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24/03/2021 10:16 am
You must understand that Corvettes constitute the country’s third-largest religion—behind Overeating and Money. Within that religion lurks a sect that worships the Grand Sports with the fervor and logic of the Flat Earth Society. Now why would anyone say something tacky like that?
Maybe because a Grand Sport Corvette never won a major race. Their best FIA-sanctioned showing was a 1-2 class finish at Sebring in 1964. They never came near a world championship—a trick turned by Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. Further, what few wins the cars notched were almost always the result of someone else’s problems. Finally, you could point out that the Grand Sport was an aerodynamic carnival ride. At speed, its front end was lighter than a confetti soufflé.
After a December 1962 test session at Sebring, word of Arkus-Duntov’s racing activity reached the GM executive suite. Though Arkus-Duntov had tacit support from GM vice president Ed Cole and Chevrolet general manager Bunkie Knudsen, word came down from GM chairman Frederic Donner to stop the lightweight Corvette program. Arkus-Duntov’s plan to produce 125 cars—and thereby achieve FIA homologation—died aborning.
Conventional sources say Arkus-Duntov handed out the five Grand Sports to private racers for 1963: one to Chevy dealer Dick Doane, one to Gulf Oil executive Grady Davis and three to the Mecom Racing Team. Davis hired Thompson as a driver, and he recorded the only Grand Sport win of 1963—an SCCA club race at Watkins Glen.
A high watermark for the Grand Sport came at the Nassau Speed Weeks in December 1963. The post-season Bahamian races had a certain international cachet, but they lacked FIA sanction. And if racing’s big boys came primarily for the party, at least they showed up. It was face-off time. With Arkus-Duntov looking on, Hall and Thompson put two Mecom Grand Sports on the front row of the grid for the Tourist Trophy. Neither finished. In the Governor’s Cup event, Penske turned in an excellent third overall. A week later, Thompson finished a decent fourth in the Nassau Trophy. The Grand Sports earned respect, but at a cost.
Three Grand Sports raced at Sebring in March 1964 and finished first (Penske/Hall) and second (Foyt/Cannon) in class after leader Ken Miles’ Cobra failed with 10 minutes remaining. Johnson’s entry did not finish. In December Penske won the rain-shortened Tourist Trophy at the 1964 Nassau Speed Weeks, and a Miles Cobra again failed to finish after leading. The cars made sporadic appearances after that, in the hands of various owners, but were never again competitive.
Here, new information refutes accepted wisdom. In a recent interview with AutoWeek, Mecom asserts that Arkus-Duntov built a half-dozen Grand Sports and sold all six to Mecom Racing. “I thought I’d bought them all—to make it legal. It wasn’t for a whole lot of money,” Mecom said. His recollection is that each car cost between $3,000 and $6,000.
To examine the relationships in the 1960s between Mecom, Hall, Penske and the two camps of GM racing engineers—one headed by Frank Winchell and the other by Arkus-Duntov—would require a book. Suffice it to say that the interaction was complex. But Mecom is positive that he not only owned all the Grand Sports but also had all six of them together in his Houston shop at least once.“I’d swear on a stack of bibles there were six,” he said. “We had all six of them together one time here in Houston. Now everybody says there were only five. There is a sixth car.”
Where, then, is Grand Sport No. 6?
Mecom is convinced Bill Mitchell, the GM design boss who died in 1988, took it and turned it into a styling exercise. Why would Mecom believe that? Because Mitchell said so. “Bill Mitchell got hold of one and, I’m sure from what he told me, made a styling car out of it,” Mecom said. He went on to describe a walk with Mitchell through one of the buildings in Warren, Michigan, where GM stored styling cars in big racks. And where such cars were frequently destroyed.
Was there a sixth car? Dallas artist and Mecom friend Bill Neale says yes. “There was a framed photograph of the Hobby Airport shop in John’s trophy room, and you could see, if you looked, six Grand Sports.” Neale added that more than a few people saw the photo and spoke of the six cars.
Until the photo is located, skeptics will insist that no sixth car existed. But it’s difficult to fault Mecom’s memory. To paraphrase the Packard slogan, “Ask the man who owned all six.”
Click on photo for a larger version and a manual slide show of the photos.
All Exoto.
While the Corvette Grand Sport was an answer to the small block Cobra roadster, the Daytona had better aerodynamics and the big block Cobra roadster were more than a match for the Corvette Grand Sport as much as the Corvette faithful like to think it was a Cobra killer, the Grand Sport's aerodynamic short comings and the further development of the Cobra quickly tamed the Corvette Grand Sport.
