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The Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport from Fast Five was auctioned earlier this year. Here’s what you need to know about it
by Dim Angelov, onThe Chevrolet Corvette is no stranger to the big screen, being featured in countless movies, throughout the years. But, by far, one of the most famous Corvette movie cars in recent times is the Chevrolet Corvette C2 Grand Sport speedster, from the Fast and the Furious 5. One of the three cars that survived was auctioned off earlier this year, and we decided to shed some light on it.
The original Corvette C2 Grand Sport was produced between 1962 and 1967, under the supervision of Zora Arkus-Duntov. Only five were made - two roadsters and three coupes - and, nowadays, they go for about $5.0 million. In addition to the originals, there was a small production run of continuation cars – between 13 and 17 – which were officially licensed by GM and came with their own unique VIN number, like the Corvette Grand Sport 2D, we recently talked about.
As for the movie car, it got some screen time at the beginning of the movie, where the main protagonists – Brian O-Conner, Dominic Toretto, and Mia Toretto hijacked a couple of high-end cars, including the classic “Vette”. The car, sadly met its demise just a few minutes later, by jumping over a cliff and into the water.
Luckily for the buyer (whoever he is), the car we are talking about wasn’t jumped off a cliff. A total of 13 replica cars were built by Mongoose Motors, in Ohio and this is one of the three that survived. This particular one was the “hero car” and the best one of all examples made for the movie. This meant that only the actors spent time in it and it wasn’t used in any stunts.
This particular one is equipped with a built, 502 cubic-inch (8.2-liter), big-clock V-8, and a four-speed manual gearbox. The car was specially built to tackle off-road terrains, as we have mentioned in a previous article. The car is nicely finished (unlike the stunt cars) and is virtually flawless. The 17-inch wheels are designed after the original, 15-inch wheels of the original C2 Grand Sport.
As for the other movie cars, they were Mongoose kits, based on a C4 chassis, with a price of $40,000 each. They were equipped with a 5.7-liter GM crate engine that made 380 horsepower and was mated to an automatic. For even less money, two of the cars were equipped with a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine from a VW Bug.
The "hero car" was built to the company’s highest specifications. Mongoose Motors would normally charge around $85,000 for such a build. The car was auctioned off through the Volo Auto Museum with an estimated value of $95,000 to $100,000.
