This Chevy Corvette racer could be worth $7M

RM Sotheby’s will soon try to sell an example of the iconic 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64. The race car has sat in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum since 1967, so it’s still in great condition and might fetch between $5–7 million, estimations say.

The Project XP-64 is believed to be one of the world’s most popular Corvette racers in history. Its creation was supervised by none other than Zora Arkus-Duntov, already a star racing driver by 1957. General Motors considered building a car like this based on the Jaguar E-Type chassis, but ultimately decided to invest into an all-new project instead.

Thus was the Project XP-64 born. It received a chrome-molybdenum frame and magnesium bodywork that made it exceptionally lightweight and low-drag for the era. Coming in at 839 kilos (1,850 lbs), it was more than 450 kilos (1,000 lbs) lighter than the stock Corvette.

Power came from a 4.6-liter injection engine that sent around 300 PS (296 hp / 221 kW) to the wheels via a four-speed manual transmission. The engineer crew had managed to complete all design and testing works in a record-short five months.

Despite its amazing credentials, the racing glory of the Corvette racer was short-lived. It was blazing fast, but quick to break down. Not only that, but its magnesium body wasn’t great at dissipating heat, so the cabin was hot like an oven. Arkus-Duntov and his team had wanted to improve the design at first, but ultimately gave up on it.