Larry Taylor’s Grand Sport Corvette #004 Replica – Videos!

When it Comes to Grand Sport Replicas, Attention to Details Pays Off!

Dateline: 2-1-22 This story was first published in the February 2019 issue of Vette Vues Magazine – Larry Taylor’s passion for Corvettes might be genetic. The Clinton, Utah resident’s grandfather was into Corvettes in the 1950s. Grand Pop passed down his Corvette passion to Larry’s Dad who owned a 1966 Sting Ray that he drag raced a little and also used to trailer his boat. When it came time for Larry to enter the world of automobiles, his first Corvette was a 1959 model that he bought in 1984.

Larry has an affinity for details. Anyone who has ever gone after an NCRS Top Flight award knows it’s all about “details, details, details”. It wasn’t long before Larry’s 1959 Corvette scored a Top Flight award. Classic Corvettes are wonderful, but as the 1990s went on the C4 Corvettes were looking better and better. So in 1995 Larry decided to get a “modern” Corvette and bought a 1990 Corvette. The C4 was really nice, but he found himself pulled back to the classics. Larry sold his 1990 Corvette, but not before acquiring another NCRS Top Flight award. If your passion is classic Corvettes, you can’t get much more “classic” than a 1963 Split-Window Coupe, which, you guessed it, Larry got another NCRS Top Flight award.

While all this was going on, Larry did some open-wheel racing and always liked Corvettes with racer-style. So if you are into “racer-style” and you own a 1963 Split-Window Coupe, it is no stretch that you would be drawn to the 1963 Grand Sport Corvette; the greatest “could have been…” Corvette of all time. If you are new to the Corvette hobby you might be wondering, “What’s so special about a Grand Sport Corvette? It’s a nice model Vette, but what’s the big deal?” Well, we’re not talking about the 1996 Grand Sport, or the C6 and C7 Grand Sports. No, we’re referring to the 1963 Grand Sport Corvette all-out racecar; arguably THE most storied car in Corvette history. Here’s the short version of why the Grand Sport is still being talked about, longed for, and honored with the production and replica Grand Sports.

In early 1962, after the major engineering work was completed on the new, upcoming 1963 Sting Ray, Zora Arkus-Duntov and his team got to work on RPO Z06. Duntov’s C1 racer kit program was hugely successful, such that by the end of the 1950s and into 1962, Corvettes were a force to be dealt with in SCCA racing. The Z06 was to carry on with Duntov’s program. That is until Carroll Shelby’s 2,000-pound Cobra arrived.

Duntov was an experienced racer and he knew that his 3,000-pound Z06 Sting Ray would be no match against the 2,000 Cobra. To Duntov, it was obvious; he needed to build a lightweight Corvette and to do this if would have to have a tube frame, an exotic engine, and a lightweight replica body. But what he really needed was official permission. Fortunately for Duntov, he had a friend at the top of Chevrolet; Semon “Bunky” Knudsen.

Knudsen was a serious “car guy” corporate officer who worked his way up through the ranks at GM. As general manager at Pontiac, he turned the brand’s stodgy image around with his Wide Track, Tri-Power performance cars, and factory support in NASCAR racing. His reward for doing a great job at Pontiac was the general manager position at GM’s flagship division, Chevrolet in 1961.

Knowing he had Knudsen’s ear, Duntov outlined his plan to get around GM’s adherence to the 1957 AMA Racing Ban. Duntov’s idea was to build limited production lightweight Corvettes that would sell for around $16,000-to-$20,000 and let the customers do the racing. Knudsen green-lighted Duntov plan and five, special cars, called, “The Lightweights” were built.

By November 1962 cars were completed and were renamed “Grand Sport”. They looked almost exactly like the production Corvette, but with minor differences and no split rear window. Initial testing at Sebring in December 1962 was very promising. But when word of Duntov and Knudsen’s covert activities reached GM President Frederick Donner, the Grand Sport came to a screeching halt! Documents at The GM Heritage Center indicate that the five Grand Sports and the spare parts were ordered to be warehoused, but that didn’t last long.

Duntov gradually loaned out Grand Sports #003, #004, and #005 to privateer racers. But without a proper development program, the cars were not successful and their performance was inconsistent. By the end of the racing season, Duntov called in the three Grand Sports for a few “improvements”. Duntov wanted to give his Grand Sports a fighting chance against Shelby’s Cobras at the upcoming 1963 Nassau Speed Weeks race at the end of November and the beginning of December.

