The Corvette was first produced in 1953 and has since become one of the most iconic American sports cars ever. With decades of production and different options offered every year, rare and unique Corvettes were made. Unfortunately, very few of these special Corvettes exist today, only adding to their value and rarity. Some of the Corvettes on this list are so rare, that they aren’t even for sale and only reside in museum displays.
- 2009 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT1 Championship Special Edition
- 1967 Corvette L88
- 1967 Corvette L89
- 1971 Corvette ZR2
- Baldwin-Motion Phase III GT Corvettes
- 1971 Corvette ZR1
- Guldstrand GS90
- 1963 Corvette Grand Sport
- 1969 Corvette ZL1
- 1983 Chevrolet Corvette C4
Release Date: 2009
Current Value: $70,00 (price paid at auction)
photo source: Bonhams
In 2009, to commemorate 70 victories and eight championships for the Corvette GT1 racing program in the American Le Mans Series, Chevrolet decided to produce a limited GT1 Championship Corvette for street use. There were big plans for a few different versions of the special GT1 Championship Corvette, with production limited to 600 cars total. However, 2009 was when the financial crisis and General Motors was hit hard and declared bankruptcy. Only 125 of the GT1 Championship Corvettes were made, with 55 made into the Z06 version. A number of these GT1 Championship Corvettes have come up for sale over the past decade and typically sell for less than their original retail price.
Did you know?
Each of the GT1 Championship Corvettes featured a special engine cover with carbon pattern and yellow Corvette lettering.
Release Date: L88 engine available from 1967 – 1969
Current Value: $2.695 Million – $3.4 Million (price paid at auction)
photo source: Motor Authority
Although 20 1967 Corvette L88s were produced, its believed that only about half of them still exist and there is only one with its original engine. This incredibly rare original Corvette L88 was sold in early 2021 for a cool $2,695,000. Another Corvette L88 was sold for $3.4 million back in 2013.
Did you know?
The L88 engine is technically rated at 430 hp, but it really output more than 500 hp because the unique parts used on the engine were typically reserved for race engines at the time.
Release Date: 1967 only
Current Value: Est. Value $1 Million
photo source: corvetteblogger.com
1967 was the last year that Chevrolet offered the C2 Corvette model and like any year there were many unique options, include the L89 aluminum head option. Since the L89 engine essentially turned a standard Corvette into a race car, only 16 Corvette L89s were ordered in 1967. While this option produced no power advantage, it did reduce engine (and hence, vehicle) weight by roughly 75 pounds (34 kg).
Did you know?
A majority of the 1967 Corvette L89 cars don’t have proper documentation, which makes faking one fairly easy, especially if the correct vintage aluminum heads can be found and switched out.
Release Date: 1971 only
Current Value: $500,000 (price paid at auction)
photo source: Barrett-Jackson
As a follow up to the Corvette ZR1 option initially released in 1970, Chevrolet came out with the Corvette ZR2 in 1971. The ZR2 special engine package cost $1,747 (about $11,612 today) and included the special equipment in the ZR1 package, but for the 454 LS-6 engine. This high performance option also included a Muncie M-22 transmission, twin-disc clutch, heavy duty brakes and suspension with larger anti-sway bars, and an aluminum radiator to help cool all those horses. Only 12 Corvette ZR2s were built in 1971 and two of those were convertibles. One of the those convertibles was put up for sale in 2019 for about half a million dollars.
Did you know?
For many years people believed that the “ZR” in the Corvette ZR1 and ZR2 stood for “Zora Racer” as an homage to legendary Chevrolet Corvette engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov. However, in 2008, Chevrolet finally set the record straight and set that production codes were usually random and had no real meaning.
Release Date: 1968 – 1972
Current Value: Est. Value $800,000+
photo source: silodrome.com
Some of the rarest and unheard of Corvettes in the cars long history were those built by Baldwin-Motion between 1968 – 1972. These Baldwin-Motion Phase III GT Corvettes were built for high powered performance. Joel Rosen, the owner of Motion Performance in Baldwin, New York struck a deal with Baldwin Chevrolet to produce these rare cars, which were heavily modified Corvettes purchased through Baldwin Chevrolet. Only 10 Baldwin-Motion Phase II GT Corvettes were made and each one was unique. Very few of these Baldwin-Motion Corvettes exist today.
