As far as possible color combinations go, we may never see a better variant of America’s Favorite Sports Car than the Seventh-Generation Corvette Grand Sport. For just three short model years, ‘Vette buyers had the opportunity to buy the “Goldilocks” C7, earning entry to a utopia of exterior arrangements unrivaled before or since in Corvette history.
For the first time since the GM turned the page on the seventh chapter of the Crossed Flags story, a couple GS examples wearing the two best liveries (outside the Collector’s Edition) are for sale at the same time. This, of course, raises one of our favorite questions – which of these two loyal stunners would you rather greet every time you walk into your garage?
2019 Grand Sport Coupe
Macedon, New York’s Van Bortel Corvette is the current home of a final-year C7 GS in the gorgeous ’96 and ’63 Blue/White/Red throwback colorway; when you hear “Grand Sport,” this look is what comes to mind! As a late 2019, the blue in question is the lighter and more historically accurate Elkhart Lake hue (vs. the darkened Admiral Blue of ’17, ’18, and early ’19). A total of 782 C7 Grand Sports were ordered in ELB, and this is one of 676 coupes in that club. To complete the GS vibe, a white center stripe and red fender hash marks were spec’d. Further placing it in rarified company is the inclusion of the $8,000 Z07 performance package. Just 2,028 of the 26,280 total C7 GS’ produced had this track-slaying option box checked, and this one wears matching red calipers on its pizza-pan-sized ceramic brake disks. Van Bortel’s Z07 also falls under the highly-desirable 21% umbrella of three-pedal C7 Grand Sports. Adjacent to that seven-speed shifter, the interior is where this unique build deviates from the traditional GS formula. Instead of the Black or Red of the famed 1996 cars, GS 5120357 was optioned with a 2LT Kalahari interior that oozes class. Competition seats round out the patriotic build. The asking price for this 7,468-mile rolling sculpture is $82,995.
2017 Pre-Production Grand Sport Coupe
Meanwhile, in the CorvetteForum classifieds, member C7KCMO has decided to part with the first Torch Red C7 GS ever made. It started life as a GM promotional vehicle, where the seller says it was used in GM press shots and had appearances in Car and Driver and Motor Week. Its trim belt has an extra notch over the ’19 listed above. It is a 3LT, scoring any prospective buyer everything from the 2LT package and a slathering of Nappa leather on the interior, a sueded headliner, integrated navigation, and PDR. Torch red was the fourth most popular C7 GS color, with a total run of 3,381 over the entire production run. This maiden example also sports the white “skunk” stripe, but its heritage package is paired with black hashes. Kansas City’s GS is another ticket into the Z07 squad. Inside, the black leather is accented by the custom red stitching option, and the paddle shifters of the 8-speed auto continue the red motif. Mileage is a bit higher on this one – yearly miles are lower – at 9,400. KC is asking for a premium on this pre-production GS though; it is listed at $110,000. It is up to the next owner to decide if the prominence is worth the up-charge, but on looks alone, this is a million-dollar machine, so they should consider this a bargain!
Where do you stand on this classic battle of Blue and Red, first-year vs. last-year, and stick vs. auto? Sound off in the comments, Corvette Nation!
Source:
Van Bortel Chevrolet and CorvetteForum.com
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Corvettes for Sale: 23K-Mile 1993 Corvette ZR-1 on Bring a Trailer
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Nice cars; but despite the “rare” narrative, there are other blue or red comparably equipped GS Corvettes for sale for less.
BLUE GRAND SPORT……RATHER HAVE YELLOW
Prefer our 2017 GS in Watkins Glen Gray – no stripes….
I got a Artic White with blue center stripe with the red hash Mark’s, but if I had to pick one it would be the blue one.
Between these two, the Elkhart Blue. The best Heritage color combo is the Arctic White with Blue stripe and Red hash stripes.
I know this wasn’t an option mentioned in the article, but I would like either color…in a Z06.
I bought the 2019 Coupe GS in Long Beach Red, 2LT and Kalahari interior with all of the toys including glass roof panels and I think it’s the coolest GS ever! (6K miles now)
I would definitely take the blue one over the red one. The blue one has the classic Grand Sport color scheme.
I think we might have a rare color 2018 C7Z06 and production number. It’s a Blackrose LZ1 7 speed manual convert. I understand it’s 1 of 220 in this color (only offered in 2017 & 2018) and 1 of 11 in its build numers.
Damn, I repeat…..Damn.
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