Back in 1963, legendary car designer Zachary “Zora” Arkus-Duntov unleashed a very special and groundbreaking car on the track: the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. It tipped the scales at barely a half of the standard car’s weight and made do with a tiny production run of just five units. One of these is now heading to a Monterey Car Week auction held by RM Sotheby’s, evaluated between 11 and 13 million USD. No Corvette in history has ever sold for this much, so we’re hyped to see how the events unfold.
Arkus-Duntov retrofitted the Corvette with a completely new, lightweight frame and glass-fiber bodywork. He also replaced most stainless-steel parts with lighter aluminum counterparts. The engineer’s original plans involved producing a sizeable batch of these cars for all interested parties, but General Motors dropped out of that year’s racing season and refused to finance the project.
Zora ended up still making five cars – three coupes and two roadsters – with money from clients and sponsors. All five proceeded to have big careers in motorsports, with the example pictured here winning silver at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1964.
The listing points out that the car is being sold after a comprehensive round of restoration that saw its body and engine fully rebuilt. The 6.2-liter quad-carburetor V8 under the hood is no longer original, but rather recreated in strict accordance with the original blueprints, the seller claims. Its current output is estimated at over 608 PS (600 hp / 447 kW).
Despite many previous owners and what has to be high mileage (the exact number is undisclosed), this ‘Vette is being sold in as-new condition following four years of meticulous restoration. As such, it might just be worth the auction’s estimate.