conceptcarz.com

Image credit: © conceptcarz.com (Reproduction Or reuse prohibited).

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweight Fastback Coupe

  • Chassis Number: 004
Designed as a Cobra killer, only five Grand Sports were ever built: GM axed the program, citing its ban on racing. John Mecum, Jr., entered this car under his private team's flag at Nassau Speed Week in 1963 where, curiously, all the former Grand Sport engineers had arrived for a vacation. Roger Penske drove this car to third place in the Governor's Cup Race. As was written, 'The Chevrolet equipment won so easily, there was even some embarrasment on the part of the factory personnel, who had hoped the journey south would escape unnoticed. But at the same time, they were smirking.' The livery has been painstakingly restored to reflect its entry in the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1964, with Delmo Johnson and Dave Morgan at the wheel.
The Corvette Grand Sport was built to counter Carroll Shelby's Cobra but the project was killed by GM's refusal to lift its ban on racing. Hidden within Chevrolet's Research Center, the 'Skunk Works' was able to produce only five cars, and they could not be homologated as production GTs like the Cobras. Although given serial number 4, this was the very first Grand Sport to be unleashed on the race track. It was powered by a 6.2-liter aluminum V8 that produced 485 hp at 6000 RPMs. It rides on a 98-inch wheelbase and weighs 2150 pounds.

Intended as a series of 125, the 'Lightweight,' at a thousand pounds less than the production Sting Ray, was supposed to counter Carroll Shelby's brand new Cobras in GT World Championship races. But the Grand Sport program died almost the day it was born, killed by GM's refusal to lift its ban on racing. When the ax fell at year-end 1962, only five cars existed at Chevrolet's Research Center. Two were quickly 'sold' to private teams. The orphaned cars could not be homologated as production GTs like the Cobras, and consequently had to race in C Modified, a class for which they were never intended. During the 1963 Nassau Speed Week, however, vindication came when the Grand Sports were allowed to compete directly wîth the Cobras. Entered by 'owner' John Mecom and backed by a team of Chevrolet engineers who had conveniently chosen Nassau for a one-week 'vacation,' and refitted wîth 377-CID aluminum engines, the cars simply demolished their Cobra rivals. Drivers Roger Penske, Jim Hall, Dick Thompson, John Cannon, and Augie Pabst joined the Chevrolet engineers in smirking at their victory over the hated Cobras.

Three years later at Sebring a Grand Sport passed A.J. Foyt so fast that he exclaimed, 'What's in that damned dinosaur? It went by me like I was stopped!'

Source - Historical notes courtesy of The Collier Collection

No auction information available for this vehicle at this time.

Recent Sales of the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweight

(Data based on Model Year 1963 sales)
1963 CHEVROLET CORVETTE CUSTOM SPLIT-WINDOW COUPE
Chassis#: 30837S103235
Sold for USD$181,500
  2023 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale, Az.
 

Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweights That Failed To Sell At Auction

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweight's that have appeared at auction but did not sell.
VehicleChassisEventHigh BidEst. LowEst. High
1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweight 2009 Automobiles of Arizona$4,900,000  

Vehicles With Comparable Market Values

Similar sales to the $181,500 range.
1964 Imperial Crown Ghia Presidential Limousine
Chassis#:9343106753
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Glendale
1968 Chevrolet C10 Pickup
Chassis#:ce148z145827
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Glendale
2006 Lamborghini Murcielago
Chassis#:zhwbu16s16la01820
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Glendale
1955 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster
Chassis#:ve55s001480
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Glendale
1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II expérimentale 'Dual Cowl Sports Phaeton' par Whittingham & Mitchel
Chassis#:25EX
Sold for $179,987
2024 Artcurial : Retromobile
1957 Facel Vega FV3 Coupé
Chassis#:FV3 57 199
Sold for $181,176
2024 Bonhams : Les Grandes Marques du Monde a Paris
1961 Porsche 356B T5 Super 90 Roadster Coachwork by Drauz
Chassis#:88972
Sold for $181,176
2024 Bonhams : Les Grandes Marques du Monde a Paris
1971 FORD BRONCO SPORT CUSTOM SUV
Chassis#:AZ393333
Sold for $181,500
2024 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale AZ
2016 FORD SHELBY GT350 WIDEBODY PROTOTYPE
Chassis#:1FA6P8JZXG5522039
Sold for $181,500
2024 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale AZ
2006 HUMMER H1 ALPHA WAGON
Chassis#:137PH84336E234321
Sold for $181,500
2024 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale AZ
1969 FORD BRONCO CUSTOM SUV
Chassis#:U15FLD96930
Sold for $181,500
2024 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale AZ
1968 SHELBY GT350-H
Chassis#:8T02J15539801219
Sold for $181,500
2024 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale AZ
1969 PONTIAC GTO JUDGE RAM AIR III
Chassis#:242379P309646
Sold for $181,500
2024 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale AZ
1972 DE TOMASO PANTERA
Chassis#:THPNMA02943
Sold for $181,500
2024 Barrett-Jackson : Scottsdale AZ
2020 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG
Chassis#:wdcyc7hj4lx334764
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Kissimmee
1968 Dodge Hemi Charger R/T
Chassis#:xs29j8b246573
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Kissimmee
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
Chassis#:js23u0e142799
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Kissimmee
1970 Shelby GT350 Convertible
Chassis#:0f03m481947
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Kissimmee
1969 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe
Chassis#:194379s703496
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Kissimmee
2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible
Chassis#:1g1yf3d32p5602721
Sold for $181,500
2024 Mecum : Kissimmee

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweight

Additional valuation insight and sales data
History
Specifications
Image gallery
Other Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweight model years

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Lightweight Vehicle Profiles