KIT #

 The Grand Sport Corvette was the brainchild of chief engineer and Corvette creator Zora Arkus Duntov. In 1962, with the full blessing of Chevrolet’s top management, Duntov set out to create a competitive road racer based on

 the newly designed Corvette C-2 Stingray, slated for introduction for the 1963 model year. Duntov’s objective was to suddenly and surprisingly unleash on the international road racing community 125 very fast, high horsepower, great handling race cars, all based on a street capable production car footprint. The plan was to make these cars available to a select number of independent road racers who could successfully race the cars without “official” General Motors endorsement. Five Grand Sport Vettes were initially produced in preparation for the upcoming racing season (unfortunately, that was the final number of these cars that Chevrolet produced).  

Duntov wanted these cars to compete directly with racers like the Carroll Shelby-Ford AC Cobras that were already on the racing circuit. But doing this right required Duntov and his design team to reduce the factory Corvette’s curb weight by some 1100 pounds. In its racing debut early in 1963, the car sported a production 360 HP, 327 CID fuel injected motor and a “stock” appearance. But when it raced at Nassau in the season finale, it had been transformed into a thoroughbred. Externally, the Grand Sport was outfitted with flared fender, hood and body scoops, and wider wheels and tires. But the real changes were under the hood: an all-aluminum 377 CID small block engine fed by 58 mm side draft Weber carburetors. The three Grand Sports won just about everything that week at Nassau and let the racing community know that there was a “new kid in town.”

 After this impressive debut, all three coupes were entered in the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring. Roger Penske and Jim Hall entered Coupe No. 004, sporting a new white paint job. Penske and Hall’s Grand Sport had one of the first pneumatic systems installed on a racecar to feed air-driven jacks. This not only reduced times in the pits, but it greatly lessened the possibility of damaging the fiberglass body and tube frame during tire changes.

 All five of the Grand Sport Vettes raced successfully for nearly four years. 3 of the five received several body modifications and different paint schemes over those years, and the remaining two were modified into roadsters by chopping off their roofs and windshields.

 All five of these vehicles survive today, and since they were designed and produced by Mr. Duntov himself, they have been valued by some collectors at over $1.5 million each!  (Naturally, Blair owns two..... :oÞ Ed!)

  AM’s Grand Sport consists of over 140 plastic parts molded in white and clear plastic, and a sprue of “aluminum-plated” plastic parts. Also included in the box are a host of photo-etched parts for added detail, and four rubber racing tires. The decal sheet includes markings for the 1964 Sebring Grand Sport Vette (a nice touch is small decals for the engine compartment). As per the usual AM standards, there is little or no flash on the parts, and their comprehensive instruction booklet guides you through all the steps necessary to assemble and detail the model.

As usual, I attacked this kit in subassemblies: the body, frame, engine, and interior. I assembled all of the parts onto the body that would be painted the overall color, including the photo-etched hood louvers, which I attached using CA glue (and as I recall, these were not a lot of fun to attach). Once assembled, I sent the body and hood off to the paint shop (with car models, I like to paint the body and associated parts early in the process to allow them sufficient drying time).