Corvette Racer to Be Auctioned at Monterey Historics

MONTEREY, Calif., July 30, 2002 - General Motors is providing the opportunity of a lifetime to car collectors when it makes, for the first time ever, a factory Corvette C5-R racecar available for auction as part of the 29th annual Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca Raceway.

The Corvette has won races all around the world during the past half-century, but it wasn't until 1996 that the first full-fledged factory-racing program was established. A test mule ran more than 4,000 development miles behind the protective curtain of GM's test facilities, before construction of C5-R #1 began early in 1998.

The striking black and silver C5-R made its competition debut in the 1999 Rolex 24 at Daytona, where lead driver Ron Fellows broke the existing GT2 (GTS) track record during practice and then finished in third place in its first race. The impressive debut was followed up with five more top-five finishes in five races in 1999.

Development of C5-R #1 continued at a brisk pace through the winter of 1999/ 2000 and it showed in the 2000 season opener at Daytona. Wearing a new Millennium Yellow and white paint scheme, the car ran perfect for 24 straight hours, earning an amazing 2nd overall in the closest finish Daytona had ever seen. The car's final race was the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 2000, where drivers Ron Fellows, Chris Kneifel and Justin Bell drove it to an impressive third-place podium finish.

"This racecar is a tangible piece of racing history and also symbolic of Corvette's racing spirit and heritage," said Doug Fehan, GM's Corvette Racing program manager. "Corvette is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and this car is starting point for a entirely new chapter in its remarkable legacy."

Fehan assembled a truly impressive coalition of talented people from inside and outside GM to bring to fruition the dream of building and fielding a production-based Corvette racer. This aggregate of engineering, design, fabrication, and development expertise included personnel from GM Racing, the Corvette production vehicle platform, Katech Engine Development, and Pratt & Miller Engineering. Pratt & Miller based in Wixom, Mich., has primary responsibility for designing, fabricating, developing and campaigning the racecar.

The actual starting point for the car was the production C5 introduced in 1997: a template offering outstanding performance, durability, and build quality, making it the perfect starting point for this GTS-class competitor. Fehan's team worked very closely with the rule makers from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the sanctioning body of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, to determine what modifications would be permitted while working on body, engine and chassis development simultaneously.

As the results have demonstrated, this was not a seat-of-the-pants effort. The C5-R was engineered using truly state-of-the-art processes and materials including hundreds of hours of wind-tunnel testing and other unmatched resources emanating from GM's talented collection of people and technology and its global network of highly specialized outside vendors.

The car's 7-liter LS1 race engine was built from a highly modified production-type aluminum block, special competition-only cylinder head castings, and the most durable internals possible. Electronic sequential fuel injection, a race-bred camshaft profile, 12.5:1 compression ratio, custom Delphi engine management software, and a plethora of highly developed support systems all add to an engine package that produces an earth-moving 600 horsepower at 7200 rpm and 495 lb-ft of torque at 5600 rpm with ACO- mandated air restrictors in place. Given room to stretch its legs, the C5-R #1's 1200 kg mass can hit speeds well in excess of 200 mph.

A Hewland competition 5-speed gearbox and Pratt & Miller differential make the most of that power. The chassis was built around production Corvette hydro-formed frame rails and aluminum suspension cradles with a seamless blend of production and custom fabricated suspension and steering components. Brakes are massive four-piston AP calipers acting on carbon rotors. Engine lubrication is via dry sump and separate radiators keep engine, transmission and differential fluid temperatures in check. Goodyear-shod BBS wheels mount to fabricated uprights. The body is crafted of carbon composite.

Today C5-R #1 appears exactly as it did at Le Mans in June 2000. All systems have recently been inspected at Pratt & Miller to ensure that it is in "race ready" condition in every respect. The car is complete and is accompanied by all factory records including historic construction photos, race entry forms, practice and race setup data sheets, and more. The purchaser of the car is welcome to visit Pratt & Miller to tour the facility and to meet with the people who helped engineer and built it.

All design elements and workmanship employed in the construction of this car are of the absolute highest order. It has served both as a competent racing machine in its own right and as an important development test bed. Its progeny has rewritten the record books over the past two years with an overall victory at Daytona and class wins at Sebring, Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Sears Point, Texas Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Mosport, and elsewhere.

It is very rare that a state-of-the-art racecar from a major manufacturer is made available to the public. Furthermore, this is a Corvette, an American icon recognized, respected and loved the world over. It also has significant history at the three most important endurance races in the world, Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans, making this opportunity even more unusual. At a small fraction of its immense development and build cost, this incomparable piece of Corvette history will form the cornerstone of any important collection.

The auction will take place at the Doubletree Hotel in Monterey, Calif. On Friday, Aug. 16. The car is scheduled to be presented for auction at 8 p.m.

SPECS - 1998 C5-R Racing Corvette Chassis #1 Serial number: C5-R 001 Chassis: Hydro-formed steel side rails, aluminum suspension cradles, fully integrated roll cage structure. Body: Race-tuned production C5, carbon fiber Engine: 7-liter full competition LS1, aluminum block and cylinder heads, electronic sequential fuel injection, custom Delphi engine management, 600 horsepower @ 7200 rpm/495 lb-ft of torque @ 5600 rpm Transmission: Hewland 5-speed competition gearbox Differential: Pratt & Miller competition differential