This Corvette was recently restored by Nabers Brothers in
Houston, Texas. The older black-and-white photos shown here are
actual racing photos taken by professional photographers in 1966
at Daytona. This Corvette was specifically ordered for the purpose
of going straight to the racetrack. It is one of the two Corvettes
to participate in the first 24 hour endurance race at Daytona
called the “Continental”. This 66 was driven by owner George
Cornelius and two other relief drivers trading off. The other 66
Corvette was owned by Roger Penske and driven by Dick Gulstrand
and his two relief drivers.
This 1966 Corvette is on the front
cover of the 1966 Corvette News Vol. 9 #4 issue. Inside is
quite a story of George Cornelius operating on a very limited
budget going heads up against some high dollar racing teams such
as Penske’s. Also in this competition were the likes of Don
Yenko with his Yenko Stinger and many other high profile teams.
The Penske Corvette placed first in the GT class over the second
place 911 Porsche. This Corvette owned by Cornelius placed fourth,
but won a victory of its own in a different way. It was awarded
the trophy for the American production car which proved to be most
durable and reliable. Remarkable for driving it from the delivery
dealership only eight days before and racing it in virtually as
stock of a configuration as it was when it left the Chevrolet
factory.
This Corvette is one of only 15 M22 Corvettes. There were also
66 of the N03 big tanks optioned. This 66 Corvette is one of
possibly a couple known to have both the M22 and N03 options. This
Corvette's total option list is: L72 427, M22 4-speed,
N03 36.5 gallon tank, N14 factory side exhaust, F41 heavy
duty suspension, C48 radio and heater delete, K66 TI ignition, and
G81 positraction.
There is more research transpiring to possibly see if the 427
motor in these Daytona Corvettes was something more than the
standard L72.