When Grand Sports #003, #004, and #005 arrived in Nassau under the banner of the “Mecom Racing Team”, they were loaded for bear. This is the now-classic Grand Sport look; fat racing tires on wide knockoff wheels, aggressive vented hood, and big wheel flares. And under the hoods were Duntov’s latest engine jewels, the all-aluminum 377 small-block Chevy with 58mm side-draft Weber carbs. It was a romp for the grand Sports, as the Cobras were thrashed.

Three months later, the 1964 class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring with Roger Penske at the wheel of Grand Sport #005 would be the high-water park for the Grand Sports. This time period saw extraordinary advancement in racecar technology, such that by the end of 1965, the three-year-old cars were outdated.

When the Grand Sports received their upgrades in preparation for the 1963 Nassau race, Grand Sports #001 and #002 were made into roadsters and held back, but were eventually sold and raced, as were the coupes. Fortunately, all of the cars survived, are in excellent condition and are each worth millions of dollars. Over the years, Grand Sport Corvettes have thrilled thousands of fans, many have lusted to own one of the five cars, and around two dozen have actually owned Grand Sports.

Enter the world of kit cars. In early 1990 a company called D&D started making Grand Sport kit cars, but the quality was not good. Mongoose Motorsports offers high-quality 1963 Grand Sport and 1980s era GTP Corvette kits and turnkey cars. Then there are the Duntov Motors Grand Sport Continuance Racecars and the Superformance custom built-to-order Grand Sport cars.

When Larry decided to merge his interest in classic Corvettes, racing, and his attention to detail skills, he decided to go for a Grand Sport replicar. The Superformance Grand Sports are fantastic but on the expensive side, so Larry decided to get a Mongoose Grand Sport roller and finish it himself.

When you buy a Grand Sport roller from Mongoose you get the bare fiberglass body and interior, and a 4-inch tube chassis and basic suspension from a 1988 Corvette. The rest is up to you and your skill level. Larry bought the rolling chassis in April 2016. Many Grand Sport replica cars are finished as street machines with modern paint, wheels, tires, and amenities. A few are street versions of the real Grand Sport replicars. If you are going the racecar replicar route, you have to research which livery you want to replicate. Since the three Grand Sport coupes were raced by numerous owners; in different configurations; and liveries; one has to do their homework; and pay attention to details. Fortunately for Larry, he’s very good at that. After careful research, Larry chose the Sebring ’64, Delmo Johnson, and Dave Morgan livery. Today the actual car is part of The Reve Institute in Naples, Florida.

An all-aluminum 377-cubic-inch Donovan small-block Chevy engine with four Weber 48-mm side-draft carbs powers Larry’s Grand Sport. The real small-block Grand Sports used 58-mm Webers, but they are insanely expensive. The side exhausts are hand fabricated. The radiator, oil cooler, and power brake booster are 1963-style. The transmission is an M22 4-speed “Rock Crusher” and the shifter is an original 1963 shifter.

The front suspension is from a 1988 Corvette and has rack & pinion steering. The rear suspension is somewhat unusual. It is a modern coil-over suspension that uses the C4 differential and “batwing” rear cover and carrier. For an authentic look, Larry added a set of C2/C3 leaf springs and painted the batwing differential carrier black.

The wheels are 15×8 Halibrand aluminum replicas that have been powder-coated gold. The real Halibrand cast magnesium wheels had gold Dow 7 Magnesium Coating. When the real Grand Sports were racing they used then state-of-the-art Firestone racing tires. Larry’s Grand Sport replica uses 15×8 period-size correct Goodyear racing tires. As mandated back in the day when the Grand Sports were racing, there’s a spare tire in the “trunk” area.

“font-size: large;”>As delivered, Larry’s Grand Sport interior was bare fiberglass. Larry added some extra bolsters to the fiberglass seats, period-correct seat belts, a fire extinguisher, and a period-correct CB radio and antenna. The speedometer has been fitted with a 200-mph speedometer face and the factory fuel gauge has been replaced with an oil temp gauge. The toggle switches control the main fuel pump, differential cooler, and reserve fuel.

