Ray the rear end with its double window also features double rear lights… now, however, as the year 2011 demands with LED technology. The fenders, too, are inspired by those of the C2, but here they are not chromed but given an eloxy finish. Noteworthy at the front of the auto is the fact that Rossi Motor Company have not adopted the pop-up headlights of the original and in this they follow the manufacturer’s example: the current C6 model also lacks this signature feature, bowing to safety regulations. Inside the car Rossi have also been very busy. All the instrumentation and the radio are taken over from the C6, but there has been abundant leather and Alcantara deployed to please the eye. In the place of the stock gear lever there is now a white knob atop the shift stick, just as there was in the C2.
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- The Rossi Motor Company have based their contemporary version on the second Corvette generation built in 1963. It was during this year only that Vettes with the split rear-window rolled off the assembly lines.
Based on the C6
In the Sting Ray models the famous Big Block engines were only introduced in 1965, first in a 6.5 litre version and then one with 7 litres capacity. But even if the look of the Rossi 66 is totally retro, under that long hood there lurks the latest C6 technology. The 6 litre V8 puts out 456 horsepower. And 4,400 RPM there is a maximum torque of 542 Newton metres to call upon. The Americans have not yet released performance data but the values for the stock C6 provide a reference basis. The Rossi Motor Company have also modified the suspension, the brakes and the wheels. 9.5x19 inch alloys are at the front and 12x20s at the back. The tyres they wear are 275/ 30 and 325/25 sized respectively. The Rossi 66 project was announced two years ago but is now taking concrete form. Rossi Motor Company are quoting a price between 120 and 130 thousand Dollars, about what one would have to pay in the for a ZR1. And as with this model, in Chevrolet dealerships will also offer the Rossi 66. In Europe, however, things will be less simple. Here we are a long way from getting a ZR1 for 89 thousand Euros… the über-Vette has a price tag of 136 thousand Euros.
