C5-R History
By: David Palmeter
A picture of a VERY EARLY C5-R test car never before
published.
Introduction
Those folks charged with creating the Corvette over the years have always had many in the group that wanted to race the Corvette. Unfortunately, those in charge of the Corporation have always had more fiscal and legal conservatives in their ranks that did not want to race the Corvette. Over the years, many semi-official, unofficial and other clandestine racing Corvettes have been built but none have ever raced with full factory support and development.
None, that is, until the introduction of the Corvette Fifth Generation - C5 - in 1997. By 1998 a modified pilot production car was being tested and, in January, 1999, the first race ever for a fully recognized and funded Corvette Racing Team, with two C5-R cars, was entered at the Daytona 24 Hour race. The rest, of course, is history.
C5-R Info Index
Chassis Serial Number History - Race Season Order and Links to Some Pictures
Chassis Serial Number History - Chassis Number Order and Links to Some Pictures
Homologation Car - The original C5-R test mule had a second life
Show History - The early C5-R show car was, quite often, a frequently repainted road car
C5-R Customer Cars - The first C5-R never raced by the factory was....
Red, White and Blue - Why yellow?
Slot Cars - The C5-R is popular in 1:32 scale, too
Above - Pratt & Miller - September 14, 2001 - Chassis
Number C5R-007 under construction
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Last update to this page: 07/25/06