With a ton of photographic references for the Grand Sport #004 that currently resides at the Collier Museum, Larry applied his attention to detail skills to his Grand Sport replicar. As seen in these photos, the car was just completed in November 2018. Larry’s plans for 2019 are to show the car at Corvette shows and maybe at the National Corvette Museum. Then, he will bring the car back into his shop, remove the body, add all of the required modern safety equipment, and then take the car to the track.

The Donavan 377 small-block Chevy engine pulls around 550-horsepower, so weighing in around 2,250-pounds, that’s a power-to-weight ratio that will be a lot of fun on the track. Larry says, “I just want to have the experience of being on a race track with my Grand Sport and other vintage cars, just to be there; not to race and win anything, but just to get a sense of what it must have been like back in 1964.”

That’s something I believe we have all fanaticized about Larry. Go for it! – Scott

The Tale of Two C4 Grand Sport Corvettes in a Tiny Florida Town

Against all odds, a 1996 Grand Sport Coupe and Convertible live two blocks from one another in rural Florida!

Dateline: 1-23-22, this story was originally published in Vette Vues Magazine – When we moved to the tiny town of Lake Placid, Florida in 2014, I wasn’t expecting such a robust car culture. It’s not huge, but it is considerable. Once a year in July, Lake Placid hosts their annual Caladium Festival, with a Car & Bike Show at the DeVane Park that is well attended.

Lake Placid is located 15 miles south of Sebring in Highlands County, in south-central Florida. The town was chartered by Melvil Dewey, the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, and is the sister city of Lake Placid, New York. The town is best known for several things: it is the “Town of Murals” (there are 46 murals painted on downtown businesses), the “Toby The Clown Foundation” Clown College, the “Caladium Capital of the World,” 27 freshwater lakes, and in 2012 Reader’s Digest Magazine voted Lake Placid as “The Most Interesting Town in America.”

With only 2.84 square miles and a population of around 2,000, the best way to describe the town is; think “Mayberry” as in “The Andy Griffith Show.” Between Sebring and Lake Placid there are orange groves, farms, and cow pastures. To the south, east, and west of the town, there are more farms, pine trees, cows, and let’s not forget the gators and bears!

Lake Placid is also home to two of the rarest special edition Corvettes, a 1996 Grand Sport Coupe and Convertible. And here’s the kicker – they both reside within two blocks of one another! Ron Ellerman is the original owner of the 1996 Grand Sport Corvette Coupe and John Meyerhoff is the owner of the 1996 Grand Sport Convertible.

I met John Meyerhoff in 2015 after a man tipped me off about “… a guy in Lake Placid that has one of EVERY generation Corvette!” Before the C7 came out, Meyerhoff had one of each generation. John sold his C1 to make room for his future C7, but it gets even better. John’s lady, Mary Carol Plott also has four Corvettes! Now THAT’S a “Corvette Power Couple”! John and Mary Carol appropriately met at a car show in Lake Placid. How’s that for Fate?

John got the Corvette bug back in the mid-1960s thanks to a fellow Navy officer and bought his first Vette, a 1966 427/425, 4-speed Mosport Green Roadster, around Christmas 1965. After John settled down and started a family, the Corvette was exchanged for a down payment on a house.

By the late 1970s, John got into a 1973 350/250 L82 roadster that fell casualty to a divorce and there were no Corvettes in John’s life for 15 years. John eventually remarried and by 2001, bought a new Magnetic Red convertible. John found the 2001 convertible to be a very comfortable road car and started racking up lots of miles. He was also getting close to retirement time.  

Most of us have a soft spot for our “first Vette,” so John began searching for another 1966 427/425 roadster. Finding another Mosport Green 1966 big-block roadster, but he finally found one that was close enough, a super sano Sunfire yellow 427/425 Roadster. With no power steering or brakes and a very heavy clutch, this is NOT a daily driver, but it makes for a great show car.

After full retirement, John’s wife passed and he decided that “Corvettes” would be his retirement.

“I came up with a new goal. I wanted one Corvette of each generation and I happened to find the 1996 Grand Sport Convertible. It was really dumb luck because although I had owned many Corvettes, I didn’t follow the special editions, so I really didn’t know what I had, I just liked the color scheme and the fact that it’s a convertible. It turns out that it’s one of four other Grand Sports with the exact same combo of options. Then to fill up the collection, I got the 1969 427 Convertible, then got a red-on-red 1960 Corvette. Before the C7 came out, I had one of every generation!”

