To counter costs that would have stymied release of the IRS, Corvette Engineer Zora Duntov had to accept the standard Chevrolet front suspension for the 1963 Corvette. While the Chevrolet SLA front suspension was entirely adequate with unequal length upper and lower
    control arms, monotube shocks,
                     

independent suspension. Costs prohibited that from being considered for production. Even with the compromises Duntov felt he had to make, the 1963 Corvette handled significantly better than its predecessors.
    As radical as the new IRS was, the Corvette's styling was equally as revolutionary. For the first time, the Corvette was offered in two body styles - coupe and convertible. Sales jumped accordingly, rising from 14,531 convertibles in 1962 to 21,513, of which 10,594 were coupes and 10,919 were convertibles. The '63's design heritage was GM styling chief Bill Mitchell's Sting Ray of 1958, a special one-off racer he had built on one of the remaining SS Sebring racer chassis. Mitchell commissioned Chevrolet stylist Larry Shinoda to take that design and mold it into the production

coil springs and front stabilizer bar, Duntov had wanted front and rear