You Can Buy A Brand New 1963 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport, But It Isn't Cheap
The 1963 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport is possibly the rarest and most desirable iteration of America's homegrown sports car. However, finding one for sale is virtually impossible, as, according to HotCars, only five 1963 Corvette Grand Sports were ever produced. Motor Trend claims a genuine Corvette Grand Sport would easily fetch upward of $8 million in an auction, but private owners have no interest in parting with their unicorn Vettes, and it's not hard to fathom why.
When the C2 Corvette debuted in 1963, then-chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov purposely injected some racing DNA into the car's engineering and design. The plan was to build a sports car that went head-on with European grand touring sports cars of the same era, like the Jaguar E-Type, Ferrari 250 GTO, and the Aston Martin DB5. Moreover, Arkus-Duntov had plans to conquer the endurance racing world, particularly the GT class, in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After building five Corvette Grand Sport production-intent prototypes, the big bosses at General Motors canceled the project and left Arkus-Duntov hanging by a thread.
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What happened to the five Corvette Grand Sports? Upon learning of GM's intent to eradicate all five cars, Arkus-Duntov sold the vehicles to private buyers (per the Auto Heritage Foundation), who went on to compete with their decommissioned Grand Sports in racing events.
Superformance Corvette Grand Sport: Resurrecting an icon
All hope is not lost if you've been itching to add a 1963 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport to your garage. Florida-based replica and restomod specialist Superformance will build you a Corvette Grand Sport with all the original car's fury, noise, and classical trimmings. The process starts with a factory-assembled rolling chassis equipped with rack and pinion power steering, an aluminum radiator and oil cooler, four-wheel vented disc brakes, and independent front and rear suspension (with Bilstein progressive coilover dampers and H&R springs). Meanwhile, the body shell receives a coat of premium, show-quality PPG paint to turn heads wherever you go.
Superformance
The entire thing starts at about $115,000 without an engine and driveline. Superformance has a few engine choices ranging from a vintage-inspired, all-aluminum 377 cubic inch small block with updated 48 mm Weber carburetors to an aluminum LS9 with supercharging and fuel injection. All told, prepare to spend about $200,000 for a Superformance Corvette Grand Sport, enormous figures for a vintage sports car. However, Superformance adds that the engines have a two-year, 50,000-mile warranty and are serviceable through local Chevrolet dealerships, perhaps a ray of sunshine bursting through the financial clouds of owning a Grand Sport restomod.
Superformance
Additional upgrades like cowhide upholstery, power windows, air conditioning, a removable/roofless body (fancy a Superformance Grand Sport Roadster?), and custom livery would hike the price even more, but nobody said vintage restomods come cheap.