This track-bred monster roars on the road
Sounding phenomenal, everyone within earshot will know what’s under the hood
The first Corvette Grand Sport was built out of necessity — the necessity for Chevrolet to beat the Fordbacked Shelby Cobra.
Only five cars were built before company execs put the kibosh on the program, but a legend was born nonetheless, one of an automotive competition that ended before it truly had a chance to get started.
More than 50 years later, standing in the pit lane at Atlanta Motorsports Park, the Georgia sun beating down mercilessly, heat rising dizzily from the asphalt, the latest in a short list of cars with a lineage that traces back loosely to those famous five awaits.
I slip into the driver’s seat of the 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, helmet pressed firmly, if not a tad uncomfortably, into the headliner, hands clammy from a combination of humidity and adrenalin. Clutch in, I start the car and a throaty growl emanates from the exhaust. I roll out of the pit box, right foot gently feathering the throttle and the exhaust note transforms into a dull rumble, the calm before the storm.
Exiting the pit lane, I pin the throttle and listen as the rumble transforms into an all-out roar, the thunder of the exhaust preceded only by the lightning of the car scorching the earth beneath it.
Track-bred ’tweener
This, of course, isn’t the first rehash of the Grand Sport moniker; there were two before it, in 1996 and again in 2010. And much like those cars, this version, available in the choice of coupe or convertible, has been developed with track days in mind.
Power comes from the same naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 found in the Stingray, with the addition of a host of goodies from the Z51package, including a dry-sump oil system, designed to keep the engine oil from sloshing around too much under aggressive cornering, performance exhaust, and heavy-duty transmission and differential cooling. Output is 460 horsepower and 465 lbs.-ft. of torque, a far cry from the Z06’s 650 on both fronts, but is more than enough on the street and the track.
The naturally aspirated LT1 also helps the Grand Sport shave weight compared to its big brother, tipping the scales at1,475 kilograms, or about 45.3 kilograms less than a Z06 ’Vette, due in large part to the latter’s massive supercharger and related plumbing.
The engine comes mated to the choice of two gearboxes: A sevenspeed manual or eight-speed automatic.
The manual is buttery smooth, but is plagued by tight gates that make it easy to skip gears — say, from second right to fifth, as opposed to third — when shifting aggressively.
Aside from being a tremendous aide during aggressive driving, active rev-matching is ideally suited for those drivers with big clunky feet, like yours truly, for whom heel-andtoe downshifting is tricky at best.
Cruising companion
For all its on-track accoutrement, the Grand Sport proves an excellent accomplice on the road. Spin the drive mode selector out of Track and into Sport or Touring, and the Grand Sport transforms into a grand tourer, proving comfortable enough for weekends away while still offering plenty of performance chops. The automatic transmission handles gear changes with equal aplomb and learns on the fly using algorithms to adjust to driving style.
The cockpit is tailored equally as well for track time as it is cruising the countryside, and comes decked out with an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple Car-Play and Android Auto smartphone compatibility, 4G LTE Wi-Fi hot spot functionality, and heated and ventilated seats. The infotainment system is also where the performance data recorder lies, measuring G-forces, zero-to-96.5-km/h times and overall lap times, among others.
The interior isn’t perfect, however, with the seats proving comfortable and supportive despite the narrowness of the adjustable bolsters, while the coupe’s headroom leaves something to be desired, particularly on the passenger side. One way to combat this is to slide the seat forward to recline the seatback, but it’s a quick way for knees to meet dashboard. Visibility is also poor at best, particularly in the coupe, with wide pillars, massive rear haunches and tiny side view mirrors making lane changes a strenuous task.
Pick your poison
The Grand Sport almost rivals the Porsche 911 when it comes to bespoke choices. The full gambit of Stingray colours are offered, with 10 exterior and seven interior choices, along with five available finishes on the 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels, suede and leather in the cabin, painted brake calipers, blackedout badging, carbon fibre and aluminum trim, and a whole host of stripes and hash marks in every colour imaginable.
The verdict
Back in the pit lane at Atlanta Motorsports Park, fresh off of a set of hot laps in a blue coupe with white centre stripe and red fender hash marks, just like it was back in ’96, the paths of past and present converge before my very eyes. A 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, the one driven by Jim Hall and Roger Penske at Sebring in1965, rolls by in its all-original glory.
I wouldn’t dare ask, for fear of having the question slapped right out of my mouth, to climb in let alone touch a piece of automotive history reportedly insured for $5 million (U.S.). Instead, I put my helmet on and clamber my way back into the 2017 Grand Sport, the thunderous roar of the exhaust cutting through the thick air like a battle cry.