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Here's the story:
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 80 - 1989 GTP Corvette Racer -
"Unrealized Potential"
Race
car development has always moved at a steady and swift pace. The best
race cars become outdated, even though they might look like 200 mph
machines while still sitting in the pits. Such was the case with the
GTP Corvette. During the mid-to-late '80s. it was the hottest-looking,
and often the best qualifying, car in the GTP series. But under its
swoopy skin was an outdated chassis.
In the early '80s, Chevrolet wanted to promote their V-6 engine, so
they installed one in a Lola T-600 car raced by the Interscope team of
Ted Fields. The turbocharged Lola was a real rocket and showed serious
promise. Chevrolet wanted some of this action, but the Lola didn't look
anything like a Chevy. Needing brand identity, the Chevrolet styling
group had Randy Wittine come up with a new front end that looked like
the new C4 Corvette, but kept the rest of the Lola's aerodynamics. A
full-size rolling car was shown in mid 1983 and got a lot of interest.
Two Lola- commissioned cars were completed in March of 1984, but sat
dormant for a year until Hendricks Motorsports and GM's Goodwrench
signed on as sponsors in 1985. All told, the cars won two races and
took seven pole positions. They were extremely fast, but very fragile.
The cars were originally designed in the late '70s for engines
producing around 600 hp. The turbocharged V-6 Chevy engine made 1,200
hp! Consequently, everything was constantly being updated.
Aside
from the brutish engine that the drivers loved, there was nothing
extraordinary about the car. The rear suspension used a standard
Indy-type pushrod shock system attached to the gearbox, and the front
suspension was mounted to the monocoque Kevlar and aluminum honeycomb
chassis. Cooling was always a problem and contributed to one of the
cars completely burning to the ground in 1988.
In 1987, one of the cars was
fitted with an active suspension setup from a Lotus Grand Prix car. The
GTP Corvette was awesomely fast, and very expensive. But there was a
problem with a hydraulic pump that Lotus knew about and didn't fix. The
pump was replaced, but the car never raced again.
The
Corvette GTP story was not unlike the SS Corvette and the Grand Sport.
It should have been a solid winner, but it lacked the support and
development time to really shine.
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