1977 Chevrolet Corvette IMSA Greenwood GT Supervette

1977 Chevrolet Corvette - Greenwood IMSA Supervette

Chassis: COV002

• One of only 2 chassis ever made
• Raced by John Paul Sr.
• Completely restored
• 900+ hp
• 600 cubic inch Donovan big block
• Kinsler Cross Ram Fuel Injection
• Jerico 4-Speed Transmission 
• Greenwood anti-dive, anti-squat five link suspension by CVC Suspension
• Corvette rear end
• 917/935 Porsche rotors and magnesium brake calipers 

This is one of the most successful and historically significant Corvettes in IMSA history. This Greenwood “Supervette” driven by John Paul Sr. was one of the fastest cars in the IMSA series and always a threat to win.

In 1976, the IMSA sanctioning body changed road racing rules to allow full tube frame cars to compete in the premier North American Road Racing series. John Greenwood saw a major opportunity to design and build the next generation of racing Corvette. With the help of chassis designer Bob Riley, the first Greenwood tube frame Corvette was built and rolled out for competition in 1977. This car is the second of only two chassis ever built.

After racing a Porsche Carrera RSR for a few seasons, John Paul Sr. was looking for a major horsepower racecar and the Greenwood Corvette was it. In the off-season between 1977 and 1978, John Paul bought the second tube frame from Protofab Engineering. The JLP Corvette was assembled by AVC engineering, which included Charlie Selix, Bob Urban and Gary Pratt (later of Pratt and Miller). In an effort to reduce drag and increase top speed the design of 002 differed from the first car and was built with a narrower track and more aerodynamic bodywork. There was even talk of running the car for a land speed record.

John Paul drove the car in the 1978 IMSA season competing for overall wins in the premier GTX category. There was on going research and development with this car as the Porsche 935 were now the dominant car to beat. John Paul had many podium finishes with a best finish of 2nd overall at Hallett. Finally at the end of the 1978 season, John Paul retired the Greenwood Supervette and began campaigning a Porsche 935.

John Paul sold the car to Tico Almeida and Rene Rodriguez of T&D Racing. Tico and Rene raced the car once in 1980 and then rebodied the car with the new Greenwood Daytona body style for 1981. The car appeared in the 1981 Daytona 24 hours with John Greenwood as the driver however engine failure prevented the car from starting the race.

The 1982 IMSA season produced strong results for the John Greenwood/T&R Racing Team. The car ran as #13 with the updated GTO body style the entire season in IMSA’s GTO class with impressive results. However, Porsche competition was fierce and the team retired the car at the end of the 1982 IMSA Season.

From here, the car was driven by Ernesto Soto is a variety of IMSA events for four years, then sold to Luis Burgos who was a club racer from Puerto Rico. Luis raced the Supervette in club events in Puerto Rico and later brought the car to Miami for the 1984 IMSA Grand Prix.

Burgos later sold the car to Paul Canary who stored it for many years in California. The Supervette was purchased by Goldin Brothers Racing in 2002 and restored for vintage racing.

Steve Goldin and his brother Keith spent the fall and winter disassembling the car, restoring or re-fabricating every piece, and gradually reassembling the whole package to the John Paul, Sr. configuration. Naturally, there are several major shops involved in the rebuild, too. Kinsler refurbished the Lucas mechanical fuel injection system. Tom Becker, of Fort Lauderdale, completed the bodywork and Gary Smith of Carolina Engines refurbished the massive Donovan big block engine. At the local level, Scott Richards did the project oversight.

It was here, as each little piece was being repaired or rebuilt, that Steve and his team first noticed how really innovative this tube frame design really is. The Bob Riley-designed cages and chassis are built of (huge and expensive) 2" chrome-moly tubing with extensive triangulation. The chrome-moly tubing is lighter than conventional mild steel tubing and the larger diameter gives even greater strength. While the whole package was more expensive than the smaller diameter mild steel tube, it paid-off in the total design.

The Supervette was fully restored to period correct John Paul Sr. specification both cosmetically and mechanically. Every component was either rebuilt or replaced with new parts. Since the completion of the restoration the Supervette has only competed in five vintage events. It is completely sorted and race ready.