It’s very rare to see one of the historic 1963 Grand Sports offered for sale, but that happened on Saturday night as chassis #003 crossed the auction block at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale and was hammered sold for $17,000,000.

With commissions, the price out the door was $18,705,000 which is a new record for a Corvette sold at auction.

Corvette’s Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov built five lightweight races cars to take on Shelby Cobras, but his clandestine plan was discovered by GM’s brass who had maintained a corporate racing ban. Zora being Zora, he quietly moved the cars out the back door and into hands of racers where they ran in SCCA as well at the Nassau Speed Weeks. Chassis 003 was offered in its Blue #2 livery which it wore at the 1964 Sebring 12-hour race. That race was notable as driver A.J. Foyt started in 62nd position and famously passed nearly 50 cars on his opening lap. The Corvette would finish second in class in 1964 and third in class in the 1965 Sebring 12-hour.

Since its days of competition, Chassis 003 has been in a number of long-term collections. Most recently, the car was owned by collector Larry Bowman of California who owned it for 23 years. This Grand Sport can occasionally be seen participating in historic racing events.

Presale estimates had it selling for $11,000,000 to $13,000,000.

The previous high sale for a Corvette at a public auction was the 1957 Corvette SS (Project XP-64) which sold at RM Sotheby’s Miami sale in 2025 for $7.7 million. It was the first purpose-built racer built by Zora and raced by John Fitch at the 1957 Sebring race.

A 1967 Corvette L88 Coupe had the record before that after it sold for $3,850,000 at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2014 sale. That same car was also offered across town on Saturday at Mecum where the high bid was $2,500,000 but did not sell.

The last time a 1963 Corvette Grand Sport was on the market was in 2009 when chassis 002-one of the two roadsters and made famous by gentleman-driver George Wintersteen-was offered by RM Auctions in Scottsdale. Expectations were $7 million to $10 million, but bidding stalled at $5 million. The car was then sold privately and now resides at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia.

The sale of the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport Chassis 003 was at RM Sotheby’s Monterey classic car auction held at the Portola Hotel and Monterey Conference Center in California. Cars started rolling across the block at 5:30 PM PT and the Grand Sport made its appearance at approximately 8:07 PM PT. The car as driven up to the auction block where the rumble from the 377-ci V8 was showcased before the bidding started, although internet viewers weren’t treated with the same audio experience.

Bidding opened at $5 million and grew by increments of half-million bids which didn’t slow down until around $15,000,000. Even at that bid, there was still several active bidders who kept the total moving upwards and it was finally hammered sold at $17,000,000. With the sales commissions, the total sale was $18,705,000.

What an amazing Corvette and congratulations to both the buyer and seller!

Source:
RM Sotheby’s

Related:
[VIDEO] SOLD! 1957 Corvette SS Sells for $7.7 Million at RM Sotheby’s Miami Sale
1967 Corvette L88 Sells for World Record $3.5 Million at Barrett-Jackson
One of the Five Original 1963 Corvette Grand Sports Will Be Auctioned During Monterey Car Week

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