| |
Chevrolet's Zora Arkus-Duntov was the backbone of Corvette development since being hired in May 1953. Over the years he learned how to make horsepower in quantity. He took the first Grand Sport, powered by a race-prepped 327-cubic inch, 360 horsepower engine to Sebring, Florida in mid-December 1962. By the time the season ended in the Bahamas he had turned it into a completely different beast. As it first appeared exiting the ship, Bahama Star, it looked 'pumped'. Muscular fender flares, bulging hood scoops, wide wheels and tires and painted Mecom Racing's Cadillac Blue for John Mecom Jr. The Texas oil heir was the Grand Sport's team owner. If this projectile were a bullet it would have been fired from a .257 Weatherby Magnum; light, sleek and deadly fast.
If Chevrolet commissioned a model maker to lay up a replica for blueprinting the real racer, they would have picked Exoto. You are first struck by the thick, lustrous paint, smoothly flowing from front to rear. The fit and finish is undeniably excellent. Its realism is in the extreme amount of detailing. From the bottom, every nuance that was the Grand Sport shows clearly. The traction bar rear suspension articulates independently. The drive train turns, and the brake calipers are proudly visible. Dual fuel pumps and full spare are seen rearward and the silicon sparkplug boots are seen launching the spark wires upward. From above, the engine bay gleams in a reality all its own. Prop the hood open for an extended view. You will be treated to the Weber carbs, the bright linkage, wires, plumbing and hoses, complete with replicated clamps. Even the photo-etched metal radiator 0overflow was captured here. The trunk lid raises by the push of a concealed button below the model, to expose the spare and boasts 'Corvette Grand Sport' in photo-etched metal. Inside the driver's cockpit it is all business. A rollbar protects and the shoulder and seat harnesses, fabricated here in nylon-like material and photo-etched metal, secure the occupants. The tire patterns are awesome and the wheels with the knock-offs and valve stems are a knockout. The quality 'feel' we have come to know in the Exoto Cobra Daytona series is here; fit, finish, detail.
This is the first Grand Sport issued by Exoto, in other than Mecom Racing's Cadillac Blue metallic. Shockingly rich in white with Mecom Blue headlight covers, it showcases the exotic lines of the early Stingray. It sports the third variation of hood design since the Prototype model. Hood tie-down strap is included. The right front fender has the pneumatic jack points debuted by this car at the '64 Road America race. The exhausts are white for the first time in the series, no wipers and a splash plate backing for the fuel filler area. The grills, as on the real car, have authentically been removed from the side gill slat outlets and the front radiator opening. The chassis number 005 has been placed on the rear window, simply as "5". for the first time in the model series. (06/22/2000)
(06/22/2000)
|
|
