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In 1956, Ed Cole, then General Manager of Chevrolet, decided Corvette could be saved from extinction due to lagging sales by promoting the car as a performance car which could be raced in production classes. The first of these Corvettes was to debut at Daytona Beach for acceleration and top end speed trials, the 12 hour race at Sebring, and also possibly Le Mans.
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R
Chevrolet begins a new chapter in its storied racing legacy with the introduction of the new mid-engine Corvette race car, known as the C8.R. The C8.R will be Chevrolet’s first mid-engine race car to compete in IMSA’s GTLM class and the first clean sheet race car design since the C5.R debuted in 1999. It will make its racing debut at Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 25, 2020. The C8.R is based on the strong foundation of the 2020 Corvette Stingray.
In 1969, Chevrolet changed the perception of Corvette forever by introducing the ultra-powerful ZL-1 Corvette with a 427 CI engine producing 585 horsepower! The 1969 ZL-1 Corvette came equipped with an entirely new big-block engine option that produced more horsepower than any Corvette that had come before it. Any Corvette, when ordered with RPO ZL1, came fitted with an all-aluminum 427 C.I. engine that featured a dry-sump oil system and which weight approximately 100 pounds less.
2007 Victory Edition Corvette
To celebrate the success of the Corvette Racing program, especially at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Chevrolet made the decision to manufacture a limited number of special-edition Corvettes that would be sold exclusively in Europe. This special-edition car was limited to just 250 units and marketed to European consumers as the Victory Edition Corvette.
The C6.R ZR1 GT2, if you were to use its full name, was the model used in the last four years before the Corvette C7.R was introduced, and had a slick sequential manual operated by paddles that was combined with the rear differential to create a rear transaxle. This style of transaxle eventually made it into the road-going Corvette, especially the Grand Sport and ZR1 of the C7 generation.