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Here's the story:
lIlustrated Corvette Series No. 20 - 1963 Grand Sport Corvette Roadster
"Chevrolet's Cobra Killer - Part II"
Road
racing in America went through a tremendous growth period during the mid-'60s.
A competitive race car could be obsolete in only two years. Duntov and his crew
secretly designed and built five Grand Sports early in 1962. The three Grand
Sport Coupes got enough attention at their debut race in Nassau, that GM brass
ordered the program halted.
The three coupes were sold in 1964 and the two roadsters were supposed to be
sent to the crusher. Somehow, Duntov managed to avoid that fate. In 1965 one of
the roadsters surfaced at a car show at Notre Dame University. Someone in the
press quipped that a Grand Sport with the new 427 NASCAR engine might be an
interesting race car. Enter Roger Penske.
Penske was planning to race a 427 Coupe that year and added the two remaining
Grand Sport Roadsters to his team. Assisting in the preparations was veteran
Corvette racer, Dick Guldstrand. The team knew that the Grand Sport was getting
tired, but it was too tempting to pass up. Guldstrand supervised the complete
rebuilding of one of the roadsters and the necessary changes required for the
Traco Engineering-built, 500-horsepower, 427 engine.
By the time the Grand Sport Roadster made it to Sebring in March 1966, the car
was seriously outdated. But it was a valiant effort that might have had a
chance with some factory support. The biggest problem was still the suspension
and it's infamous front end lift.
Driver Delmo Johnson was quoted as saying, "As far as I'm concerned, if
any driver ever says he had complete control of that car, he's lying to
you." Between the front end lift and the power from the 427, Roger Penske
said, "It was so light in the front end that when you really stood on the
gas, the front end would come off the ground like a dragster."
Power was not a problem for the roadster. During practice, Guldstrand reported
that he could easily blow off even the Ford Mark II cars. A. J. Foyt got dusted
and was quoted as saying, "What's in that damn dinosaur? It went by me
like I was stopped." During actual racing, the car was embarrassingly
inadequate.
Penske sold roadster 001 to John Mecam and roadster 002 to George Wintersteen
who raced the car unsuccessfully and later sold it for $6,700. George still
regrets the sale.
The Grand Sports were the ultimate "could have been" racing
Corvettes. Completely lost in the '70s, they have all been found and restored.
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