To minimize time spent in the pits an air jack/oil/water system was added to the Penske Roadster. A set of three valves on the right fender allows compressed air, oil and water to be delivered quickly and easily. If not driven carefully, the Penske Roadster could actually pick its front tires up off the ground during acceleration, so a large front spoiler was added to combat lift under acceleration and at speed.

Driven by Dick Guldstrand and Dick Thompson, the Penske Roadster made its racing debut racing against Ford GT40s, Ferraris, Chaparrals and Porsches. The competition was two years more advanced, but nothing could keep up with the Grand Sport in a straight line. A.J. Foyt, driving a GT40 Mk II at Sebring that year, was heard to say: “What’s in that damn dinosaur? It went by me like I was stopped!”

Sadly, an incident with a slower car eventually forced the Penske Roadster to retire with significant damage. Regardless of the result, the striking appearance and the Roadsters raw performance at Sebring left an unforgettable impression on all who witnessed it.

The post 1966 Sebring 12 Hours | Dick Guldstrand, Dick Thompson | Penske Race Day Livery appeared first on Exoto.

Delmo Johnson purchased the #14 car from Grady Davis, after Don Yenko drove it at Augusta. Preparation began immediately for Sebring. Externally the newly renumbered #3 Grand Sport appeared to be as well prepared as any other car in the field. Wearing the #3, the Mecom car was the only Grand Sport to feature ducts to aid with brake cooling in the top of the Plexiglass rear window. Other distinctive features added to the Coupes for the Sebring cars included leather straps on the engine lid and fender extensions so that the wider rear tires wouldn’t extend beyond the bodywork. Also unique to the #3 car at Sebring is the whip antenna used for radio communications and the fact that #3 ran with clear headlight lenses, where every other time a Grand Sport raced it carried fiberglass lens covers!

Delmo Johnson qualified the Coupe twelfth, immediately behind the Gurneys Cobra. He good off to a poor start but immediately started a climb back up through the field. Right from the early laps, something wasn’t quite right — the Coupe would wander all over the track, “but it got you from corner to corner” according to Johnson.

Mechanical woes led to a number of pit stops and the pairing of Johnson/Morgan finally finished thirty-second overall. Johnson reported about the Grand Sport: “Brute horsepower. It was like a dragster — the only car I ever drove that would lift the front wheels off the ground in all four gears.”

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Luckily, these beautiful and highly potent Roadsters survived…

When Exoto presented our Corvette Grand Sport Roadster for the first time in 1998 at the Chicago Hobby Show, it featured a striking paint scheme. By popular demand, Exoto has produced a Limited Edition of the Grand Sport Roadster in bold yellow paint with blue and red stripes.

No Corvette Grand Sport Roadster ever looked like Exoto’s Chicago Hobby Show 1998 Presentation Model, and there will never be another collectible quite like this one!

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