Not since the mid-to-late '60s did dealerships play such important roles in the evolution and future development of high-performance musclecars. Specialty built COPO Novas and Camaros and smaller-bodied ponycars were stuffed to the gills with the mightiest of GM's powerplants, which were mainly the same engines found on the highest end of the Corvette line. Infamously labeled ZL1 Camaros sported all-aluminum 427s that caught the eyes of teenagers and older enthusiasts alike, while the iron-block 427 L72 Biscaynes and L78 396 Novas terrorized the 1320, taking a bite out of the Super Stock Hemi cars and Bosses. Don Yenko's dealership soon became known for its showroom-floor, high-performance vehicles. Many think those days are long gone, and the car you see on a dealer's lot is all there is. Those folks are dead wrong.
Early this year, Rick Conti, of Spitzer Chevrolet in Amherst, Ohio, had a wild idea: take a stock '05 Le Mans Blue coupe and convert it into a Grand Sport clone. The Corvette was ordered from Bowling Green with all the fancy gadgets and doo-dads, such as the Z51 six-speed, XM Radio, in-dash full navigation system, and base black interior. The black seats and console cover were quickly exchanged for red by Chuck's Custom Design, while Auto Trim Designs treated the exterior with an Artic White center stripe that runs the length of the body with the characteristic red hash marks on the driver-side fender. Spitzer had a complete Corsa Sport exhaust system and aftermarket motorsports wheels installed to match the blacked-out look of the mid-'90s Grand Sport wheels.
Rick had the finished Grand Sport for only a couple of months before he was overwhelmed with e-mails and phone calls from Ed Stumpff of St. Marys, Pennsylvania. Ed, a Grand Sport aficionado, missed two opportunities to land a C5 Grand Sport replica-one, a Z06 coupe from the previous year. Ed and his wife, Val, drove four hours to check out the Corvette on display at the dealership. Rick and Ed's meeting was fortuitous. Rick is not only a salesman, but also a successful automotive salesman with a penchant for any and all things Corvette. His office, which is decorated with old advertisements, die-cast replicas, and other memorabilia, is like a shrine to the all-American sports car.
With little ado, Ed and Val took the Grand Sport home and, within a few months, a new paint-matched LED brake light was installed, along with a CAGS eliminator, polished SS letter tagging on the rear bumper, and mirror protectors in the paint-matched blue. They plan to trade the original door panels and knee bolsters for the red interior appropriate for the Grand Sport look.
From the factory, the LS2 knocks out a clean 400 horses; but with some minor modifications, like the Corsa system and a few little tricks here and there, the GS might be more prone to boil the rubber than it already is.