The original grand sport is the great corvette racer that. This is one of the most comprehensive books on the corvette grand sport that i have seen. On april 24, 2009, at the national corvette museums c5c6 registry birthday bash, gm officials floored the audience with the unveiling of the 2010 grand sport corvette. Corvette grand sport 50 year history hardback book. Shop for the perfect 1963 corvette grand sport gift from our wide selection of designs, or create your own personalized gifts. The goal was to build 125 examples of the corvette grand sport for homologation purposes, however, the clandestine project was halted after gm executives. The c6 corvette grand sport became the most popular model, accounting for half of c6 corvette sales, despite its late introduction. Get the latest headlines on the zr1, z06 and the new grand sport. It is candid, behind the scenes, and opinionated, as opposed to the typical watered down, politically correct accounts ive come to expect when editors, lawyers, censors, and pr types call the shots.
The culmination of the corvettes early development came in 1963 with the five grand sports. Get msrp, fair purchase price, resale value, and available inventory for the 1996 chevrolet corvette grand sport coupe 2d. During its unveiling on march 1, 2016, it was announced that the allnew 2017 corvette grand sport was the culmination of the cars motorsportsbred pedigree. The corvette grand sport is a lightweight, normallyaspirated, and throughly tinkeredwith model. The first hint of ambitions came with the 1957 corvette ss, a. Unfollow 1963 grand sport corvette to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Grand sport registry tshirt at last, a new version of our popular grand sport registry tshirt designed specifically for gs owners and enthusiasts. With a new corvette being revealed at the detroit auto show, here are past vettes that are the most valuable today.
Vettes made famous on track and screen, a book by randy. The history of the corvette grand sport gm authority. The 1963 chevrolet corvette grand sport is powered by a v8 engine, with a wheelbase spanning 98 inches and weight of 2,150 pounds. Its a nice tribute to a car that was killed before it was. The grand sport moniker is a nod to the original grand sport model produced in 1963. Motorcarclassics is proud to present this 1963 corvette grand sport coupereplica that. Inside duntovs shop, the project was known as the lightweight. The 12 x 24 size has the grand sport heading the 9 x 18 does not. A total of 1,000 gs corvettes were produced, 810 coupes and 190 convertibles. This book has some fascinating ancedotes about the development and racing of these rare machines. Intended as a series of 125, the lightweight, at a thousand pounds less than the production sting ray, was supposed to counter carroll shelbys brand new cobras in gt world championship races. Three generations of grand sport corvettes1963, 1996, 2010.
Here are the cars that seduced generation after generation, from the 1953 corvette convertible and 1963 corvette grand sport to the 1990 corvette zr1 and 2006 corvette z06a fitting celebration of the worlds longest continuously produced sports car. To compete better on the gtclass circuit, arkusduntov took the 63 corvette a step further with the development of the 1963 corvette grand sport. If you need a reference for the grand sport, this book is well worth the money and the wait it took almost six weeks to arrive. Dave friedman, author of more than a dozen books on racing in the sixties including corvette grand sport, posted this reaction to alans book on facebook. These were emblematic of the corvettes potential and fired public imagination that a productionbased sports car could hold its own with european marques at le mans, daytona, the targa florio, sebring, and monza. Built in secret by gm in 1962 under the direction of zora arkus. They gave cobra drivers fits, with powerful and exotic. Gr auto gallery is pleased to present this 1964 chevrolet corvette grand sport replica for your consideration. Used car pricing for the 1996 chevrolet corvette grand sport coupe 2d. Corvette grand sports to appear at monterey motorsports re.
As a result, the car held a wealth of historic information. Tour the tracks of the early sixties where the five grand sports made history. Oct 27, 2017 the superformance corvette grand sport is modern history. In early march 1990, the zr1 would set a new record for the highest 24 hour5,000 mile landspeed by going over a speed of 175 mph. The 2017 chevrolet corvette grand sport offers an estimated 1. In 1973, the car was sold to bill jobe, who continued the string of wins, clinching two more scca bproduction championship titles in 1973 and 1974. It also has some of the most detailed photographs of this era of racing ive ever seen. Any of these legendary vehicles would be a nice addition to any corvette lovers home or shop. The grand sport issues when we put together this package and presented the grand sport to marketing, we said here is our engine package, we dont know what itll make but it should get about a 10percent increase, we want to use these tires. Introducing a new name, sting ray, the 1963 model was the first year for a corvette. Dick thompson was the first driver to win a race in the grand sport. In retaliation, gm engineer zora arkusduntov took the thennew corvette sting ray and whacked 1,000 pounds off the car, throwing everything that didnt contribute to speed into the dumpster. The debut of the new c7 corvette grand sport has sparked some interesting discussions about the car. Much of the car was so original, many of its handmade parts still had the scribed, painted and even waxpencil markings made by corvette engineers during the cars construction in 1963.
This totally flies against every corvette history book. The goal was to build 125 examples of the corvette grand sport for homologation purposes, however, the clandestine project was halted after. History of the corvette 19681983 to find out more about the generations shark nickname and. If you enjoy vintage racing you might want to check out the 2017 svra vintage race schedule.
Grand sport, models of chevrolet corvette a 1963 model of chevrolet corvette c2. Mar 14, 2016 the story is definitely worth a full read, but weve pulled five of the most interesting facts about the first grand sports illustrious history here. Jun 09, 2016 1963 chevrolet corvette grand sport car 381 in white at sebring during december 1962 testing firestone tires. Corvette grand sport in the bahamas for the 1963 nassau. Ford was the first to forgo the agreement in 1962 with their support for the carroll shelby racers.
