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When my alarm went off at 5:30 AM on a rather chilly Los Angeles morning this past December, my initial reaction was to burrow further into bed. Under normal circumstances the thing to do would have been to silence the damn alarm, roll over and go back to sleep until the first rays of sunlight had begun to warm the city. However, that morning was anything but normal. Waiting just downstairs was a 2018 Corvette Grand Sport Carbon 65 and out in the desert, a members-only motorsports facility for me to run it around all day long. Also waiting for me: a “1963” Corvette Grand Sport built by Superformance. So I got out of bed.
Built with GM’s blessing, thus guaranteeing eligibility for the official Corvette registry, the Superformance Grand Sport is a continuation of the lightweight, purpose-built C2 Corvettes dreamt up by Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov in 1962. Duntov hoped to build 125 Grand Sports in order to satisfy homologation requirements that would allow the car to compete in the GT Class at Sebring and LeMans, but his bosses at GM killed the project after just only examples were built. As you might imagine, those five cars are extremely valuable — one is said to have fetched nearly $5,000,000 the last time it changed hands. Getting an opportunity to drive an original Grand Sport around a parking lot is highly improbable; flogging one on a track is not within the realm of possibility, at least not for mere mortals. Fortunately, Superformance turns dreams into reality.
The promise of running these two distant relatives around a closed course is stronger than any cup of coffee I could’ve found. By 5:45 I was enjoying the glorious racket of the new Vette’s LT1 6.2-liter V8 cold start. Its tires shuddered as I started my journey — Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s don’t like the cold, but they were in their element in short order.
Before morning traffic forms, it’s an easy run out of the city and into the desert. To say I was eager is an understatement: I’d been enjoying driving the Carbon 65 around Los Angeles for few days but had been dying to turn it loose. After all, the C7 Corvette is a legitimately great car for cruising thanks to overall improved build quality and GM’s ace in the hole, its MagneRide suspension, and since my example was decked out with loads of carbon fiber bits and the performance-enhancing Z07 package, it deserved to chance to really shine.
The Thermal Club gave it that chance and then some.
The Thermal Club is an automotive oasis at the western edge of the Sonoran Desert conceived and fully funded by a husband and wife who are rabid automotive enthusiasts. It’s an hour from Palm Springs and serves as the ultimate playground for petrolheads, thanks to its three circuits, skid pad, karting course, autocross tracks and a giant full-service garage. With an initiation fee of $85K and annual dues running $14K, it’s by no means for everyone. And yet judging by how many members have built trackside villas so they can sleep and entertain onsite, there’s certainly a market for it. After all, not everyone enjoys golf.
