The 2027 Corvette Grand Sport Shows Up at Sebring—and It’s Not Subtle
A historic parade set the stage as Chevy quietly rolled out its Grand Sport chapter—bigger, bolder, and possibly electrified.
UPDATE: The Grand Sport has been fully revealed. Head here for our in-depth First Look story (and check out the changes to the regular Stingray for 2027, too).
This past weekend’s 74th running of the 12 hours of Sebring IMSA race marked 60 years since Roger Penske and Jim Hall won the Prototype GT class in a purpose-built lightened C2 Corvette race car developed by Zora Arkus Duntov himself. To mark that auspicious occasion, Chevrolet offered up a sneak preview of its 2027 Corvette Grand Sport model in advance of its official introduction on March 26.
For its rolling first look, the C8 Grand Sport led a field that included all the Grand Sports of yore. Of course, the C2 Penske helmed was there. The plan for that one had been to build 125 examples for homologation purposes, but GM brass nixed the program after just five had been built (three coupes and two roadsters). Power came from a special 377-cubic-inch version of the venerable Chevy small block. Fitted with Weber carbs, it’s said to have made 550 hp. Penske noted “I have great memories of driving the Grand Sport as we were fortunate to earn three wins across five races in the car during the 1963 and 1964 seasons."
There was also a 1996 Corvette Grand Sport—one of 1,000 special editions powered by the top-performing LT4 version of the 5.7-liter small block making 330 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque and painted in the C2’s trademark Admiral Blue paint with white stripes and a red interior.
Also joining the parade lap and photo opportunities was a C6 Grand Sport, also in Admiral Blue with white stripes and sporting the trademark red front fender slashes. This model combined Z06 wide-body parts with a hand-built LS3 6.2-liter V-8. And rounding out the memory-lane formation was a C7 Corvette Grand Sport. Introduced for 2017, this one also combined wide-body Z06 parts with the Z51’s dry-sump LT1 powertrain, good for 460 hp.
C8 Grand Sport leads field including C2, C4, C6, and C7 Grand Sports, all in Admiral Blue.
We’ll learn a lot more about the C8 Corvette Grand Sport’s specs in a few days, but we can see the Z06/E-Ray wide body, adorned with red hash marks (still painted as close as possible to the engine—now on the rear fenders), and a center-exit exhaust. Fan sites citing document leaks suggest this Grand Sport, like the original, may get its own engine—a 6.7-liter Gen-6 small blockthat rumors say may produce 535 hp or more. Some rumors even suggest a Grand Sport X model may add electric front drive.
Clearly the C8’s parts bin is a lot more fun to raid than those of its predecessor models. Keep it tuned right here for full details.