Except for the Grand Sport Convertible, John’s five Corvettes are mildly modified. He doesn’t race them, but he does enjoy them with an occasional blast. John’s attitude when it comes to his Corvettes is that if a modification will improve the car’s performance or durability and drivability, he doesn’t mind making changes.

 

Ron Ellerman’s story is quite different. Ron was a boilermaker by trade and eventually owned a very successful, full-service car wash in Ohio. Over the years Ron had numerous interesting cars and motorcycles, but in his heart, he always wanted a Vette. He got his first Corvette bite when his older brother let him borrow his 1966 427 Roadster while Ron was in high school.

“I was always good at working on cars. As long as I could get something apart, I could reassemble it. In 1996 my local Chevrolet dealer had one Grand Sport Coupe on the showroom floor that he was using as an attraction. I kept looking at the car and thinking how much I wanted it, but the dealer wouldn’t sell! He was hoping to be able to keep it for himself, but I kept working on him. Eventually, he called me and we made the deal.”

Ron was having some health issues and recounts;

“I decided that I couldn’t put it off any longer. I let my business buy the car as a “company car,” paid it off, took the depreciation, and eventually sold the car to myself. The car is totally-stock and has run perfectly for the most part for 20 years. I took the car to a Mecum auction to sell, but couldn’t get what I know the car is worth (1996 Grand Sports are currently very undervalued), so I decided to keep it, probably for good. The car now has just over 10,000 miles on it. I recently noticed a small oil leak at the rear main seal – not bad for a 20-year-old car, I suppose. Since getting the Grand Sport I’ve had lots of “fix-up” cars that I worked on and sold. I had VW Bugs, old Cadillacs, a hot rod Nova, street rods, a few boats, and three Harleys. I like working on and fixing cars, and I love driving my Grand Sport Corvette.”

Let’s talk a little about what makes the 1996 Grand Sport Corvettes so unique. The 1996 Grand Sport option listed for $3,250 for the coupe and $2,880 for the convertible. Here’s what was included: dedicated Admiral Blue paint with white center stripes, special details, 17-inch ZR-1-style 5-spoke wheels with painted black spokes shod with P275/40ZR17 tires on the front and P315/35ZR17 rear tires, rear-wheel flares, all-black interior or black/red interior, iconic red fender hash marks, and sequential serial numbers.

The convertible Grand Sports had slightly smaller tires – P255/45ZR17 on the front and P285/40ZR17 on the rear and no rear fender flares. The reason the convertible had slightly less wide tires was that engineering felt that the convertible owners would not be happy with a more grip with a less rigid chassis structure.  

Except for the red accents on the throttle body and the “Grand Sport” lettering, the LT4 looked identical to the LT1. Inside the LT4 it was hot rod heaven and included increased compression (10.8:1 vs 10.4:1) improved aluminum heads, Crane roller rocker arms, a revised camshaft, stronger crank, and revised pistons. All LT4-equipped 1996 Corvettes had 8,000-rpm tachometers. The Grand Sport option was a beautiful way to celebrate the end of the C4 Corvette line.

When it comes to collectability and desirability, low production numbers are key. Chevrolet offered six special edition C4 Corvettes:

1986 Pace Car Replica (all 1986 Convertibles): 7,315 units

1988 35th Special Edition Package: 2,050 units

1993 40th Anniversary: 6,749 units

1995 Pace Car Replica: 527 units

1996 Collector Edition: 5,412 units

1996 Grand Sport: 1,000 units – 810 Coupes, and 190 Convertibles

No one pays ANY attention to the 1986 Pace Car Replicas; the production numbers were too high and it was just a Corvette convertible with stickers. And while the 1995 Pace Car Replica has the lowest production numbers of all of the C4 special editions, the Grand Sports have the patina of one of the coolest Corvette monikers ever, as an honor to the original five 1963 Grand Sport Corvette racers.

Also, while the 1995 Pace Car Replica has just over half the production numbers than that of the Grand Sport, the Grand Sport has the better LT4 engine, performance suspension, fender flares for the coupe version, and ZR1 wheels and tires. Where the 1995 Pace Car replica is a pretty car, the Grand Sport is a tough guy!

