Last month, we published a story called ” A Brief History of the Chevrolet Corvette .” In it, the author claimed that the story would be ”everything you need to know and nothing (hopefully) you don’t” about the legendary Chevy Corvette. However, it’s since been brought to my attention that I— the author —forgot about perhaps the most legendary Corvettes of them all. I never said I was perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, here’s a brief history of the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, which has gone from race special, to trim package, to the performance sweet spot of any given ’Vette lineup over the years.

As with most great things Corvette-related, Zora Arkus-Duntov played a key role in the creation of the first Corvette Grand Sport. The Corvette program’s first-ever chief engineer, Arkus-Duntov injected his motorsports background directly into Chevy’s sports car. In 1955, he successfully pushed for the 4.3-liter small block V-8 to be added to the Corvette, giving it V-8-power for the first time, and skirting GM’s racing ban helped privateers race these Corvettes at the 24 hours of Le Mans. This is why Arkus-Duntov is known as the father of the Corvette.

With the launch of the C2 Corvette in 1963, Arkus-Duntov seized the opportunity to build a race-capable Corvette from the ground up. Designed to compete with the ”grand sports cars” of Europe, the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport was built from Day One with endurance racing in mind . It featured a lightweight 550-hp (SAE Gross) 6.2-liter V-8 (and that’s underrated) plumbed to a 36-gallon fuel tank and bolted to a four-speed manual that spun power to a posi-traction rear end. The 1963 Corvette Grand Sport also had uprated shocks and springs and heavy-duty power brakes.

If you’re wondering why you hadn’t heard of the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, that’s likely because they’re exceedingly rare. GM halted production after five were built due to its motorsports ban. Arkus-Duntov, nonetheless, reportedly slipped them out the door to privateers . Price? Millions and millions of dollars. Figure $8,000,000 if one were to go up for auction today, not that they ever do.

It would be 33 years until the Grand Sport returned to the Corvette line. Limited to 1,000 units (810 coupes and 190 convertibles), the 1996 Corvette Grand Sport was a final send-off to the C4 Corvette. Unlike its C2 predecessor, the C4 Corvette Grand Sport was largely a badge and trim package with patriotic blue paint, a wide, white racing stripe, and red hash marks on the front fenders. Under the hood, the Corvette Grand Sport featured the same powertrain as found in that year’s Corvette Collector Edition : an LT4 5.7-liter V-8 producing 330 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque, paired with a six-speed manual. More of a decent footnote than a real Grand Sport.

After skipping a generation, the Corvette Grand Sport returned for 2010 in the C6. This generation’s Corvette Grand Sport was a hybrid of sorts between your run-of-the-mill Corvette Z51 and the high-performance Corvette Z06. From the Corvette Z51, it got upgraded spring rates, closer gear ratios (six-speed manual models), and a shorter final drive (six-speed auto versions). From the latter, it got the Z06’s wide body kit, anti-roll bars, and brakes. It also featured an LS3 6.2-liter V-8, which, on manual versions, was hand-built to accommodate the dry-sump oiling system scavenged from the Corvette Z06 and ZR1. Producing 436 hp and 428 lb-ft of torque, the Corvette Grand Sport was finished off with the now-iconic front fender hash marks.

Much like the C6 Corvette Grand Sport, the C7 version was a best-of-both-worlds mixture between the Z51 and Z06. Like Porsche’s GTS models, the 2017-2019 Corvette Grand Sport was the sweet spot of the C7 Corvette lineup, offering up Corvette Z06 cornering grip with the usable power of the Stingray Z51. Handling upgrades included high-performance summer tires, magnetic ride control dampers with upgraded springs and anti-roll bars, and Brembo brakes. Power came courtesy of a dry sump 6.2-liter LT1 V-8 with 460 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque, with the power put down through a seven-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox,, and an electronic limited-slip rear differential. The 2017 Corvette Grand Sport would go on to finish seventh place at that year’s Best Driver’s Car competition , making it the highest finish for any C7 Corvette at Best Driver’s Car, including the Corvette Z06 and Corvette ZR1 .