Topic starter
25/03/2021 9:03 am
It would have been interesting to see the battles if GM had developed the Grand Sport but I think the front end aerodynamic problem in the design was its one fault that could not be solved out side of cutting huge louvers in the hood and front fenders and that ruins the appearance of the car. It would also have been interesting if Shelby continued development of the Daytona, Ken Miles thought the Daytona had more potential than did the GT40 and was disappointed when development of the Daytona was stopped.
At any rate the AC Cobra, Daytona and the Corvette Grand Sport were cool cars, this was a real golden age in cars.
Topic starter
26/03/2021 8:53 am
Does your #50 Grand Sport have a Firestone or a Goodyear in the trunk? Most seem to have a Firestone tire in the truck but I have seen one with a Goodyear, I forget what number that car had on it.
My #65 Grand Sport has a Firestone. I would think that was a mistake by Exoto or the Firestone people were playing a practical joke on the Goodyear gang.
Topic starter
27/03/2021 9:17 am
To me the coolest thing about the Daytona is it was not designed in a wind tunnel, it had no budget (no money) to design and build it and it was done in 90 days using the existing frame of the Cobra roadster because Shelby American found a loop hole in the rules that allowed him to put a different body on the existing Cobra frame and not have to build a certain number of them to certify it to race in the GT class.
What a time period the pure ingenuity that went on and the cars they were able to produce.
Topic starter
28/03/2021 7:46 am
The problem with the Cheetah was when it was designed it was done more as a styling exercise than a serious attempt as an all out race car. There were several design flaws with the Cheetah that needed to be corrected, the first was the frame was too flexible, it lacked stiffness. Another serious design flaw was the placement of the engine, while great for front to rear balance it made conditions for the driver unbearable because the driver was basically sitting next to the engine with their legs and the exhaust headers had to be routed over the top of the drivers legs, the engine location and exhaust routing roasted the driver.
The engine was set so far back in the Cheetah that there was not even a drive shaft, the transmission connected directly to the rear end via a u-joint.
Owners added gussets to stiffen the frame but the engine/exhaust heat was not something that could be corrected. One car was converted into a roadster to help with the engine/exhaust heat issues. There was also an issue with the engine over heating due to the set back of the engine and the design of the cooling system.
Like the Grand Sport the only solution to some of the problems was to cut holes in the body work to let out more of the heat.
Both the Grand Sport and the Cheetah were victims of General Motors ban on racing so neither car was developed in any meaningful way. With the Cheetah the frame was so flexible that when power was put down the rear tires would tow in causing handling issues for the driver. The Grand Sport on the other hand suffered from front end lift once you hit a certain speed. The Daytona was not without its own issues, as when it first hit the track there was no rear spoiler and the rear end was to light making the handling unpredictable but that was quickly dealt with at the track by fashioning a make shift spoiler that settled down the rear of the Daytona. The Daytona also had driver heat heat issues from engine heat and exhaust routing.
The Shelby Daytona suffered a similar fate on development only its problem was the Ford GT40 program, Ford did not want the Daytona competing with their GT40 so development of the Daytona was stopped much to the disappointment of Ken Miles.
Of the three cars the Daytona, Grand Sport and Cheetah, the Daytona was the best design at the start as it was the more aerodynamically sound of the three cars, but wouldn't it have been something to see all three of them developed to their full potential, could you imagine the on track battles that would have occurred.
Topic starter
28/03/2021 6:19 pm
Some more about the Grand Sport vs the Cobra:
John Christy covered the 1964 Nassau Speed Week for Sports Car Graphic magazine, and noted in his coverage that the Corvette's main rivals, the Shelby team, arrived in the Bahamas loaded for bear, with Shelby driver Ken Miles piloting a "Super Snake" Cobra, a prototype with a big block under the hood.
At the start of the tourist Trophy race, "the Cobra jumped out ahead of the pack and by the end of the first lap had a lead of nearly half a straightaway over Penske, who was marginally ahead of Saunders and [Phil] Hill [who was driving a Ford GT]," wrote Christy. "Miles, who obviously had much more poke than the opposition, pulled out another three seconds lead and then held steady."
Steady, that is, until something started being squarely in the reared of the "Super Snake," Christy Wrote. Penske was able to reel in the ailing Miles, whose engine eventually gave up, and "Penske breezed home free and clear."
At about the same time Miles Cobra was bitting the dust, Saunders and Hill wore each other out and retired.
As for the Grand Sports driven by Penske and Saunders, the cars had received a through going over by Traco Engineering, which included the elimination of some 300 pounds of weight.
I think it would be fair to say the Snake did in fact strike back with authority at the Corvette Grand Sport.