Search Results for: 1963 Grand Sport Corvette

1963 Grand Sport Corvette #005 Bench Racing With Corvette Engineer Bill Tower – VIDEO

Published on by Scott

Bill is a living encyclopedia of Chevrolet and Corvette R&D experience and can keep an audience enthralled with insider stories about the early days of secret performance Corvette design and development. After attending General Motors Institute (GMI) in the early 1960s, Bill was hired by Chevrolet and landed a peach of a job (abet a LOT of work!) as a Development Engineer in the Corvette Design Group.

Tower worked with, and, or knew all of the key people within the world of Corvette R&D. Needless to say, Bill has stacks of stories, insights, and understandings into what went down during the wild days with Duntov and the team. Tower was also pals with race car driver/engineer, Mark Donohue and NASCAR legend, Smokey Yunick. Read More

Vette Polls: Was There a 6th 1963 Grand Sport Corvette? Cast Your Vote!

Published on by Scott

While poking about for some background on another project, I stumbled upon a post talking about a story from Autoweek writer, William Jeanes that addressed the notion that there was a SIXTH Grand Sport Corvette. If you’ve been into the Corvette hobby for a while, you’re familiar with the GS Corvette story: Five lightweight Grand Sport Corvette race cars were secretly built by Zora Arkus-Duntov as a counter punch against the Shelby Cobras. The cars showed potential, but GM’s president, Frederick Donner, order that Chevrolet MUST comply with the official GM policy that “we DO NOT race cars.” Read More

The Duntov Files E-Book, Pt. 4: Time Machines, 1963 Grand Sport vs 1989 Trans-Am Corvette

Published on by Scott

Late in 1989 Corvette Quarterly (formerly “Corvette News”) arranged a special event. Grand Sport #002 was brought together at Sebring International Raceway for a side-by-side comparison test with the then “state-of-the-art” tube chassis Trans-Am C4 Corvette. Twenty-six-years separate the two cars, they are both tube-frame cars with replica bodies, and powered by Chevrolet engines. But that’s where the similarity ends, and the difference is startling. Read More

Grand Sport Build Up

Vintage Grand Sport Corvette Films from 1962 and 1963 – 2 VIDEOS

Published on by Scott

Last week while finishing up a story about Bill Tower’s Grand Sport #005 Corvette for Vette Magazine, I came across two YouTube videos posted by GM Heritage Center. The videos are silent and were probably shot with an 8mm camera that someone brought along to the events. The film looks like hand-held and amateurish and not at all the same quality of the Jam Handy films from that era. But, you do get to see the Grand Sports in action. Read More

Corvette Timeline Tales – August

Published on by Scott

The only thing hotter than an August day in Michigan was the all-new, 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. The GM Proving Ground was first opened in 1924 and was the industry’s first dedicated automobile testing facility. Located in Milford, Michigan, the facility is huge and today has 4,000 acres, 107 buildings, and employs around 4,800 people. Some say that in the summer months, out on the 4,000 acre black asphalt surface, the temperature can reach 140-degrees! Read More

The Mystery of the MacDonald/Simpson 1961 Corvette Special

Published on by Scott

What ever became of the first, independent, purpose-built, 1,750-pound Corvette racer? Unless you are familiar with the early days of Corvette racing, the name Dave MacDonald might not be familiar to you. But 60 years… Read More… Read More