After 15 years, Chevrolet has brought the Grand Sport name back into its sports car line-up. It was only fitting for the GS to be unveiled at the the National Corvette Museum.
The Grand Sport is powered by the same 6.2 Liter V8 making 430 HP found in the standard version, and is available as both a coupe and a convertible.
Chevrolet has only made the Grand Sport option available two other times in the Corvette’s history. The original Grand Sport was a track-only special with a 550 hp V8, and the 1996 version was the only Corvette to use the LT4 engine. So our biggest concern when we heard rumors of the return of the Corvette Grand Sport was that Chevrolet was not going to be able to deliver a car that lived up to the historic name.
For the third edition Chevrolet reached into the Corvette part’s bin and pulled out sort of a “best of” package for the standard Corvette. Even though there is no new engineering on the latest Grand Sport, we are now happy to report that it is still an intriguing option.
The standard 430 hp 6.2-liter V8 is untouched (436 hp with two-mode exhaust). What is added includes the Z51 performance suspension (the GS replaces this option package), wider fenders wells, wider tiers (18-in front, 19-in rear), and larger brakes. It also borrows elements from the Z06 like the front bumper, rear spoiler and rear brake ducts.
The 2010 Grand Sport can be ordered with 1LT, 2LT, 3LT and 4LT trim packages and in four exterior colors, as well as two-tone seats with Grand Sport embroidery. It can be had as a coupe or convertible.
When it goes on sale, the Corvette Grand Sport coupe will retail for $55,720 while the drop top will set you back a couple thousand more at $59,530.
Chevrolet has dominated the GT1 class for the past ten years with the C5 and now C6R, and thanks to the new regulations put in place by the FIA for GT racers around the world, the bow-tie team has decided to restructure their racing program in order to compete on the racetrack with the same cars that the Corvette competes with in dealerships.
Like the C6RS, the future Corvette C6.R GT2 is being developed by Pratt & Miller and will compete in the second half of the American Le Mans Series against models like the Dodge Viper, Ford GT, Ferrari F-430 and Porsche GT3 racecars.
The GT2 C6.R will loose the widebody skin in favor of a sleeker Corvette ZR1 inspired shape with widened fender flares. The racecar will also feature a smaller rear spoiler and unique side exit exhaust system.
Under the hood will be a 5.5 Liter racing version of the LS3 small block engine tuned to around 500 HP.
Has your Corvette Z06 just become too ordinary? Well for about half the price of a new one, Ugur Sahin Design and Mallett Cars can give it almost as much horsepower as a Bugatti Veyron.
The upgrades come in stages. For $32,700 (not including donor car), the Z06’s 505 hp engine is supercharged to 700 hp; $35,795 buys a twin-turbo package that yields 999 hp; and $69,000 will transform the Corvette’s appearance into a “Z03” with the full body kit.
While there are plenty of tuners out there that will be happy to provide enough forced air to blow anything off the track, most will also blow the engine. Mallett Cars guarantees the 999 hp twin-turbo for two years or 24,000 miles.
Full breakdown in the press release after the jump.
The Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport started in 1962 as designer Zora Arkus-Duntov’s race rival for the Shelby Cobras. Only five were produced before General Motors found out about it, and shut down the program due to the factory’s ban on racing. The name has only been used one other time in the Corvettes history, and that was in 1996 for a special edition of final-run C4 Vetts. Now rumors are going around that Chevy will use then name again for use on a line of 2010 C6 coupes and convertibles.
While we doubt General Motors will want to invest too much of its precious capital into development for the Corvette, any bow-tie enthusiast knows it better be something special to resurrect the GS name. The original Grand Sport was a track-only special with a 550 hp V8, and the 1996 version was the only Corvette to use the LT4 engine.
As General Motors fights for its life, we are unlikely to a new Chevrolet Corvette anytime soon. So the Stingray Concept revealed in Chicago will likely only hit the streets as Sideswipe in the latest Transformers flick.
But that won’t stop custom car companies from going retro with the Corvette. n2a just got finished getting the Corvette-based Anteros ready for production, now its turing its attention to the past with a modern interpretation of the Sting Ray.
So far n2a has committed to taking three Corvette ZR1 chassis and reskining them. This these cars should be instantly recognizable as the C2, including the split rear window from the 1963 models. Because the drivetrain won’t be touched, the 638 hp LS9 V8 engine should still make the 0 to 60 mph sprint in 3.4 secs, and top speed (depending on aerodynamics of the kit) should be around 205 mph.
Chevrolet used the 12 Hours of Sebring race to show off the new Corvette GT1 Championship Edition. This makes sense considering this limited edition is commemorating the Corvette C6.R’s victories in the GT1 class of Le Mans series racing.
The point of the GT1 package is to make the streetable Vetts look like the race-only cars. Some details of the package include C6.R-inspired graphics featuring Corvette Racing "Jake" mascot and driver flags, ZR1-style body, full width spoiler, chrome wheels, and special engine cover with carbon pattern and yellow Corvette lettering. The colors available will be yellow with black trim or black with yellow trim.
The pricing for the package will is $65,310 for the 4LT coupe, $71,815 for the 4LT convertible, and $86,385 for the 2LZ Z06. Although this seems a little steep for an appearance package (about $7,500 premium for the coupe or convertible, and about $5,000 for the Z06), it also does buy exclusivity. Chevrolet only plans to sell 100 of each color in each body style (600 cars total).
The last time we heard anything about production plans for a new Corvette was back in October, and that was before the a lot of the big problems in the car industry materialized. Even then a C7 Vette wasn’t expected until 2014.
So when Chevrolet premiered its Corvette Stingray concept at the Chicago Auto Show, we knew it was little more than a styling exercise. General Motors hasn’t included a new Corvette in it’s viability plan, and in fact, we should be hopeful that the C6 Corvette will stay in production. But we’re dreamers here at TopSpeed, and if we come across a rendering of a C7, then we like to pass it on.
As if the Corvette ZR1-based 705 hp Hennessey ZR700 wasn’t enough to make us drool already, now it’s getting the blessing from the godfather of C6 Corvette, John Heinricy. After Heinricy retired from the head of GM’s performance division (he piloted the CTS-V to victory against the BMW M5,) he went to work for Hennessey as a consultant. Watch as Heinricy gives the Hennessey a work out.
Chevrolet revealed new images of the special edition Corvette GT1 Championship Edition. These Corvettes can be based on the Coupe 4LT, Convertible 4LT or Z06 3LZ, but they carry GM’s team livery to celebrate the car’s domination of the GT1 class in American Le Mans Series racing.
Available in one of two combinations of black and yellow, the Corvette GT1 Championship Edition upgrades the base car to have a bodykit similar to the Corvette ZR1. It also comes with custom leather wrapped ebony interior with exclusive yellow accent stitching, GT1 embroidery on the leather seats, instrument panel, and center console armrest, special Engine Cover with carbon pattern and yellow Corvette lettering and is painted in 45U Velocity Yellow (with black headlamps) or 41U Black.
The pricing could be as much as a $15,000 premium over the standard Corvettes, but Jalopnik is reporting that it will only be $2,350. In this economy, let’s hope pricing sticks more to the latter.
Post a comment
Picture Gallery
RSS -
Webmaster free news |