John Meyerhoff and Ron Ellerman are perfect examples of people that got the “Corvette Fever” that’s permanent. Duntov always wanted his customer to “enjoy their Corvette.” So with only 1,000, Grand Sports built, what are the odds of these two unique Corvettes residing in the tiny town of Lake Placid, Florida just two blocks from one another? Pretty amazing! Scott


Visit Highlands County Corvettes HERE!


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Duntov Files, Pt. 6 – Zora Looks Back at the 1963 Grand Sport Adventure

The Godfather of HOT Corvettes had some SHOCKING things to say about the beloved Grand Sport Corvette!

You can download the PDF e-Booklet HERE.

The Spring 1990 issue of “Corvette Quarterly” was a banner issue for 1963 Corvette Grand Sport fans. Late in 1989 arrangements were made for a very special meeting at Sebring International Raceway, in Sebring, Florida. Two Corvette race cars, separated by twenty-five years gathered for some comparison testing between the Grand Sport #002, known as the “Wintersteen 427 L88” Grand Sport #002 Roadster and the 1989-90 Morrison Engineering and Development Trans-Am Corvette.

On hand to witness and advise was then-retired, former Corvette Chief of Engineering, Zora Arkus-Duntov. In the 1970s GM’s corporate retirement age of 65 mandate was in place, and Duntov was put out to pasture, way too soon in December 1974 when he turned 65. GM president Ed Cole and Sr. VP of Styling, Bill Mitchell faced similar fates at GM. You can read the amazing track comparison of the Grand Sport and the Trans-Am Corvette in Pt. 4 of The Duntov Files.

This story, “Zora Looks Back” offers some interesting insights into Duntov’s tenure at GM, as well as the “Lightweight Grand Sport Corvette” experience. For instance, Duntov said, “It was a quick and dirty sledgehammer project that we put together in a couple of months. There were so many compromises and constraints that we made something of which I am not particularly proud.” Interesting. Well, we sure love them!

Duntov was there, this was his baby, and he would know the real skinny on the Grand Sport. For Grand Sport race car fans, this article by Bill Oursler is a real treat!Scott

PS – You can access the entire collection of Corvette E-Booklets and the Duntov Files HERE.

Bill Tower’s 40th Anniversary of Grand Sport #005 Ownership Celebration – VIDEOS

Stingray Chevrolet, in Plant City, Florida, hosts the celebration of 40 years of Bill Tower’s ownership of Grand Sport #005

Dateline: 12.4.18 – Photos by K. Scott Teeters – Milestone dates only happen once. In September 2018 I was talking with former Corvette development engineers Bill Tower and said to him, “Bill, do you realize that this December it will be 40 years since you bought your Grand Sport?” Bill sputtered a little and said, “Oh man, now you’re really making me feel old!” I said, “Ain’t we all, Bill!” and we both had a good laugh. Then I said, “You should have a party, or something, Bill.”

Bill thought about it and contacted his friend, Steve Hurley, owner of Stingray Chevrolet (a GREAT name for a Chevy dealership!), and Steve said, “Let’s do it here at the dealership. The 25-foot Christmas tree will be up and we’ll make it great!”

On December 2, 2018 Stingray Chevrolet was all Corvettes to commemorate Bill Tower’s 40th anniversary of ownership of Grand Sport #005, the winning-est of all five 1963 Grand Sport (aka, “The Lightweights”) Corvettes. When word got out, Corvette fans from far and wide said, “We’ll be there!”

The notable guests included retired Sr. VP of Global Design, Ed Welburn, curator from the National Corvette Museum Derek Moore, Grand Sport Registry owners John and Patty Hutchinson, CorvetteBlogger.com editor and owner Keith Cornett, Hendrick Performance infrastructure Manager and lead photographer Larrie Matthews, and nearly 150 Corvette fans.

Ed Welburn talked about his love affair with grand Sport #005 and how a pen & ink illustration of the car helped get him into GMI (General Motors Institute) to become a car designer. Then Stingray Chevrolet owner Steve Hurley interviewed Bill Tower about why the Grand Sport was such an important part of the long tern success of the Corvette. A Q&A session from the audience rounded out the celebration.

I will be authoring an in-depth article about the even for the 2019 February issue of Vette Vues that will be out in early January 2019.

Bill Tower is all-in when it comes to the history of the Corvette and how racing made the car what it is today; a world-class all-American sports car. In the last 20 years the Corvette Racing Team has had 13 championships, including the last three years in a row! (2016, 2017 & 2018) This would not have been possible were it not for the early efforts of Zora Arkus-Duntov and many others, that made sure that Corvette racers had the hardware to be successful against anything the international community of sports racing car had.

