(engine revving)
- Zora Arkus-Duntov,
an engineer, a race car driver.
Most importantly, the father of the Corvette.
In less than two years working at GM,
he transformed the docile 'Vette
into a fire-breathing sports car
that's the talk of the town.
Things are going great.
And then some guy named Carroll Shelby shows up
and start racing his Cobra against Zora's new Stingray.
And it's better.
Much better.
So what's a Duntov to do?
Well, he goes off and builds
a version of his beloved 'Vette to beat the Cobra.
A car built in secret, hidden from the executives at GM.
Destined for the crusher.
Today, I'm gonna tell you that story, and it's a doozy.
We're going bumper to bumper on the Corvette Grand Sport.
This car shouldn't even be here!
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Now,
back to the show.
America is known for three things.
You got your big old sodas, you got your pepperoni pizzas,
and you got your auto racing.
But in 1957, factory-backed auto racing
was taken away from us.
Kind of.
Unlike today, there were no safety regulations enforced
or performance limitations on new automobiles.
It was an all out free-for-all for car manufacturers
in building the fastest production cars money could buy.
But the tides, they were changing in the 50s.
Partially due to the most disastrous race
in the history of racing.
The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans.
- [Announcer] 79 men, women, and children
are dead or dying in the worst disaster
in mega-racing history.
So, in 1957, the AMA adopted a resolution.
An agreement between the car companies
that they would all stop
advertising the performance of their cars,
and focus (sighs) on safety features.
But the real meat and potatoes of this resolution
was that they would all stop funding
their factory race teams.
But racing is fun and it drives sales!
People buy cars that win.
So this gentleman's agreement lasted two seconds.
1962, Ford said "Frig it.
"I'm done with this AMA deal."
And Chrysler followed soon after.
Coincidentally, '62 would also be the year
that a little boy from Texas named Carroll Shelby
would sick his (imitates snake) Cobra on the competition!
Now after seeing Shelby's new car out on the track,
Corvette Chief Engineer and savior Zora Arkus-Duntov
got a little nervous.
You see, Zora had a red hot desire to go win Le Mans
in the GT class with his 'Vette.
But his plump, overweight Chevy was no match
for the Cobra. (imitates snake)
And here's where it gets tricky.
At the time, GM was the automobile manufacturer
in the United States,
with 53% of all auto sales in America
coming from the Michigan brand.
But there's these things in America called antitrust laws.
Basically, if GM's sales continue to grow,
the government would assume
that they were reaching a monopoly status
and would have to split the company up.
So because of this, GM couldn't openly develop a race car
to battle the Cobra.
But Zora Arkus-Duntov was frigging smart.
And a little sneaky.
So he came up with the idea
of building 125 lightweight Corvettes as production cars.
So Zora went to the general manager of Cheverolet,
Bunkie Knudsen, sweet, sweet, Bunkie,
and pitched him the idea.
And Bunkie agreed to help out and offered up
some unofficial assistance and a budget
to develop and build this new, secret Corvette.
Project codename Lightweight.
Zora knew that if he wanted to beat the Cobra
in his 3,200 pound fatty 'Vette,
it needed to be put on a Duntov diet.
So starting with the frame,
a new ladder-type, all tubular frame was built.
They cut it off at the rear axle
and used thin-walled, larger diameter tubing to save wieght
while maintaining strength.
They tackled the body next.
All of the panels were made of hand-laid,
paper-thin fiberglass that were significantly lighter.
Anything that was steel got swapped out for aluminum.
The door handles were from a 1950s Chevy pickup because
they were made from aluminum and easily accessible.
Zora even had them shaved down and recessed into the door
for better aerodynamics.
Pop-up up and down headlights are awesome,
but Zora's 'Vette needed to save weight.
So he ditched the heavy motors that operated them
and molded the headlight housings into the nose.
If you look at the shape of the nose of the Grand Sport,
it's essentially a wing.
And this cause the car to want to lift
at speeds overs 140 miles per hour,
which sounds terrifying!
To prevent the car from literally taking off,
engineers needed to remove air from underneath it.
So they just started cutting holes in the body.
