Split-Window C2 Corvette Racer Comes With An Illustrious History And A Multi-Million Dollar Price

The split-window Corvette is about as famous as a single model year vehicle can get. It’s special for so many reasons and yet, this one up for auction, is exponentially more so. It’s a split-window Corvette race car for one. More importantly, though, it won more races than any other factory-backed C2 Corvette.

This specific car won its first two races before going on to win its first FIA race, the Daytona Continental. It continued its winning ways with more victories in Marlboro, Maryland, and at Road America in Virginia. Still, this car isn’t just about the races it won, it’s about the place it has in automotive history.

Some of the greatest people to ever grace the automotive landscape were involved with the “Gulf One” as it’s called. Don Yenko himself, of Yenko Camaro fame, was at the helm of the dealer that received this car before delivering it to Grady Davis of Gulf Oil. It came with the very rare factory RPO package that included upgraded brakes, stiffer springs, a 360-horsepower 327 V8, and a four-speed manual transmission.

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That package was the brainchild of none other than Zora Arkus-Duntov who continued to support the project after Chevy axed their works program. Long before that, Davis modified it further and then put it into the trusted hands of Dick “The Flying Dentist” Thompson, who picked up every victory mentioned above.

After its retirement, the Gulf One was actually stashed away in a barn and became a literal barn-find in need of serious restoration. Since that painstaking process was completed, the car has won more awards than Drake. Now, it’s up for auction at Mecum as their “Main Attraction”. The auction house expects a selling price of somewhere between $3,000,000 and $3,500,000.

That sounds like a lot but makes a smidge more sense once the car’s history is considered. Included in the sale will be some incredible documentation like letters from Grady Davis directly to Don Yenko and Zora Arkus-Duntov about the Gulf One. Remember too that this is one of just 14 cars ever sold specifically for competition – and on top of that, it’s one of just two sold to Yenko. We can’t wait to see what it ends up selling for.