Chevrolet has never built an ordinary Corvette. Even the most mundane coupe draws a crowd everywhere it goes. But through victory at racetracks, exposure in film and television, or other notable achievements, a select few Corvettes have attained mythic status. Twenty of the most legendary Corvettes of all time—from the first Corvette ever built for the 1953 model year to the late first generation Corvettes used in the classic television series Route 66 to the five Grand Sport racers built by Zora Arkus Duntov, the Godfather of the Corvette, to the fifth generation Corvette raced by the father and son team of Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. just before the elder Earnhardt’s tragic death—are featured in this book.
Randy Leffingwell wrote his first book, American Muscle, while still on staff at the Los Angeles Times. The book examined Times’ publisher Otis Chandler’s growing collection of muscle cars. American Muscle, published in September 1990, jump-started a love of book creation that ultimately led Leffingwell to leave the Times in 1995. By then, he and Motorbooks had published Porsche Legends and six other books.
Since 1990, Leffingwell has authored more than 60 titles, most of them automotive-oriented. Over 30-plus years, these include a dozen Porsche titles ranging from general overviews—Porsche 75 Years: Expect the Unexpected, and The Complete Book of Porsche 911—to deeper explorations in Porsche Turbo and Porsche 911: 50 Years. During this time, he has regularly traveled to Germany to continue his research regarding Porsche’s history. To date, Leffingwell has interviewed more than 200 Porsche engineers, stylists, model makers, racers, and managers.
While he has tackled other subjects, including John Deere tractors, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and West Coast lighthouses, Leffingwell admits he is almost addicted to the Porsche story. In addition to his book work, he is historical editor for 000 magazine and PorschePanorama. And for the past decade, he has been researching and writing an encyclopedic history of Porsche’s motorsports endeavors.
Leffingwell lives near Santa Barbara, California.
For over twenty years, Dave Wendt has captured the essence of all types of vehicles in photographic images, from exotic and classic cars to big-rig trucks and even trains and airplanes. HeÆs developed unique lighting techniques that let him create studio-like photographs on-site. Dave lives in West Chester, Ohio.