The hood got gills that helped
keep the front end down at high speeds.
But they didn't stop at the hood.
They went crazy and cut slots in the side fenders,
rear quarter panels, and read bumper to force
more air out from under the car.
Not only did these fins
help to improve the car's performance,
they helped the beefy Corvette lose even more weight.
That's 60s engineering baby! - Yeah, baby!
This car was built for FIA GT races,
which require the wheels and tire
to lie within the bodywork.
So special fenders were designed
to hang over the larger wheels.
The fenders weren't designed
just to satisfy the rules though.
Their shape was engineered to force more air
away from the belly of the beast.
This car was pretty much an airplane wing in disguise
and kept wanting to go fly.
Like an eagle to the sea.
Fly like an eagle, let my spirit carry me.
I want to fly!
Into the future.
Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping.
It used the air flowing over the car to their advantage
and put large scoops on the rear quarter panels
to catch air and send it to cool the brakes.
They even mounted a differential cooler
directly on the rear deck
to reduce the temp of the diff oil.
A typical '63 has a split rear window,
but that's more weight.
That was ditched.
They were replaced with plexiglass instead.
Then they reduced the weight even more
by using magnesium wheels.
The Duntov diet was starting to work.
A stock '63 'Vette weighed in at around 3,200 pounds.
But the Grand Sport?
1,900, that's 1,300 pounds less.
That is 9.84 mes.
I weigh 132 pounds.
Now cutting all that weight doesn't do you any good
if you don't have a race motor to move it.
While waiting for an engine to be built,
a modified production L84 fuel-injected 327
was put in the Grand Sport.
They took the car down to Sebring
to do some initial testing, and it did good.
Good enough that the big wig GM executives
heard about the car all the way on the 104
and sent Duntov a message to shut it down.
And he did.
Well,
I mean, at least that's what he told them.
- [Male voice] I lied.
Not only was he told to halt all the work on the cars,
but he was told to destroy them.
Send them to the crusher!
Get them off the planet!
So Zora did what any good father would do.
Like the father of Moses, Superman,
and the Penguin from Batman Returns,
he sent three of them down the river
for someone else to raise them.
Someone by the name of John Mecom.
Oh, and he also hid the other two in a secret storage area
at Chevrolet's research center.
Before Zora sent three Grand Sports down to Texas,
he loaned chassis 003 and 004 to two private tier racers
to get some racing feedback.
Chicago Chevy dealer Dick Doane got 003,
and Grady Davis from Gulf Oil got 004.
They put the new Grand Sport
through its paces at SCCA races
because the car wasn't considered a production car
due to only five of them being built.
They had to race in the modified class.
The car had mixed results.
But after some modifications and improvements,
Davis, with Dick Thompson at the wheel,
took the 004 Grand Sport to an overall victory
at the 1963 SCCA Nationals at Watkins Glen.
Boom diggity, this Cobra-killing mongoose
was starting to prove it's worth.
Side note: Dick Thompson got the nickname The Flying Dentist
because he was a dentist.
He liked winning races and filling cavities.
After finding out about the cars
being raced around the country at SCCA events,
GM ordered them to be sent back to Zora,
and again, to stop working on them
and not race them.
But Duntov was notoriously hard at hearing.
So he took the cars 003 and 004 and an un-raced 005 car,
and modified them even more
to reflect what they learned on the track.
All those vents and holes cut in the car
that we talked about before, those were implemented.
Wider 9.5 inch wheels and tires were put on.
And it increased grip from .9 G to 1.1 G.
They continued to work on the motor
that would power the Cobra killer.
That motor was the 377.
A 6.2 liter, all aluminum, small-block V8
with four 58 millimeter Weber -- carburetors,
and a special aluminum cross ram manifold.
It made a claimed 550 hrsprs at 6400 RPM.
Enough power to scoot the Lightweight Corvette
to the top step of the podium.
(engines revving)
Now that Duntov had a complete race car,
it was time to test it against the Cobra.
From '54 to '66, the Bahamas hosted
the Nassau Trophy Race.
Mecom entered all three Grand Sports in the 1963 race.
