What was Chevrolet’s lightweight racing version of the 1963 Corvette called?

Chevrolet’s lightweight racing version of the 1963 Corvette was called the Corvette Grand Sport.

The Grand Sport was created under the direction of Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov. Chevrolet intended to build 125 examples so the car could qualify for international endurance-racing homologation, but only five were completed before General Motors halted the program in 1963.

Grand Sport cars used a specialized lightweight body and chassis, along with a high-performance 377-cubic-inch V8. Their reduced weight and racing-focused engineering made them substantially different from ordinary production Corvettes. The cars competed against powerful rivals including the Shelby Cobra and Ferrari 250 GTO.

The name is sometimes confused with later Corvette Grand Sport packages. Those later versions borrowed the historic name but were not the original 1963 competition cars. The first Grand Sport remains one of Chevrolet’s most important factory racing projects.