The first wide-body Corvette race car went on the Mecom Monterey 2015 block!
Timeline: 8-15-15-Car auctions have never been more fun ever since they went LIVE online.Below is the video of the auction! Bidding stalled out at $300,000 and was a NO SALE!
It was anticipated that the car would fetch between $550,000 and $700,000, so stalling out at a measly $300,000 is incredible! According to the Mecum description of the car, $250,000 was put into the car’s restoration.
What’s mind-boggling is that earlier in the evening a 1969 L88 Roadster sold for $750,000 – CLICK HERE for details. So, if you’re itching to own a major piece of Corvette racing history, the Greenwood Sebring ’75 Corvette will no doubt be back on the block.
Here are the car’s details from the Mecum info page.
This is the worlds fastest racing Corvette and set a Top Speed Record of 236 MPH at Daytona in 1975!
In the history of endurance racing, some entries have notably stood out in sheer importance, and the car being made available here will satisfy the most discerning criteria. We are proud to present to you the 1974 Greenwood Corvette chassis number 002, the ‘Spirit of Sebring ’75,’ the first and most famous of only six Greenwood wide-body race machines ever built. Continue reading “
John Greenwood’s 235-MPH Sebring ’75 Corvette Racer – NO SALE – VIDEO” →
John Greenwood’s 427 ZL-1 BF Goodrich Corvette Race Car
Special thanks to www.RollingThunderz.co
Aluminum engines are so common today that no one even notices. But back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, aluminum engine components were considered trick hardware. All-aluminum high-performance engines were only found in exotic European cars. Having learned his engineering and racing craft in Europe, Zora Arkus Duntov first proposed an all-aluminum engine as part of the 1957 Q-Corvette proposal. Also included in the proposal was an aluminum transaxle. This was actually part of a larger plan called the Q-Chevrolets for 1960. Chevrolet chief engineer, Ed Cole, envisioned the entire line of Chevrolet cars equipped with the transmission mated to the rear axle as a way of vastly improving the interior space of every Chevy.
The plan was eventually scrapped for cost reasons, but Duntov was definitely keyed in on the idea of adding aluminum engine and drive train components into his Corvettes as a way to lighten the car. Through the ‘60s, aluminum parts slowly crept into the Corvette. But it wasn’t until the introduction of the ‘67 L-88 that the automotive press and fans really took notice of the lightweight hardware.
One of Duntov’s favorite playgrounds – the GM test track!
But when Zora and his team unleashed the all-aluminum ZL-1, jaws dropped and eyes popped! The thought of a solid-lifter, 12.5:1 compression, big carb 427 that weighed as much as a small-block was just OUT’A SIGHT! FAR-OUT! GROOVY, MAN!
Hot Rod Magazine splashed the all-aluminum ZL-1 on the cover and caught a lot of heat for spinning the fan on an engine that was obviously not running or attached to anything. The yellow headers or ANY headers for that matter were NOT part of the ZL-1 package. Unfortunately for fans of lightweight Corvettes, the ZL-1 was for all intent and purposes a teaser option. Yes, the ZL-1 was an official option costing $4,718, PLUS $1,032 for the L-88, on top of the $4,781 base price of the ‘69 Vette. Only three ZL-1’s were “officially” built and all are accounted for. However, there may have been 10 or so ZL-1 Corvettes built as demo cars. CARS Magazine editor, Marty Schorr was one of the fortunate few that got to drive a ZL-1 ‘69 Corvette and it was NOT one of the three surviving ZL-1 Corvettes.
Special thanks to http://www.rmauctions.com/
Fortunately, for racers, such as John Greenwood, ZL-1 engines could be purchased as crate engines. While Greenwood wasn’t the only Corvette racer to use a ZL-1, his stars and stripes, BF Goodrich-sponsored Corvette became a legend. One ZL-1 engine even made its way into Jim Butcher’s Top Fuel dragster and actually held the NHRA elapsed-time national record for a few week in 1973. The all-aluminum ZL-1 gave Butcher a 500-pound advantage over the cast iron Hemi dragsters of the day!
It’s too bad that it would take 28-years before a production Corvette would finally be powered by an all-aluminum engine. The LS1 engine powered the ‘01 C5-R Corvette to Corvette’s first big class win at le Mans. Today’s all-aluminum, 638-horsepower LS9 engine is the most powerful production car engine ever produced in Detroit’s history and is ONLY available in a Corvette!
Scott
Would a Fuelie ZL-1 work for ya? YIKES!!!
NHRA Gatornationals – Hemi fans COULD NOT BELIEVE that Jim Bucher’s little Chevy Top Fueler set the NHRA Top Fuel ET National Record with a 6.09 ET! Too bad the car didn’t dip into the 5’s!
I covered the 1969 ZL-1 Corvette in VETTE Magazine in July ’09 in ICS No. 149
John Greenwood is a Corvette racing legend. Actually, it was the “John and Bert” Greenwood story here because John’s brother Bert was very much part of the story. Through the ‘70s, Greenwood Corvettes were fearsome and very entertaining. It was a classic, American little guy vs the big dogs. The Woodward Avenue street racer put the fear of big-block Chevy power into the competition. While all of the above is correct, sometimes early childhood impressions have profound effects on a lad’s life.
The Greenwood brothers had an inside connection – their Dad. Sr. Greenwood worked at the GM Tech Center and on weekends would take John and Bert to see some of the prototype cars in development. (Can you imagine that?) The inspired boys started their careers with a tube frame go-cart, powered by a Briggs & Stratton lawn mower engine. Not long after getting his drivers license, John was street racing a big-block ‘64 Corvette. Street racing lead to road racing with John winning the A/Production championship in his first year. Continue reading “John & Burt Greenwood’s C4 Corvette “G” Supercars”→
