1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Coupe

The C4 Corvette was introduced in 1983 as a radical change from the C3, which had already been in production for 14 years at this point. It was the first Corvette to be built on a uniframe body, merging all the parts of the car into a single unit. The Coupe came first and was followed by a Convertible model in 1986.

Corvette’s Chief Engineer, Dave McLennan, and Lead Designer, Jerry Palmer, were heavily involved in the development of the C4, focusing on giving the car a radical, more European-esque look without losing the design elements that made the previous Corvettes iconic.

The Grand Sport is one of two special editions of the C4 Corvette that were introduced in 1996, which was the year the C4 Corvette would bow out of production to make way for the C5 Corvette. The Grand Sport was named after a secret racing program initiated by Zora Arkus-Duntov, known as the creator of Corvette. That program intended to build 125 lightweight C2 Corvettes with a 6.2-litre V8, competing with the likes of Shelby Cobra in Grand Touring racing. However, all of their efforts were shut down after only 5 examples were ever built. This was because General Motors made an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association in 1957, which effectively banned them from competing in motorsports. As such, the original C2 Grand Sport prototypes are among the rarest and most valuable Corvettes today. 

The C4 Corvette Grand Sport is powered by a 5.7-litre V8 LT4 engine, which, like the car, was only produced for one year. The LT4 engine has a compression ratio of 10.8:1, producing 330hp and 340 lb-ft of torque. New aluminium heads and camshaft were added, together with crane roller cranks, all of which resulted in a 6,300rpm over the LT1’s 5,700rpm. Only 1,000 Grand Sports were ever made, 810 of the coupe, and 190 convertibles.

This particular C4 Corvette Grand Sport was originally delivered to the Ron Tonkin Chevrolet dealership in Portland, Oregon. This is one of the finest examples, as this car was never registered for road use and has a delivery mileage of only 98 miles (156km). Another sign this car was carefully stored and remains in mint condition are the window stickers, pre-delivery inspection form and a Certificate of Origin issued by General Motors, all of which are still attached to the front window.

Just like all C4 Corvette Grand Sports, this example features an Admiral Blue exterior with a white stripe that stretches over the bonnet and the rear deck. What also makes this model very recognizable as a Grand Sport are the two red hash marks on the front left wheel arches. Another special feature was the 17-inch black ZR-1 style wheels and Corvette lettering on the brake callipers wrapped with a wider set 315/35R17 tyres, which were covered by special fender flares on the car’s rear body. The interior has a black leather finish with red Grand Sport lettering stitched on the headrest of the seats.