1963 Chevrolet Corvair Testudo Concept Car

The 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Testudo concept/show car escaped my knowledge for many years, perhaps because at the time it was publicized, I was in the Army not long before being sent to the Far East.  I came across it recently only because I was researching a post about the Porsche 928, where it seems the Testudo influenced Porsche's head designer Tony Lapine.

But there's more!  The Bertone-built Testudo was styled by the great Giorgetto Giugiaro, apparently the first design for which he had a free hand.  No doubt that was due to its show car status -- a production design imposes many more constraints on a stylist.

The Testudo link suggests that General Motors supplied the Corvair (that Bertone shortened) and presumably funded the project.

Despite its Giugiaro heritage, I don't consider the Testudo a very good design.  See the captions below for my thoughts.

Gallery

A cropped version of a Giugiaro sketch of the Testudo's front end.

Full-scale side rendering of the Testudo.  At the left is Nuccio Bertone, and on the right is Giugiaro.

Now for a few images, probably from Bertone.  The front end is simple.  Headlights apparently rotate upwards when turned on.  The girl in the car lends scale -- the Testudo seems larger than it actually is when such scale is absent.

How one enters the car.  Interesting, but not practical given the high sill and flanges on rotated unit.

The rear is extremely clean.  Perhaps too much so.

As seen from above in a photo whose source I could not identify.

Finally, three images via RM Sotheby's auctions.  The Corvair motor is at the rear, so the front trunk is low and proportionally wide.  While this can be justified logically, my conditioning makes me think it is wrong, aesthetically.  Note the extreme windshield panorama.

The bumpers and side fold line tie the car together.  That low front trunk contrasts with the after end of the passenger compartment, making the latter seem more bulky looking than otherwise.  Note the small side-window that opens for ventilation or perhaps handing over toll money on an autostrada.

I normally like long hoods, but the low trunk and fenderline make the car ill-proportioned.