Gateway Classic Cars of Tampa is proud to present this 1963
Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. We all dreamed about finding a
"unicorn" car. A car so rare it sends the collector car world into
a frenzy. There are very few cars that call mass hysteria. The ones
that come to mind are the 1966 Shelby Cobra twin-turbocharged
"Super Snake" (2 made 1 survivor) or a "Dodge Daytona", another
limited production car. If you can locate one of these cars, they
bring six and seven figures in the collector car world. So, if
these cars are bringing in that kind of money and are cars people
know existed, then what value would you put on a car that never was
supposed to exist? This brings me to the term "ghost", or "phantom"
car. These cars are vehicles that were never supposed to leave the
manufacture for one reason or another. In this particular case,
Chevrolet completely shut down the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport
program deeming it against the corporate racing policy. There are
five confirmed early Grand Sport's, with talks of a sixth that has
never been verified. In the early days of race car and muscle car
production, manufactures were known to send parts and cars out the
"backdoor." What are we dealing with here when talking about this
1963 Chevrolet Grand Sport? This car was purchased from the
previous owner who owned it for 37 years. The current owner bought
the car in pieces and is responsible for presenting it now as a
finished car. The previous owner resided in Michigan and started
collecting parts to return the car back to its glory days. Once
health issues started settling in, he was forced to move on from
the Vette. The previous owner stated the car had its tubular frame
replaced, which I'm assuming was due to rot. Once the current owner
acquired the car in pieces, he began a journey along with a GM
specialist, to restore the "Grand Sport" back to its hay day. After
a long, extensive restoration period, the car is done in white
exterior and red interior. You can see right off there are some
very telling signs that this Grand Sport Vette is not one of the 5
or 6 that were raced. It shows newer style seats and reproduction
wheels. It does have the cross-ram racing intake with the Weber
carburetors. It also has a 1963 casting number block, and a 200
mile per hour speedometer. You're correct, that's not enough to say
this is possibly a "Real" Grand Sport 1963 Corvette. The absolute
two most important attributes of this car are its VIN and the
TITLE. The VIN number reads S0837X10008 and the TITLE matches. All
of the experts are sure about what this car is until it comes to
one question they can't explain. How does this car have that VIN
number and a matching title? The experts have said this is an
authentic Chevrolet VIN plate. So... if it is a "real" 1963
Chevrolet Corvette displaying characteristics that only the Grand
Sport Vette VIN plates had, then technically this would be a real
1963 Chevrolet Grand Sport, right? The owner also states this is a
Numbers Matching 327 engine, and 4-speed manual transmission. Is
this a "unicorn"? A mythical car that somehow made its way out of
the backdoor of the GM plant. That would explain why documentation
is virtually non-existent. Options include Vinyl Interior, Kill
Switch, Aluminum/Alloy Wheels, and Weber 42 Carb System. This 1963
Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport is for sale in our Tampa Showroom
and can be viewed in greater detail including 100+ HD pictures and
an HD video at www.GatewayClassicCars.com. For additional
information, please call our knowledgeable staff at (813)645-6200
or email us at
[email protected]. If you would like to
see it in person, come to our Tampa Showroom, located at 351 30th
Street NE, Ruskin, FL 33570. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 AM
to 5 PM EST. See more at:
http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/TPA/1204/1963-Chevrolet-Corvette-Grand-Sport