Purely Corvette: Rick Hendrick's Airbox C1

Physics

The laws of physics don't change, though sometimes it seems like they do as humans learn more and science gets smarter. Discoveries aside, cold air is still more dense than hot air, and the cooler it is the more power it packs per cubic anything when it comes to internal combustion engines. Chevrolet knew that way back in 1957, and though they may have forgotten about it in the intervening years, they know about it today as well. That's why GM invited Rick Hendrick to bring his 579D airbox option-equipped 1957 Corvette to SEMA, to be exhibited alongside 2018 Carbon 65 Edition Corvette, itself the beneficiary of an all-new cold-air intake system.

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One of 43

Chevrolet only installed forty-three 1957 Corvette models with the 579D airbox option, offered for the first time that year, and combined it with other options intended especially for making the 'Vette a more competent competitor on the world's race courses. The airbox system was offered on fuel-injected 283 cu in engines and was comprised of a sealed intake that drew cooler, denser air from the front portion of the car's engine bay.

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Race Only

The airbox option also included other goodies like a large 8,000-rpm tachometer, one of two different rpm ranges available that year (the standard unit read to 6,000-rpm), that was moved to a more visible position on the steering column—and in a clear signal that this was a track-going proposition: mandatory deletion of the heater and radio. The man behind these first-time Corvette competition-centric options was, of course, Mr. Zora Arkus-Duntov.

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Race Suspension

Other available race-bred and track-eager fare included RPO 684, the heavy-duty racing suspension package. Also known as the 'big brakes' option, it included finned drums, vented backing plates, cooling scoops, and Cerametallix linings. It also featured air ducts running into the rear fender wells to help cool the rear brakes. Suspension-wise, the package, developed with knowledge gleaned from Chevy's Sebring racing cars, provided heavy-duty, higher-rate springs, better shocks, a larger diameter front stabilizer bar, and quicker-ratio steering.

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Fuelie

Of course the jewel in the 1957 Corvette's crown was the 283-cu in small-block, bored out from the previous year's 265-cu in, and when combined with Rochester Ram Jet fuel injection and a hotter cam, provided a true (gross) 290 hp, which GM promptly toned down to read 283 in all promotional and sales literature—to signal that they had reached the magic one-hp-per-cubic-inch ratio. Sometimes less is more.

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Success

How did Mr. Arkus-Duntov's hot options for the newly endowed 'Vette work out? Corvette driver Dick “The Flying Dentist” Thompson won the GT 5.0 Class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1957 with Swiss co-driver Gaston Andrey, and he went on to win the SCCA B-Production National Championship that year. In fact, Corvettes took home championship trophies in both B Sports and B Production for 1957, and in the latter category a Corvette won its class at every single event. The 1957 race-optioned C1 was one high point of many in a winning tradition that continues to this day.

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Hendrick Airbox C1 Specifications

Courtesy of General Motors.

1957 CORVETTE ‘AIRBOX’
    •    Wheelbase: 102 inches
    •    Curb weight: 2,849 pounds (base model)
    •    Engine: 283 cubic inches with mechanical fuel injection
    •    Bore x stroke: 3.875 x 3.000 inches
    •    Compression ratio: 10.5:1
    •    Horsepower: 283 @ 6,200 rpm (gross rating)
    •    Torque: 300 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm (gross rating)
    •    Transmission: four-speed manual
    •    Rear axle: Positraction with 4.11 ratio

RPO 579D ‘AIRBOX’ OPTION
    •    283 fuel-injected engine with a unique cold-air intake system
    •    8,000-rpm tachometer relocated to the steering column
    •    Heavy-duty right-side engine mount
    •    Heater and radio were mandatory deletions
    •    Revised spark plug wire routing without regular-production shielding

RPO 684 HEAVY-DUTY RACING SUSPENSION ‘BIG BRAKES’ OPTION
    •    Heavy-duty, higher-rate coil springs and shock absorbers in the front suspension
    •    Larger-diameter front stabilizer bar
    •    Additional leaf spring and heavy-duty shock absorbers in the rear suspension
    •    Quicker-ratio steering
    •    Finned cast iron brake drums with metallic linings

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