All Five Grand Sports Together for the First Time

[VRM]

Originally Posted by Cobra2

Why are they numbered in such a way since the three coupes were delivered before the two roadsters? Were the roadsters built first?

The roadsters were originally built as coupes, and they were built first. A number of people (including myself) think that there were a total of 6 Grand Sports built. John Mecom told me that he had all 6 at one point.
The first GSs raced looked a lot like a standard Corvette. They all started off as coupes, and did not have flairs on the wheels, cooling slots in the hood, rear deck, or external diff coolers. They also originally used the stock '63 fuelie unit before going to a dual fuel meter system, and finally to the crossover Webers (and an L88 prototype for GS001).

The first coupes were taken back by Duntov after a few races and were converted to roadsters to reduce frontal area (and thus increase BHP), and to make them lighter. They were later sold to Penske and Wintersteen.

There is also a great book by Lowell Paddock abot the Grand Sports. Lots of good pics and text. It's a few years old, and could use some updating, but it is still very good.

Hope this helps,
Steve