I'm a BIG fan of the 1989 Corvette Challenge, and I've done a considerable amount of research on the cars. And I think you may have a few of your facts mistaken. Here's the whole story as I know it:
The Bowling Green KY plant built 60 Corvette Challenge cars near the beginning of the 1989 model year. These cars where all identical - that is to say, they all had the same RPO equipment - with stock 245hp engines, 6-speed transmissions, FX-3 shocks, and 'true' Z51 springs and sway bars, differing only in their individual colour combinations (some of which I believe Chevrolet Central Office had selected at random while others were ordered by their respective customers). At the same time CPC Flint Engines was contracted to build 30 high performance engines (at this point, the output of these engines wasn't known to anyone but CPC Flint) all of which where sent to the Milford Proving Grounds for temporary storage. These engines where then sent to Specialty Vehicles Inc. (SVI) in Troy MI where the engines were equalized for power - the official number was 300hp@4800rpm with a 10.25:1 compression ratio - and sealed with torque markings on all the fasteners.
Once the last of the 60 Corvette Challenge cars rolled off the assembly line in Bowling Green, 30 of them were sent to Powell Development America in Wixom MI along with the now equialized and sealed engines from SVI. Powel Development was responsible for installing the roll cages, safety equipment, Dymag wheels, modified side-exiting exhaust systems, and replacing the stock engines with the new SVI sealed units. Once complete, the cars were shipped to their owners who put their own livery / sponsor decals on the cars; Powell returned the 30 stock engines back to the Milford Proving Grounds as per their agreement with GM.
The cost of one of these Corvette Challenge cars was considerably more than a 'standard' Corvette: $34,315 for the car, and approximately $20,000 for the race preparation work. For that price, customers of the 30 Corvette Challenge cars not only got to keep the racing engines, safety equipment, Dymag wheels, and roll cages, but GM also returned the original numbers-matching stock engines to each of the respective racing teams at the end of the racing season as well.
Of course, under speculation that these factory-prepared race cars would undoubtedly increase in value, virtually all of the 30 raced 1989 Corvette Challenge cars have all of their racing equipment and livery intact, although some owners have removed the racing engine, having placed it in storage along with the numbers-matching original engine and are running some other 'sacrificial' engine.
You'll recall, I mentined that GM built a total of 60 identically prepared Corvettes but only 30 of them where converted into Challenge cars. So what happened to the 30 that where never converted? They where originally stored by GM as a contingency in the event that one of the 'real' Challenge cars was destroyed in an on-track incident. After the racing season ended, however, the cars where sold off in dealerships as 'regular' Corvettes (which, they basically were). So is there a way of knowing if your 'regular' 1989 Corvette was built as one of the 30 unraced Challenge cars? Yes there is: look for RPO R7F on the underside of the console lid. But, with a total of 60 cars built with this option, and only 30 of which where NOT converted for race duty, this is certainly a very rare option indeed.
I certainly hope that helps.
:cheers: |
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