Stingray Chevrolet looked stunning! Steve Hurley and his team did a delightful job of decorating the showroom with a spectacular 25-foot tall Christmas tree, decked out with red and gold trim. The showroom was wall-to-wall Corvettes, including production Grand Sports, a 2013 60th Anniversary Corvette, classic Corvettes from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, plus two late model COPY drag racing Camaros. In front of the dealership C7 ZR1s, Z06’s, and Grand Sports stood guard. And by the time the event started at 2pm, the parking area in front of Stingray Chevrolet was filled with Corvettes from the Registry of Grand Sport contingent, as well as friends and fans.

Rain had been forecast but never happened; it was a beautiful Florida day for a Corvette event. And the Corvette eye candy was extraordinary. Special thanks to Steve and Susan Hurley, owners of Stingray Chevrolet for hosting the event, the Stingray Chevrolet team for their assistance with setup on a Sunday, Doug White for his support and setting up the continuous video presentation, and Derrick Moore from the National Corvette Museum for video recording the event. And lastly, Bill and Betty Tower for having the foresight 40 years ago to go out on a limb and buy Grand Sport #005 when they could.

On behalf of the Corvette community, thank you to everyone that made this event happen! – Scott

PS – Bill Tower actually purchased Grand Sport #005 on December 24, 1978 from Dave Erwin in Painted Post, New York.





Vintage Grand Sport Corvette Films from 1962 and 1963 – 2 VIDEOS

See the original Grand Sports in action at Sebring 1962 and Nassau 1963!

Dateline: 8.13.18 – Photo: GM Archives Last week while finishing up a story about Bill Tower’s Grand Sport #005 Corvette for Vette Magazine, I came across two YouTube videos posted by GM Heritage Center. The videos are silent and were probably shot with an 8mm camera that someone brought along to the events. The film looks like hand-held and amateurish, not at all the same quality of the Jam Handy films from that era. But, you do get to see the Grand Sports in action.

The above film was shot in December 1962 when Zora Arkus-Duntov took Grand Sport #001 to Sebring for testing. Note how “stock” the original batch of Grand Sports, originally called the “Lightweights” looked. Grand Sport Corvettes always suffered from front end lift which was mostly attributed to the shape of the Sting Ray. While the front end design of the Sting Ray indeed let way too much air flow UNDER the car, another big factor in the lift was how the new Corvette’s rear suspension would “squat” down. Continue reading


Vintage Grand Sport Corvette Films from 1962 and 1963 – 2 VIDEOS”


John & Patti Hutchinson’s 1996 & 2017 Grand Sport Twins

Question: What’s better than a Grand Sport? Answer: TWO Grand Sports

Special Edition Corvettes are a fun part of the Corvette hobby. Production numbers for this group vary widely from as low as 20, 2009 Competition Edition Z06 cars to a staggering 11,632, 2004 Commemorative Edition coupes, convertibles, and Z06 cars. Chevrolet only made 1,000 1996 Grand Sports – 820 coupes and 180 convertibles, which puts the C4 Grand Sport in the rare zone of special edition Vettes. The Grand Sport convertible (only 180 units) is in the VERY rare category.

John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson, owner of the Grand Sport Registry, says their current membership consists of 261 C4 (1996) Grand Sports. But he emphasizes that the GSR caters to all GS generations, be it C2, C4, C6, or C7, and that total membership is close to 800 Grand Sport enthusiasts from across the USA and 12 other countries. So, yes, all Grand Sport Corvettes are indeed special. Corvette product planners have a unique way of surprising the Corvette faithful with special editions. But in 1996, no one dreamed that the Grand Sport would become what it is today.

Hutch and Patti Hutchinson are the proud owners of TWO Grand Sport Corvette convertibles, both obtained Continue reading


John & Patti Hutchinson’s 1996 & 2017 Grand Sport Twins”


C7 Grand Sport Corvette, Best Street Vette Ever?

The BIG Return of the Grand Sport

2017-Grand-Sport-Corvette-1
Full-color 11×17 prints are available in our Amazon Store, HERE. Each print is signed by the artist, K. Scott Teeters, and numbered in a series of 500.

