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I feel compelled to comment on the fact that the original Grand Sport Corvettes whipped the Cobras and Ferraris back in 1963. As a former Cobra owner (427 CSX 3121), it just wasn't remotely a fair fight. While the 'Vettes as outlined in the original post were purpose built race cars, bearing only superficial resemblance to what GM was selling to the motoring public, Shelby's 289 competition roadsters had very minor upgrades to the street versions.
That is true, Marco, and things did turn around very quickly for the Cobras winning the 1965 FIA World Championship once Ford got serious about building racing versions by pumping more money into Shelby.
Of course, once GM learned what Duntov was up to with GS, the program was cancelled after building only 5 cars. Who knows what might have happened had the GS program been allowed to develop like the Cobra program did.
Ironically, one of the original GS team members, Bob Bondurant, went to work for Shelby in 1963, and drove the Cobra Daytona to victory at LeMans and the World Championship.
Shortly after, Ford dropped the Cobra program in favor of the GT40.
Can't wait to see this tribute. The Grand Sport was a truly special edition of the racing Corvettes and any rendition pays homage to their proud history.
Years ago, a good friend of mine gave me the brochure pictured below. He knew the owner of the Grand Sport 002 who had given it to him. He told me that not many of these are in circulation.
That is true, Marco, and things did turn around very quickly for the Cobras winning the 1965 FIA World Championship once Ford got serious about building racing versions by pumping more money into Shelby.
Of course, once GM learned what Duntov was up to with GS, the program was cancelled after building only 5 cars. Who knows what might have happened had the GS program been allowed to develop like the Cobra program did.
Ironically, one of the original GS team members, Bob Bondurant, went to work for Shelby in 1963, and drove the Cobra Daytona to victory at LeMans and the World Championship.
Shortly after, Ford dropped the Cobra program in favor of the GT40.
There was later vindication for the Corvettes, at least in production racing. By 1970, the A Production big block "Vettes were having their way with the 427 Cobras. I was up close and personal with that era, being involved with the Midwest Regional champion Cobra that had a serious butt kicking at the Road Atlanta runoffs.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C7 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
2017 C7 of Year Finalist
2015 C7 of the Year
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
Thanks, friends!
Originally Posted by witch hunt
this should be very cool---hope to see before and after pics, thanks
There will be a lot of before and after pics coming soon.
Originally Posted by Patches
Can't wait to see this tribute. The Grand Sport was a truly special edition of the racing Corvettes and any rendition pays homage to their proud history.
Years ago, a good friend of mine gave me the brochure pictured below. He knew the owner of the Grand Sport 002 who had given it to him. He told me that not many of these are in circulation.
WOW! Thanks for sharing the pic of the 002 brochure. Very cool indeed!
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C7 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
2017 C7 of Year Finalist
2015 C7 of the Year
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
I thought I would go ahead and share the major steps from taking my 2017 GS from factory to finished tribute and also share a couple of pics with my friends here on the forum.
But before I do that, I want to give a big shout out to the World's #1 salesman, Mike Furman, who just so happens to be the salesman who I chose to order Tribute from. Mike, thank you for making the whole experience fun and memorable! You're the best of the best!
Wednesday, August 24, and Thursday, August 25, 2016 - I spent these two days enjoying the initial factory build of my GS during the two day buyer's tour.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - My dad and son joined me at the National Corvette Museum for NCM Delivery. Once we had completed all of the incredible activities that the NCM offers during an NCM Delivery experience, we loaded the GS into my enclosed trailer and headed to Owensboro, Kentucky. I delivered the GS into the highly capable hands of Steve Ray and we discussed my concept and what Steve would be doing for me over the coming months. Steve already had a lot going on that month and we had previously agreed that he would actually start on my project by the end of the month with the goal of being finished with the project by the end of the year.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016 - As Steve Ray neared completion of his part of my project, he sent a couple of pics of the hood and top, which were smooth finished mirrored glass. A few text messages later, I had asked him what it would cost for him to make the entire car look like that. We agreed on a price and extended the completion date significantly. But in the end, it would be worth the wait.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016 - An early morning flight to Louisville to pick up a vehicle for one of my customers allowed me the opportunity to stop by Steve Ray's shop in Owensboro on the way back to Oklahoma to see how the project was progressing and to install some of the interior pieces that Steve had completed. The process of removing all of the orange peel on the car and refinishing the paint job was well underway. Most of the exterior body panels were off of the car at this point, having been sanded and re-clear coated to one degree or another. The only body panels that did not come off the car for refinishing were the aperture panels (rocker panels).
Steve sanded every panel to remove the clear coat, then laid three new layers of clear coat on every panel. Steve also cut and buffed every panel to perfection! The result is absolutely stunning as seen in this photo:
Thursday, February 16, through Saturday, February 18, 2017 - This weekend was my scheduled pick up weekend with Steve Ray. Steve and I worked together to over these days to install all of the finished under hood parts, etc., and to make sure everything was as it should be. Steve is as OCD about parts, fitment, finish, etc., as anyone I have ever met, including myself, which is what you want when you're looking for the very best! That said, we were both very frustrated by a couple of aftermarket under hood pieces that were now properly installed but when we put the hood back on the car actually came in contact with the hood itself. This meant removing those two pieces so that Steve could cut them down and repaint the pieces. But Steve was a champ about it all and wanted to make sure everything was just right. On Saturday morning, we gave the GS a good bath and then loaded her into the trailer for her next appointment in Ohio. (Keep in mind, there are no decals or stickers on the car. Everything is painted. In addition, when I left Owensboro with it, it still did not have several final components on it, including: Corsa exhaust, custom wheels, side skirts, front splitter, spoiler winglets, and front and rear badges.)
Monday, February 20, 2017 - It was a 4:30 a.m. wake up call and a two hour drive from Columbus to Cleveland for my early morning appointment at Corsa's headquarters in Berea, Ohio. It took longer to unload and reload the Corvette on and off the trailer than it did for them to remove the factory exhaust and install their double helix x-pipe, extreme exhaust, and black chrome tips. Once I had the GS back in the trailer, I headed back to Columbus for my drop off appointment at Esoteric Fine Auto Finishing. The work Esoteric is doing for me is to wrap the entire car in SunTek, coat the entire car and wheels with Kamikaze coating, and install window tint, new wheels, skirts, splitter, ceramic brake pads, and a couple of other goodies.
The final leg of the journey begins this coming Thursday when I fly to Columbus for my Friday morning delivery! Now that the car is protected by SunTek, I will drive the wheels off, starting with a trip back to Owensboro where Steve and I will install the final few engine bay pieces and rear spoiler winglets. From there, I'll head to Bowling Green for a couple of days and then return home to SW Oklahoma late Monday night!
Esoteric will take a lot of professional grade exterior photos, which I will share here once the entire project is complete. Until then!
Last edited by jagamajajaran; 03-05-2017 at 10:37 PM.
this is a great example to show all of us when life throws a curve, you can hit it out of the park! Always enjoy your posts. Please post the TRIBUTE photos on both the C7 and Z06 forums, so we do not miss.
jagamajajaran, I live in Gahanna, about 5 miles from the Columbus airport and about the same to Esoteric in New Albany. If you would like to be picked up at the airport in a Night Race Blue C7 (I assume you'll be packing light...) I'd be happy to take you up there.
PM sent also!
Kevin
I can't wait to see "The Tribute" GS in person at the Bash!! Long live the Grand Sport. Jeremy you have great vision and this Corvette will be the most pictured Corvette at the Bash!! So get ready and don't be shy. Take a bow!
03-05-2017, 12:08 PM
