Nicely done!
The National Corvette Museum has increased its impressive collection with the recent donation of a 1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport coupe. It was officially handed off to the museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky by Larry and Carol Watkins. While it’s a great-looking car we’re sure many will admire for that fact alone, there’s actually more to it that makes this C4 a truly rare bird.
Learn about the newly announced plans to expand the National Corvette Museum here.
Back in the day, the Watkins were interested in owning a brand new ’96 Grand Sport Corvette. A lot of people dreamed of owning one of these cars, but with only 1,000 made not everyone who fantasized about it actually bought one. The VINs were all sequentially numbered, something GM had never done before, making them that much more special.
The Watkins located some available at a dealership in Orlando, Florida but didn’t want to travel down there. Instead, the couple hired a third party to evaluate and test the options, finally settling on one car in particular.
What the Watkins didn’t realize back in the 90s was there were only 5 other cars like theirs. Those 6 cars have a unique combination of Regular Production Options. Even though the number of options back then were nothing like what you can get on a C8 today, there also weren’t that many Grand Sports, making this and the few which match it an unofficial limited edition.
It wasn’t until the couple took their ’96 Corvette Grand Sport to Carlisle where some young enthusiasts thanked them for bringing the ride to the show that they realized just how uniquely special it is. The Watkins concluded the best thing to do with the ride was to donate it to the National Corvette Museum and the rest is history.
Check out the official video of the donation.