The Grand Sports were almost
10 seconds a lap quicker than the competition.
They were faster than Cobras, but also
faster than the Ferrari GTOs.
Duntov was quoted as saying
"Even though we designed the Grand Sports quickly
"and they lacked proper development,
"Nassau proved they were more than equal
"not only to the Cobras, but the Ferrari GTOs."
(funky bass music)
The Grand Sport was much more bare-bones
than the one that I am currently sitting in.
Duntov had to install production-looking interior because,
well, it had to be a production car.
But it was all for looks.
The Grand Sport team had to save weight everywhere.
So the interior got slimmed too.
The doors were stripped of the hardware
and the windows, again, were made of plexiglass,
held in place with a velcro strap.
A small, lightweight knob was used
to open the door from the inside.
And a small, baby finger-sized indentation in the panel
was used for the door handle.
It had simple seats, a dash, and thin carpet.
It was a race car in disguise.
(funky bass music)
After the Grand Sports proved their worth in Nassau,
Duntov went to work on getting
chassis 001 and 002 ready for Daytona.
He cut the roofs off and made them roadsters
to improve aerodynamics and implemented a lot of the changes
that helped the coupes be so successful in the Nassau race.
But again, GM got word that Zora was still racing the cars
and five weeks after Nassau, GM laid down the law.
Dude, if you continue to race this car,
you are going to get this company split up.
Seriously, Zora, please stop racing these (bleep) cars!
I mean it this time, dude!
Stop!
GM had the cars shipped back and pulled the motors.
The five Grand Sports would get shuffled around
at the various private tier teams in the 60s,
eventually being pushed aside,
as GM failed to provide factory support
while the Cobra continue to evolve
and regain its supremacy.
If you're curious, what super rare care like this goes for,
in 2009, chassis number two was the only Grand Sport
offered in public sale.
The bidding got up to $4.9 million,
but still wasn't enough to bring home
the Lightweight Cobra Killer.
But lucky for you, you don't need that kind of money
to get yourself a good Grand Sport.
You only need 200 grand.
And we have Superformance to thank for that.
(car starts)
(laughs)
(engine revving)
(laughs)
I feel like one of those guys in the 60s!
Just, open-faced helmet, I got a bandana around my face!
I'm just going door to door with Shelbys!
(coughs) That a wrap?
The car we have here
is not one of the original Grand Sports.
This is a GM licensed Superformance car.
It's not a kit car, it's not a replica.
It's an official continuation car
brought back to life by Superformance.
Built to the exact specifications
of the original '63 Grand Sport,
based on spec drawings by Zora himself.
The Superformance Grand Sport keeps
the original style steering wheel,
seat belts, pedals, shifter, and handbrake lever.
It has updates like Wilwood brakes,
17 inch wheels in the front, 18 inch wheels in the back.
But the original chassis layout and suspension
is 100% period correct.
The motor, well, you can get anything really.
From a 350 horsepower ZZ4 small-block
to the all aluminum supercharged LS9.
And if you want to go old-school,
you can get a modern version
of the infamous, all aluminum 377.
This GS rocks a 650 hrspr LT4.
The same motor found in the C7 Z06
and the sixth gen Camaro ZL1.
The Grand Sport, a race car
that was never supposed to be built,
constructed within the dark recesses
of Chevrolet's research center.
The Lightweight Corvette was designed to beat the Cobra,
and it did.
GM said no, but Zora Arkus-Duntov didn't listen.
While he didn't get his chance to win Le Mans,
Zora proved his point.
He could build a car
that could not only compete against the best,
but would beat them.
It was a short-lived success, but a success nonetheless.
(engine revving)
Big thanks to Superformance for loaning us this car,
and big, big thanks to the Petersen Automotive Museum
for letting us shoot here.
You like this story?
You want to learn more about Zora?
He's a really great guy, that Petersen is hosting
a Zora tribute weekend on July 27th and 28th.
I'll probably be here.
Say what's up.
And then there's a link in the description below
to get all the information on that.
You want to learn more about Corvettes,
check out this episode of my other show, Up To Speed.
You want to know more about going fast,
check out this episode of my son Nolan's show.
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