Driving a 1-of-2 Corvette Grand Sport in the snow looks like a blast
Seeing and hearing a 1966 Corvette Grand Sport is rare. A Grand Sport roaring around while snow is falling is something I’ve never seen. The Simeone Museum isn’t joking around when it takes Corvette Grand Sport chassis number 002 out for a spin on a winter’s day.
The clip is from back in 2016, when the the museum staff exercised the Grand Sport during one of its demonstration days. (Thanks to the Grand Sport’s fiberglass construction, body rust isn’t a concern.) The museum sets up such performances to give visitors a new way to experience the collection: with their ears. Given the inclement weather, the museum staff chose two fiberglass cars to take for a spin; the Grand Sport is just one-of-two such cars that were converted to roadsters.
The sound of this roadster is aggressive, and for good reason. It is a full-bore, unapologetic race car. The big-block 427 exhales through a set of unmuffled side pipes and has a windscreen with a very “you-must-be-this-short-to-drive” feel to it. Seems like the driver could have used some eye protection during the snowy romp around the parking lot, and maybe a set of winter tires.
It is great to see a group so dedicated to preserving the sights and sounds of these pieces of automotive history. Hopefully more will embrace the “drive ‘em, don’t hide ‘em” ethos. Cars are, after all, for driving.
