English
Italian
The Unlikely Legend | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
The Unlikely Legend | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
Some cars are destined to become myths, legends thanks to the successes achieved in motorsport, or more simply because they represent the ultimate expression of beauty that makes them an object desired by many. But sometimes destiny has different plans in mind, just like in the case of the Corvette Grand Sport, that model that was born with a very specific goal, but unfortunately did not even have the opportunity to get close to such a feat, due to a decisive overturning of plans by the top management of General Motors.
It was 1963 and Chevrolet had just revealed the heir to the Corvette C1. Named C2, the new Corvette maintained that timeless charm, bringing with it a design made of strong cuts, squared lines and a look that winked at the sportiness of a more powerful engine and which, even if it kept intact the ability to grind kilometers on the endless American highways, was ready for racing, that increasingly growing stage that would have guaranteed immortality to a model designed specifically to increase luster to the new series.
Zora-Arkus Duntov, engineer better known as “the father of the Corvette” began to realize this intuition by giving life to a top secret project called “The Lightweight”. The intention was to produce at least 125 ready-to-race Corvettes that could thus obtain homologation to be deployed in Grand Touring competitions. Unfortunately GM had other plans and everything was stopped with just 5 units made, which despite the lack of competitive pedigree are now worth a real fortune.
In fact, the Corvette Grand Sport represents a model not only extremely rare, but with a singular heritage precisely because it had no way of being able to pursue that destiny of success for which it was supposed to battle for. With a low weight of around 900 kg and a 6,178-cc V8 delivering something like 550 horsepower, it made use of a fiberglass body and an aluminum frame rather than a steel one. Despite everything, drivers like Roger Penske, Jim Hall and Dick Thompson were able to race it and the latter was the first to get a victory at the wheel of the Grand Sport, crossing the finish line in front of everyone in 1963, at Watkins Glen, conquering the Sports Car Club of America race. And who knows what else it could have won.
Words Carlo Brema / Photos Chevrolet
Related tags to article
