Top 5 Underrated Special Edition Corvettes

Over the years there have been dozens of special edition Corvettes come out of Bowling Green, but some are vastly underrated.

As you are no doubt aware by now 2023 marks year number 70 of the Corvette. There was a minor hiccup in 1983 but other than that the car has been in continuous production since 1953. And throughout those years Chevrolet has bestowed upon us a number of special edition Corvettes. Quite a large number to be fair. There are anniversary edition cars, and Indy Pace Car specials, and on and on. That is good news if you are looking for a special edition Corvette because there are plenty to choose from. But some of them have seemed to fade from memory. Even though they are good cars. So, we are taking a look back at what we feel are the top 5 underrated special edition Corvettes of all-time.

To be fair some special editions are more special than others. In 1978 there was the Silver Anniversary Corvette. More than 15,000 were made, and power was weak. It was good looking with the two-tone silver paint job, but with so many built and not much to differentiate it from other Corvettes, it was not that special. These types of cars are not the focus of this list. This list is for cars that truly were special but don’t get much love nowadays. In 2023 these special edition Corvettes are the most underrated.

1 – 1996 Corvette Grand Sport

This car is special as it marked the end of the line for the C4 generation Corvette. Only 1,000 of these cars were made. And of those only 190 were convertibles. That makes it one of the rarer special edition cars produced. These cars were equipped with the LT4 engine. They were all painted in Admiral Blue with the white ‘skunk strip’ down the middle. There is also the red stripes located above the left front wheel as a tribute to the Grand Sport racecars. The wheels are from the ZR-1 and painted black in this application. To accommodate these wider wheels the coupes had fender extensions in the rear. The convertible models used narrower rear wheels, so the fender extensions were not needed on those models.

Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.