Dateline: 1.17.17 – The long-view story of the Grand Sport now has four chapters. The first chapter told the story of Zora Arkus-Duntov’s vision of offering to the public, lightweight, powerful, all-out racing cars that “could” be driven on the street – not unlike what Ferrari was offering – available through Chevrolet dealerships. It was a great idea, but went over like a belch in church with GM’s brass. The plug was pulled immediately and the five pilot Grand Sports were left to go fallow with no factory development or backing.

Part Two of the story happens 33 years later, in 1996. By this time, unless you seriously followed the early days of Corvette racing, you probably never heard of a “Grand Sport.” Continue reading


C7 Grand Sport Corvette, Best Street Vette Ever?”


2017 Grand Sport Corvette #001 Auctions Off at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Auction, for ONLY $170,000

AMAZING! The fully loaded, first C7 Grand Sport Corvette goes for only $170,000!

Dateline – 4-8.16: This is arguably the collectible Corvette buy of the decade.

Here are the details:

Lot #3003 – The winning bidder will receive the first retail production 2017 Corvette Grand Sport Collector Edition VIN #001.

2017-Grand-Sport2017-Grand-Sport-2

The latest member of the Corvette lineup, the 2017 Grand Sport carries on the racing spirit of the original 1963 model, combining the power of the legendary LT1 6.2-liter engine with a Continue reading


2017 Grand Sport Corvette #001 Auctions Off at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Auction, for ONLY $170,000″


First Drive: Superformance Corvette Grand Sport from Autoweek

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by Mark Vaughn  as republished from Autoweek
With the efforts of Superformance, there is no shortage of great Grand Sports

Dateline 01.20.16: Even in the rarified, no-necked, hairy-backed world of ultimate muscle cars and the men who love them, the Corvette Grand Sport is exalted. Rumble and growl all you want about your Cobras, your GT40s and your whatever-the-hell-else you think is the ultimate road brute, but the Corvette Grand Sport just might crush them all. Continue reading


First Drive: Superformance Corvette Grand Sport from Autoweek”


1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grandsport – Duntov Motors Race Car for Sale

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as republished from Showroom.WindingRoad.com
Offered for the first time at public sale the purposed built first GM licensed Grand Sport convertible

Dateline 12.9.15: Location: Jupiter, FL…Offered for the first time at public sale the purposed built first GM licensed Grand Sport convertible. This multiple race winning car was by Alan and Edward and Edward Sevadjian and the team at Duntov motors. It was built as his personal car, and has gone thru rigorous testing. And set up. No expense or short cuts were made. Top notch materials were used throughout the build. Continue reading


1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grandsport – Duntov Motors Race Car for Sale”


C4 Grand Sport Coupe & Convertible On Block at Mecum Anaheim – TWO VIDEOS

by Scott Teeters, Editor of Corvette Report
Sellers disappointed when reserves not met.

1996-Grand-Sport-1-7

Dateline 11.23.15: The 1996 Grand Sport was the sixth Special Edition Corvette and did more to bring the moniker “Grand Sport” back into the consciousness of the Corvette community than anything else. Prior to 1996, it was mostly Corvette racing fans that knew what a “Grand Sport Corvette” really was – Zora Arkus-Duntov’s lightweight Cobra killer that he envisioned being offered in every Chevrolet dealership in America. It was a noble concept, but even Chevrolet General Manager Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen couldn’t get a special exemption from GM’s management to allow the Chevrolet build and sell Corvette race cars. (I know, it’s a bummer, man!)

As the original 1963 Grand Sport racers faded into the collective memory of motorsports, the legend turned into a myth, until slowly but surely, Continue reading


C4 Grand Sport Coupe & Convertible On Block at Mecum Anaheim – TWO VIDEOS”


Ever Wonder About the Grand Sport Corvette History?

Grand Sport History

by Staff as originally published in Corvette Online.  History by John Heinricy

We recently attended the C4 Gathering at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Aside from the opportunity to check out the Skydome progress and see the great new displays, we had the opportunity to sit in on a few presentations.

One such session was conducted by John Heinricy and Jim Minneker. He also happens to own C4 Grand Sport serial No. 1, but we will touch on that a bit later. Heinricy had some awesome first-hand information, and even told a few stories that few people have ever heard about his experiences working for GM. Continue reading


Ever Wonder About the Grand Sport Corvette History?”