In the early 1960's Carroll Shelby's Cobras were dominating America's Sports Car, the Corvette in racing. The Cobra was about 1,000 lbs. lighter than the Corvette and while the power generated by Chevrolet engines was comparable to the aluminum bodied Cobra; the nimble "snake" consistently beat the fiberglass Corvette.

In late 1962 rumors began to circulate that a Corvette was being developed that would end Shelby's dominance on the racing circuits.

Zora Arkus-Duntov, father of the Corvette, and others at Chevrolet launched a plan of building 125 ultra light Corvettes called the Grand Sport. By building 125 cars, the Grand Sport would qualify as a GT production car under international racing rules. Sadly, the General Motors front office stopped the program. Only five Grand Sports had been completed.

General Motors pulled the plug on the Corvette racing program because in 1957, General Motors President Red Curtice persuaded the American Manufacturers Association to pull out of providing any more factory participation or assistance in racing events. It was believed that Henry Ford pulled a political end run to get Curtice involved so that General Motors in particular would no longer be making special or export parts for their cars.

Early on, the Grand Sports showed brilliantly at times while racing. When they ran head to head against the Cobras, they showed that they were both faster and better handlers than Shelby's snakes. The Cobras, having met the 125 minimum were certified as production cars while the Grand Sports were not. That was an important distinction. Since it wasn't classed as a production car pursuant to FIA racing rules, the Grand Sport had to compete in the prototype class where it ran against the likes of Chaparral, Porsche RS-60, and "Birdcage" Maseratis. The Grand Sport wasn't competitive against those full blown racers. The Grand Sports went to racers and teams like John Mecom and Roger Penske. Before they went to private hands, GM pulled the 377 cubic inch motors. In the hands of privateers, they were mostly run with the big block 427 motor. Initially, even though the 427 was heavier than the small block 377, the Grand Sports ran with some measure of success. At Nassau in 1963, they put on an exciting show besting the Cobras and finishing third and fourth behind two prototypes. Roger Penske returned to Nassau in 1964 and won the Nassau Trophy race, serving pretty much as the swan song.

Carroll Shelby and Ford came with their own 427, whereas in the ensuing months and years, the Cobra continued to be developed and improved while the Grand Sport and racing Corvettes were stagnating in trying to compete with no factory support. It was like going to a gun fight with a pocket knife.