To say that Peter Brock is enjoying a fruitful career would be an alarming understatement.
In addition to penning the timeless lines of the C2 Corvette Sting Ray and Shelby Daytona coupe, as the head of Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE), he achieved immense success on the track as well. If that’s not enough, Brock is a respected teacher, author, and photographer.
And if the stunning 2025 Studio Concept he debuted at the 2024 SEMA Show is any proof, he’s not slowing down anytime soon.
Suffice it to say, Peter Brock is also a busy guy—so when he agreed to chat with us during the 2024 SEMA Show, we were nothing short of honored. Better yet, after the talk, we joined him as he strolled about the show floor to admire the dazzling array of cars on display.
What follows is a summary of our discussion. (Before we begin, a special hat tip to our friends at Atech Motorsports for their hospitality.)
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Explain the Vision Behind the 2025 Studio Concept.
“It’s exactly what I would’ve done at the time for what we call a ‘Studio Concept,’ where we take a production car and try special things on that car that we might use for the future.
“But the car would be specially built primarily for a GM executive, so it would have all kinds of special things done to it. And that’s the way this car was done.
“So when you look at it, it’s absolutely a stock body—there haven’t been any fenders opened up or any hot rod stuff done to it at all. It stays absolutely true to the original design. And that’s the important thing. There are a lot of restomods out there that have done all kinds of wild fenders and other stuff, but this one’s absolutely faithful to the stock design.”
Is That How the Original Stingray Racer Came About?
“The SS, which was done even before that by Harley Earl and Zora [Duntov], was the car that really kicked off the idea.
“They made three chassis for the SS. Earl got one of the chassis and we built the Racer on it. And the success of that car when we showed it in 1959 absolutely reversed the management’s position—because at that point, the Corvette program had been killed off completely.
[Laughing] “It was Bill Mitchell who said ‘Bullshit. We’re going to build the car in secret.’
“So that was how it started.”
What’s Different Between the 1963 Corvette & Your Studio Concept?
“The actual finished production car was done by Larry Shinoda and Tony Lapine. When he finished up, Tony Lapine would then go over to Opel in Germany before Porsche picked him up, and he ended up being the Chief Designer for Porsche for 40 years.
“Larry refined what I did. And what’s interesting about it—and what you’ll see as a change in the Studio Concept—the production Corvette has all kinds of vents and scoops, but they’re all phony. None of them work.
“On the Studio Concept, it all works. The form is still there, but instead of having the phony stuff on it, everything is functional now.”
Describe Some Other Details Folks May Not Notice.
“That’s the fun thing, because the changes are so subtle and all of them enhance the car.
“You’ll notice that, even though the form is original, with no change to the body, I’ve increased the glass area. So when you get in, it’s a much more open, more modern feeling car inside.
“It changed the look, but it’s still the original car—it’s just better. And it goes back to the way that I originally designed the car.”
What’s Under the Hood?
“That’s what makes this car so wonderful. It’s an original 1963 body on a completely new chassis—C7 Corvette suspension and brakes, a new LS3 motor, everything.
“So if you were a top GM executive today, you’d have all the latest stuff underneath, with the classic lines above.”
“That’s tough to beat. It’s absolutely sensational in that regard.”
Let’s Talk About the BRE Era—Specially Those Famed Datsuns.
“That was a great program, because we had a car that was absolutely invisible to the American public. Japanese cars across the board at that time were considered junk.
“They had basically bought older designs out of Europe, and re-did them in Japan. So consequently, when they brought those cars over to the United States, they were already outdated in terms of engineering. You take an early Toyota or Nissan out on the freeway, the antique engine design—long stroke and a high piston speed—you’d burn ’em up.
“Nissan was one of the first manufacturers that understood that. And that new car design changed everything. So to take that car out and compete against Alfa Romeo and BMW, and beat them—at one-third the price—was really impressive.
[Laughing] “That was fun.”
What Kind of Motorsport Events Do You Like Nowadays?
“All the balance of performance to try to equalize everybody just eliminates any interest in being innovative.
“The last place you can really go racing is the desert. So the Baja and the Dakar are the great races today. That’s the most fun.
“I started going to the Baja in the late 1950s. It’s always great, because there’s no regulation—it’s all pretty wide open.
“The limitation is the terrain. And that’s the thing that makes that place so amazing.”
How Do You Feel About Modern Shelby Daytona Replicas?
“It’s probably now the most-copied GT car out there.
“[Factory Five] is on their third version of it, and they’re getting it better each time. For a cheap track car, it’s great, really great. They look nice. But for a really good one, you’ve got to go with Superformance.
“I have one, and when I’m going down the freeway at 70 miles an hour, the engine’s only going about 2,000 rpm. So there’s no need to have something with a large amount of power—I mean, that thing is just effortless going through the air.”
What Advice Would You Give an Aspiring Automotive Designer?
“I’ve been asked that question before, and I say ‘Be sure you have an idea.’
“Because I think car design is going to change completely. There’s so much now that can be put into [artificial intelligence], that innovation is going to be very hard to do—from a standpoint of designing something that hasn’t been repeated at all.
“The way to go is to take your design skills, and be able to use them on a custom basis, but I would go into more of an entertainment area—the track, that’s where it’s going to have to shift to.”
How Will Fuel Economy Expectations Impact New Car Designs?
“Function has always been a primary facet of my attack on design. So I’ve always been into aerodynamics—even before people really understood what that was.
“That’s always important. But average speeds are going to come down, as the roads get more and more crowded. If you’re running under 80 miles per hour it gets less important.
“As you go up in speed, that changes, but who’s going to be able to do that anymore?”
What Does the Future Hold for the Automotive Industry?
“It’s going to be very interesting to see with this whole electric thing. With the direction we’re going, the whole ‘exciting’ car thing is going to go away.
“Vintage cars like this particular Studio Concept will become more valuable, because they’re not going to be building anything like that anymore. And super/hyper cars like they’re building now, there’s only going to be a handful of them made, and that’s it. There’s not going to be a high performance production car that you can go to your local dealer and buy.
“That’s what I think is going to be the major, major change.”
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With that, we bid farewell and let Mr. Brock continue to meet and greet the crowd of folks that had gathered around us. And that’s what’s so endearing about the guy—despite being one of the most important automobile designers in history, Peter was eager to speak with everyone and happy to answer questions, shake hands, and pose for photos. A heartfelt thank you again to the fine folks at Atech Motorsports for helping facilitate this interview, and to Peter Brock himself, for taking the time to speak with us.
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