The Legend GM Tried to Kill: 1963 Corvette Grand Sport Heading to Auction for Millions
Zora Arkus-Duntov set out to build 125 lightweight race cars to take down the Shelby Cobra, but Chevrolet brass shut the project down after just five were completed. Now one of those five is crossing the block at Monterey this week, with estimates reaching as high as $13 million.
Back in 1963, Zora Arkus-Duntov was secretly developing a race car behind Chevrolet management's back, with one simple goal: take down the Shelby Cobra, which was dominating the scene at the time. The car, later known as the Grand Sport, was built on the C2 Sting Ray platform but fitted with an ultra-thin single-panel fiberglass body and a dramatically lightened structure, all wrapped around a big-displacement V8. The original plan called for 125 units to meet international homologation requirements, but once word got out, GM executives pulled the plug — leaving only five cars ever completed.
Those five cars still ended up on the racetrack, and that's exactly what made them some of the most important cars in Corvette factory racing history. The buzz around the C8 Grand Sport's reveal earlier this year owed a lot to this backstory — a project axed by its own company that somehow left an indelible mark anyway.
This week, one of those original cars — chassis number 003 — is heading to the block at RM Sotheby's annual Monterey sale. It's the earliest completed of the three coupe versions, and it still wears the blue-and-white Mecum Racing livery it carried at the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring. Chassis 003 was once driven by American racing legends A.J. Foyt, Jim Hall, and Augie Pabst. Under Dick Doane, it took three SCCA class wins in 1963, finished second in class at Sebring in 1964, and third in class at the same race in 1965.
The car weighs just 1,900 pounds — a full 1,300 pounds lighter than a standard 1963 Corvette. Its engine was fully rebuilt in 2024: a 377-cubic-inch V8 fitted with four original Weber carburetors, paired with a four-speed manual transmission, putting out an estimated 600 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque. The auction house hasn't released official acceleration or top-speed figures.
RM Sotheby's estimates chassis 003 will sell for somewhere between $11 million and $13 million, with the sale running from Thursday, August 13 through Saturday, August 15. A car that was once ordered killed by its own manufacturer could now command a price north of NT$400 million — a fitting, if belated, vindication.
