Hoss Cartwright’s Chev Corvette powered Campbell Corvette Special was one helluva way to get around the Paramount Studios’ backlot!
Dan Blocker poses on the set of ‘Bonanza’ with the first racing car he sponsored. The neat, small, fast Campbell Corvette Special was built by ace ex-AJ Watson Indycar fabricator/welder Wayne Ewing for Bill Campbell, an ex-dry-lake racer and boat manufacturer.
Blocker was a serious enthusiast. In 1966 his daily rides comprised a Chev El Camino ute and a Corvette, both provided by Chevrolet, sponsors of Bonanza. In addition he had an Iso Rivolta, Maserati 3500GT, Elva Maserati, a ‘Mercer Speedster’ powered by a flathead Seagrave V12, and had ordered a Lamborghini…and goodness knows what else.
Initially powered by an 1100cc JAP engine, the ever-evolving Campbell became a fire-breather when a Corvette 283cid V8 was dropped into it. The car was then raced successfully by Dan’s close friend, stuntman Bob Harris.
Blocker tries to insert his not inconsiderable 6 foot four into the SWB Campbell, it’s a pity there isn’t a next shot. I suspect he probably failed, to the relief of driver Harris in the blue race-suit.
Ewing’s chassis was made of 4130 chrome-moly tube and proved sound enough to take the triple-Stromberg cast-iron lump, other features of which included a Weiand manifold, Schaefer flywheel and Hunt magneto. The engine was inclined downwards at the front by 5-degrees. A three-speed Chev gearbox and stock Corvette clutch was actuated by a Healey slave cylinder. The clutch and brake master cylinders were of Studebaker origin.
The Chev ‘box bolted directly to a quick-change Halibrand rear end while the original rear swing-axle was replaced by a De Dion set up fabricated by Ralph Ball and Barney Navarro. It was located by four-links and a watts linkage. The aluminium radiator was ’61 Vette, a Morris Minor donated the the steering rack and pinion which was modified to suit.
Up front, the original Fiat suspension were replaced with stronger, lighter upper and lower wishbones with uprights/spindles donated by a Chev Corvair. Halibrand also provided the disc brakes and wheels.
The result was a potent 1,375 pound machine with 50-50 weight distribution. One of the first Corvette powered mid-engined machines, the car was competitive from the outset and with a Chev 327 installed Harris took the cars first win at an SCCA regional at Riverside in June 1962. Yes, happily it still exists as an historic racer.
Harris raced the car through 1959-62 with wins Ian SCCA Regional at Riverside in in June ’62 and a second place at Las Vegas in October 1961. Harris crashed it at Santa Barbara in September 1962.
Campbell rebuilt it over the off-season, Jim Parkinson took the wheel in 1963 – still owned by Campbell – with his bests two wins at Del Mar and Santa Barbara in April-May, and second at Santa Barbara in September.
Campbell did a deal with Joshua Saslove in late ’63, trading the car on a Mistral bodied Kurtis. Saslove entered it in a couple of meetings but didn’t appear, raced it once at Mid-Ohio in June 1964 before it dropped outta sight. Acquired and restored by a Mr Mittler, its contemporary debut was at the 2005 Monterey Historic meeting.
Etcetera…
While this unidentified magazine – a sold eBay item via a Google search – photographs is poorly reproduced you can at least get better sense of this innovative little special.
The race shot above shows Bob Harris in front of Olivier Gendebien’s Lotus 19 Climax during the Riverside Grand Prix; 13th and sixth in the 200 mile race won by Jack Brabham’s Cooper T57 Climax.
Credits…
gtplanet.net, article by Jerry Titus in Sports Car Graphic, Getty Images, Gooding & Co
Tailpieces…
See here for an article about this great Car Guy’s Can Am Genie Mk10 Oldsmobile raced by John Cannon: https://primotipo.com/2016/02/19/john-cannons-bonanza/ Cannon and Blocker on the Bonanza set a few years after the Campbell Corvette Special phase…
Finito…
primotipo... 