Did you know?
One of the customizations that Baldwin-Motion offered that the official Chevrolet options did not was air conditioning with its highest-horsepower solid-lifter engines.
Release Date: ZR1s produced from 1970 – 1972
Current Value: $400,000 (based on price paid at auction)
photo source: corvetteblogger.com
Did you know?
Since the Corvette ZR1 model was meant for competition racing, the car could not be ordered with h power windows, power steering, air conditioning, a rear-window defogger, wheel covers, or a radio.
Release Date: 1995
Current Value: Est. Value $200,000+
photo source: superchevy.com
Dick Guldstrand was a legendary GT-class race car driver, who loved the the Grand Sport Corvette. After retiring from racing, Guldstrand began offering custom Corvettes in the 1980s. This continued into the 1990s and when the C4 ZR1 was released, Guldstrand saw an opportunity to bring back the Grand Sport in his style. In 1995, only six Guldstrand GS90 Corvettes were built by Guldstrand and his team. The aerodynamic body of the Guldstrand GS90 was influenced by the Grand Sports of the 60s and designed by Steve Winter.
Did you know?
The owner of the Guldstrand GS90 Corvette No. 2, Charlie Budenz, is pretty sure that his is the only one of the six cars made that is not currently in a museum. Budenz believes that three are in Europe, one is in Detroit, and the other one is in Los Angeles.
Release Date: 1963 only
Current Value: Est. Value $6 to $8 Million
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
The 1963 Corvette Grand Sport is not only one of the rarest Corvettes, it is also one of the most memorable racing cars ever produced. The 63′ Grand Sport came out during a time when the American Manufacturer’s Association (AMA) was cracking down on factory-supported racing and Chevrolet decided to back off a bit on making racing cars. However, not everyone at Chevrolet listened and in 1963, Zora Arkus-Duntov developed the Corvette Grand Sport. The Grand Sport was a lightweight version of the 1963 model featuring an aluminum block 377 cid V8 engine that developed more than 550 horsepower.
Initially, there were plans to build about 125 of these new Corvette Grand Sport cars, but only five made it to production before General Motor’s management increased their enforcement of the AMA racing ban. All five of the 1963 Corvette Grand Sports still exist and are kept in excellent condition.
Did you know?
The 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, was created to counter Carroll Shelby’s brand new Cobras in GT World Championship races.
Release Date: 1969 only
Current Value: Est. Value $2 Million
photo source: CorvSport
Like some of the other rare Corvettes on this list the 1969 Corvette ZL1 is rare because it was prohibitively expensive. While the base Corvette C3 was fairly affordable the ZL1 option cost over $4,700 (about $34,500 today), which doubled the cost of the car. The ZL1 option was a big-block engine that made the Corvette incredibly fast and was only available in 1969. Due to the cost of the car, only two Corvette ZL1 models were sold. Only one of the cars, the yellow one, the other one was white, is well-documented. Not much is known about the other 1969 Corvette ZL1.
Did you know?
Although the 1969 Corvette ZL1 did not sell well, records from the Tonawanda engine plant indicate that 94 ZL1 engines with Corvette prefixes were built and that most of these ZL1 engines were sold to race car drivers.
Release Date: Technically never, but the C4 was released in 1984
Current Value: Priceless
photo source: Motor Biscuit
Between 1982 and 1983, 43 prototypes of the Corvette C4 were produced, but nearly all of them were destroyed, which is standard industry practice. But one 1983 Chevrolet Corvette C4 somehow managed to escape destruction. Built on June 28, 1982, it was the fourth out of the 43 prototypes created. The sole surviving 1983 Corvette C4 was discovered abandoned outside of the manufacturing plant in 1984. It was cleaned up and put on display at the National Corvette Museum. The only 1983 Chevrolet Corvette C4 is the rarest Corvette ever in the world and no price tag could ever be applied to the truly one-of-a-kind car.
Did you know?
After the 1983 Chevrolet Corvette C4 was discovered it got an American flag paint job, which was later changed to its original solid white.
