Sam Krahn 
The Chevrolet Corvette has enjoyed an illustrious racing career throughout its life, and plenty of it was in the International Motor Sport Association (IMSA) racing series. This has led to a successful history in endurance racing and Le Mans, with the C5.R, C6.R, and C7.R. The C8.R is up next, but with the COVID-19 crisis, racing seasons have been delayed, and even cancelled. With this downtime, now’s a good chance to look over some historic Corvette racing cars. And, wouldn’t you know it? One happens to be for sale.
Restoration and resale company Canepa has fully restored a one-of-two tube frame IMSA Corvette, and now its for sale. No price is listed, but assume it’s high.
Nicknamed the “SuperVette”, this racer shared little other than the name and general styling with a 1978 Corvette. IMSA changed their rules in 1976 to allow tube frame chassis in the American road racing series. Series frontrunner John Greenwood saw an opportunity, and joined with Corvette racing designer and engineer Bob Riley to build the SuperVette. The result is an incredibly strong chassis, made from lightweight yet strong 2-inch chrome-moly tubing.
The bodywork is dramatic, to say the least. It has fantastically large rear tires, a massive wing, and crazy front splitter. Its bulging fenders have all manner of scoops and ducts. The 750+ hp big block V8 under its hood is just as wild. Capena themselves describe it as, “the most powerful and brutal racing Corvette ever made”. This led it to a successful racing career.
The car was first run by John Paul Sr. of JPL racing. He drove the car for one season, resulting in up two podiums and three top five finishes. Eventually, the car made it back to John Greenwood. He raced the SuperVette for two more years before it was retired in 1982.
The car traveled though the hands of a few different collectors, and made it to Capena’s collection. Its unclear when they acquired the car, but they took it through a full concours-level restoration. Capena restored The SuperVette to its original 1978 specification.
This is one of the rarest racing Corvette’s ever, and maybe the most insane in looks and performance. While there is no list price, it is clear the rarity and overall specialness of the SuperVette means it will be a very large number.
