Chevrolet Corvette #Greenwood 007 - 1976

Among the many Corvette tuners of the 1970s, John Greenwood distinguished himself by reinterpreting the C3 for the IMSA championship. Invited to compete in the 1976 Le Mans 24 Hours, the car set the all-time speed record before retiring.

Corvette racing cars have always suffered from a lack of resistance to high revs and difficulties in adapting the chassis to racing conditions. In the 1970s, racing driver John Greenwood, who together with his brother Burt founded the Greenwood Corvettes sports team, became a specialist in overhauling the aluminium ‘Big Blocks’, making them more reliable and better able to withstand revs of up to 8,000 rpm, not to mention producing power that was finally worthy of such large engines.

In 1974, to solve the structural problems, Greenwood presented a revamped version of the contemporary C3, the third-generation Corvette that was launched at the end of 1967. This redesign introduced a new tubular base structure, revised suspension, especially at the rear, and a larger body to accommodate a larger size of tyre. But the real asset was the 454 cubic inch (7.4 litre) LS1 engine, increased to 7.7 litres and equipped with stronger connecting rods, pistons and camshafts and a specially developed injection system, an engine which, using high-octane fuel, could deliver over 700 bhp. The car made quite an impact and, for the first time, John Greenwood planned to build a few models for private customers as well as for his own team, while investigating a road version that would never be launched.

However, after being presented in Detroit at the beginning of 1974, the first successes on the racetrack only followed after a certain amount of time had elapsed, due to the lengthy development and tuning process. Greenwood himself drove Corvette chassis no. 002 to its first victory in the IMSA championship at Daytona at the end of the season. Despite being one of the most powerful machines in qualifying the following year, its successes continued to be limited ... .

In 1976, Greenwood's ‘wide body’ Corvettes competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, winning pole position in the latter event but being forced to retire due to clutch problems. Greenwood nevertheless received an invitation to the Le Mans 24 Hours: his cars were considered to be underdogs and the French government subsidised part of the entry fee. The forecast was correct. Corvette chassis no. 007, co-drived by Greenwood and Frenchman Bernard Darniche, surprised everyone during qualifying by claiming ninth place on the grid. In the race, it scored another historic moment, clocking 353 km/h. But it failed to reach the finish. The experiment came to an end after 5 hours of racing when a puncture damaged the rear suspension and fuel tank. The car was sold to the American Mancuso team, and was entered a number of times throughout 1977. In September, its best result was sixth place in race 1 of the Trans-Am Road America.