Photo: Mecum Auctions
In production since 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette is not only one of America's longest-running nameplates, but it's also the country's most iconic sports car. And a quick look at its racing history also reveals it has quite a few notable motorsport achievements to brag about.
Pratt & Miller's factory-backed Corvette Racing team is the first that comes to mind. Founded in 1999, the outfit scored no fewer than eight victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and four wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona. It also won the American Le Mans Series ten times and the IMSA SportsCar Championship five times.
But the nameplate's racing history extends far beyond that. Chevrolet endorsed Corvette-based racing programs as early as 1956, and privateers have been racing it as soon as it became available with a V8 engine in 1955. Mainly run in the US initially, the Corvette tackled the world's greatest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1960.
The campaign was led by Briggs Cunningham, who fielded three cars in the GT5.0 category. Briggs himself drove a C1 that retired due to a crash after three hours, while a car driven by Dick Thompson and Fred Windridge caught fire and abandoned the race after 20 hours. But the third Corvette, driven by John Fitch and Bob Grossman, finished the race, scoring a class win and crossing the line eighth overall.
Cunningham wasn't the only team owner that relied on the C1 for the 1960 race. Camoradi USA, known for racing the Maserati Birdcage, also fielded a modified Corvette that year. Manhandled by Fred Gamble and Leon Lilley, it completed the race six laps behind the Cunningham car. Although it wasn't classified because the car failed to complete 80% of its Index of Performance distance, it does have bragging rights to a second-in-class finish.
While not as famous as the Cunningham C1, the Camoradi racer also scored a second-place GT class finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring and won a series of lower-profile races that year. But more importantly, the Corvette survived a nasty crash, was found after being lost for decades, and it's now spending its retirement as a fully-restored, award-winning gem. One that's worth a couple of million bucks, according to classic car experts.
It may sound like a lot of dough for a 1960 Corvette, but this C1 is not your average Chevy roadster. Racing heritage aside, it rocks a 283-cubic-inch (4.6-liter) V8 rated at 290 horsepower, Rochester fuel injection, a 37-gallon (140-liter) tank, race-spec shock absorbers, and heavy-duty hydraulic drum brakes. In short, it boasts a unique driveline layout.
On top of that, it has a really entertaining story to tell. Crashed in 1960 following a race in Sweden, the car was abandoned in the Scandinavian country. The C1 changed four owners and ended up spending 35 years in storage. Found disassembled in 1995 by Corvette historian Loren Lundberg, it was returned to the US and restored.
Removed right after the crash, the engine and the transmission were never reunited with the car. Interestingly enough, the story goes that the drivetrain found its way to New Zealand to be installed into a Maserati 250F race car and was then fitted into a racing boat that sank somewhere off the coast of Australia.
Yes, this means that the 283 V8 currently residing under the hood is not the numbers-matching mill, but the block, heads, fuel-injection unit, and gearbox are period-correct, which is the next best thing.
Accompanied by a ton of documentation and featured in numerous magazines, the Camoradi Corvette is scheduled to go under the hammer at Indy 2023 on May 12-20, and it's estimated to change hands for $2 million. And that makes sense because this C1 checks all the right boxes: it's part of an iconic nameplate, entered in the greatest endurance races of its era, and has a cool story to tell.
But the nameplate's racing history extends far beyond that. Chevrolet endorsed Corvette-based racing programs as early as 1956, and privateers have been racing it as soon as it became available with a V8 engine in 1955. Mainly run in the US initially, the Corvette tackled the world's greatest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1960.
The campaign was led by Briggs Cunningham, who fielded three cars in the GT5.0 category. Briggs himself drove a C1 that retired due to a crash after three hours, while a car driven by Dick Thompson and Fred Windridge caught fire and abandoned the race after 20 hours. But the third Corvette, driven by John Fitch and Bob Grossman, finished the race, scoring a class win and crossing the line eighth overall.
Cunningham wasn't the only team owner that relied on the C1 for the 1960 race. Camoradi USA, known for racing the Maserati Birdcage, also fielded a modified Corvette that year. Manhandled by Fred Gamble and Leon Lilley, it completed the race six laps behind the Cunningham car. Although it wasn't classified because the car failed to complete 80% of its Index of Performance distance, it does have bragging rights to a second-in-class finish.
While not as famous as the Cunningham C1, the Camoradi racer also scored a second-place GT class finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring and won a series of lower-profile races that year. But more importantly, the Corvette survived a nasty crash, was found after being lost for decades, and it's now spending its retirement as a fully-restored, award-winning gem. One that's worth a couple of million bucks, according to classic car experts.
It may sound like a lot of dough for a 1960 Corvette, but this C1 is not your average Chevy roadster. Racing heritage aside, it rocks a 283-cubic-inch (4.6-liter) V8 rated at 290 horsepower, Rochester fuel injection, a 37-gallon (140-liter) tank, race-spec shock absorbers, and heavy-duty hydraulic drum brakes. In short, it boasts a unique driveline layout.
On top of that, it has a really entertaining story to tell. Crashed in 1960 following a race in Sweden, the car was abandoned in the Scandinavian country. The C1 changed four owners and ended up spending 35 years in storage. Found disassembled in 1995 by Corvette historian Loren Lundberg, it was returned to the US and restored.
Removed right after the crash, the engine and the transmission were never reunited with the car. Interestingly enough, the story goes that the drivetrain found its way to New Zealand to be installed into a Maserati 250F race car and was then fitted into a racing boat that sank somewhere off the coast of Australia.
Yes, this means that the 283 V8 currently residing under the hood is not the numbers-matching mill, but the block, heads, fuel-injection unit, and gearbox are period-correct, which is the next best thing.
Accompanied by a ton of documentation and featured in numerous magazines, the Camoradi Corvette is scheduled to go under the hammer at Indy 2023 on May 12-20, and it's estimated to change hands for $2 million. And that makes sense because this C1 checks all the right boxes: it's part of an iconic nameplate, entered in the greatest endurance races of its era, and has a cool story to tell.
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