But the grand sport program died almost the day it was born, killed by g. The chevrolet corvette c4 is a sports car produced by american automobile manufacturer chevrolet from 1983 to 1996. Dynamic motorsports now brings you the excitement of the 1963 corvette grand sport, licensed by gm. Corvette grand sport by dave friedman, lowell c paddock. While the initial c2 design is credited to larry shinoda under the direction of gm chief stylist, bill mitchell, it was the russian engineer with a hotrodders dna who dialedup the elegantly curved fiberglass, metal, and rubber, giving it a hardened performance edge.
Used 1996 chevrolet corvette grand sport coupe 2d pricing. Reconfiguration from prior early sbc 377 that was built for this car in 96 and shown nationally since then. Mar 06, 2016 the grand sport name was first revived with the c4 corvette and used in the c6 and c7 corvettes as a handlingfocused option package. The superformance corvette grand sport is modern history. Grand sport corvette registry dedicated to grand sport. This vehicle is very fast, and has never been abused.
Under the leadership of the legendary zora arkusduntov, the corvette grand sports took the racing world by storm in 1963. Theres nothing quite like a surprise at a birthday party. Getting back to the grand sport, bowman acquired it from tom armstrong in 2004. He won a 1963 sports car club of america race at watkins glen on august 24, 1963, driving grand sport 004. The corvette s paternity rightfully belongs to harley earl, a visionary and the first head of general motors design staff. Much of todays standard corvette technology, including finetuned suspension, wide tires, and aluminum engines, can be traced to the 1963 grand sport innovations. Jun 4, 20 corvette grand sport in the bahamas for the 1963 nassau speed week. In 1962, corvette king zora arkusduntov wanted to build a version of his pride and. A sevenspeed manual transmission is standard, with. The chevrolet corvette, colloquially known as the vette, is a twodoor, two passenger sports. Unfollow 1963 corvette grand sport to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. This 1963 corvette is one of 125 purpose built corvette racecars with the ultimate goal of winning the gt class at the 24 hours of lemans.
Under the hood, the grand sport uses the corvettes base engine. The current owner of this finely tuned, well recreated example of the ever popular grand sport has spared no expense in the making of this replica. Introduced in 1953, the chevrolet corvette was into its thirdgeneration before being selected as a pace car for the indianapolis 500. Limited edition print, grand sport, blue, corvette, 1963. This is a replica corvette grand sport vintage road racecar that was raced from 196367. History of the corvette 19681983 to find out more about the generations shark nickname and the complete history of the chevrolet. Theyve included everything from whether its a better buy than the z06, to reports that chevy will only be making 1,000 units of the limited edition model. Ever wonder about the grand sport corvette history.
While those aspects have been covered in many books and articles, what. The first grand sport was the brainchild of zora arkusduntov and started as a secret project in the late 50s that was dubbed the lightweight because of the cars lightweight body. Heritageinspired design cues and exclusive features acknowledge the historic grand sport legacy, established in 1963. The last time we saw a grand sport was more than years ago, in 1996. Duntov motor company was organized to recreate a legendary racecar. Fifty years of the corvette grand sport is an exceptional book, the product of the authors experience, dedication and expertise. Zora arkus duntovs secret weapon for 1963 was the legendary grand sport corvette, a fullon competition corvette that had little more than its shape in common with the production version. For the 2017 model year, chevrolet unveiled its newest iteration of the corvette grand sport at the geneva auto show.
This meant that there would be no factory support for racing. Dubbed the grand sport, it resembled the road going corvette coupe, but under the fiberglass body it was a completely new car. Based on a tubular steel chassis cloaked in a paperthin fiberglass body, the grand sport was a lightweight rocket that beat even the cobra in headtohead. Grand sport, models of chevrolet corvette a 1963 model of chevrolet corvette c2 a 1996 model of chevrolet corvette c4 a 2010 model of chevrolet corvette c6 a 2017 model of chevrolet corvette c7. The history of racing corvettes is a long and storied one, but few competition corvettes stand out quite as much as the five grand sport models that were constructed for the sole purpose of victory at tracks like sebring and at le mans, against formidable competition like the cobras of carroll shelby. Grand sport group, a sports equipment company based in thailand. Foyt, and others are captured in classic shots from sebring, nassau, watkins glen, daytona, and road america. Mar 07, 2017 for the 2017 model year, chevrolet unveiled its newest iteration of the corvette grand sport at the geneva auto show.
See caroll shelbys initial reaction to grand sport, plus nearly 300 photos of the cars, engines, chassis, drivers. In order for the car to be eligible to run in the gt class, at least 100 examples were required to be produced. The convertible returned, as did higher performance engines, exemplified by the 375 hp 280 kw lt5 found in the zr1. Grand sport 002 was the only car of the five that was never restored. Chevrolet released the grand sport gs version in 1995 to mark the end of production of the c4 corvette. Did you hear that zora arkusduntov didnt build five 1963 grand sport corvettes, he built six. This is a replica corvette grand sport vintage road racecar that was raced from 1963 67.
Thats john mecom on the left and roger penske in th shortsleeve shirt. This car is street legal and is licensed and registered. With history a build beginning in 1998, the assembly of this model began and. But one of the things thats gotten lost in the discussions is the deeper history surrounding the original grand. It covers its origination in good detail, has many early photos, and clearly shows how this car developed from the years 6267. With an l88 engine that sported the original aluminum heads, this c2 corvette did quite well that year with george wintersteen behind the wheel. Five facts to know about the first corvette grand sport. The historical name grand sport returned to the corvette lineup in 2010 as an.
54 21 80 901 1441 962 535 1092 425 1659 1666 984 217 1179 1463 1218 190 47 1309 1309 1409 1368 298 1116 327 44 610 1418 306 880 1377 453 576 1162 1214 201 493 549 631