For half a century, the Corvette has prevailed as America’s performance icon, both on & off the track. From 1953 to 2003, through 5 distinctive generations, the Corvette has evolved from an American sports car into a worldwide respected supercar. The latest generation Corvette, the C5, debuted in 1997 and has since been heralded by many enthusiasts as the arguable paramount of all the Corvettes with its state-of-the-art design, enhanced dependability, and of course, legendary Corvette performance. The accomplishments of the C5 have undeniably been built upon the Corvettes landmark heritage, but, as with previous generations of the Corvette, the C5 owes a great deal of gratitude for its worldwide status to the accolades of its race inspired sibling, the C5-R.
General Motors unveiled the official factory backed C5-R in November 1998, just in time for its inaugural race at the 24 hours of Daytona in January 1999. The C5-R marked the cultivation of a long-standing tradition of race-bred Corvettes that harks back to the days of Zora Arkus-Duntov’s first competition built Corvettes of 1956. From the legendary C2 Grand Sport Corvettes of the mid-60’s to the SCCA dominating C3 Corvettes of the late 60’s & 70’s, the C5-R continues to build upon a legacy of racing glory that the Corvette has relished in for several decades. While the January ’99 foundational race for the C5-R wasn’t a fairy tale first place finish, the Corvette program - managed by Doug Fehan - went home with an amazing top 3 finish in the GT2 class, proving the Corvette was a contender with victory in its sights.
The first victory for the C5-R team came in September 2000, with Ron Fellows & Andy Pilgrim taking first in the GTS class, defeating the rival Team Oreca Vipers at the Grand Prix of Texas. This victory would only be a preview to the C5-R’s GTS domination of the American LeMans Series & the 24 hours of LeMans, of which the C5R’s gallantly challenged for the first time in 2000. Like the C5-R’s inaugural race at Daytona in early 1999, the C5-R’s run at the 2000 24 hours of LeMans wasn’t a fairy tale race, but the #4 C5-R piloted by Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins, & Franck Freon took a third place podium finish in the GTS class. LeMans was a significant turning point for the C5-R team and taking third place in the GTS class earned the Corvette International respect, which it would successfully build upon in the years to come.
The 2001 season started off for the C5-R team in top form, with the C5-R winning perhaps the Corvettes greatest victory ever by taking first place overall at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona as well as first & second place in the GTS class. As great as the Daytona victory was, the Corvette team was anxious to return to LeMans and improve upon their third place finish at the monumental event the previous year. The 2001 69th running of the 24 hours of LeMans would see the Corvette transcend its status as an American performance icon to an International performance icon by winning a historic 1-2 victory in the GTS class. Not only did the C5-R team score victories at Daytona & LeMans in 2001, but they went on to conquer the 2001 GTS class championship, winning 6 out of 10 ALMS races. The next accomplishment for the Corvette C5-R racing team would be to defend their title in the 2002 season, and defend it they would.
Upon the verge of the Corvettes 50th Anniversary, the 2002 season for the C5-R team would be a magical one, beginning with the 50th Anniversary running of the 12 hours of Sebring, a race the C5-R team had yet to win. Impressively, Ron Fellows and his teammates piloted their #3 C5-R to a grueling first place finish in the GTS class, marking the first win at Sebring for the C5-R in four attempts. The magic would carry on to the C5-R’s 3rd consecutive running of the 24 hours of LeMans in June which would go down in the history books with the 2 C5-R’s sweeping the GTS class with first & second place wins for the second consecutive year. The #63 C5-R piloted by Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell, and Oliver Gavin took first in the GTS class while the #64 C5-R of Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins, and Franck Freon took second. Winning is important to any driver & team, but the LeMans GTS victory was especially treasured by Oliver Gavin as this marked his first win with the C5-R team and his highest finish at LeMans. An equally treasured win would come later in the year for Andy Pilgrim at the first ever ALMS Road America 500 in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin. The #4 GM Goodwrench sponsored C5-R team not only muscled their Corvette to a GTS class first place win at the 2002 Road America 500, but it would mark Pilgrim’s milestone 50th career victory. The C5-R team continued to build off the successes it had in 2001 & 2002 and finished off the 2002 season with 9 victories out of 10 ALMS races as well as their 1-2 GTS victory at the 2002 24 hours of LeMans. The 2001 & 2002 seasons have without a doubt been the greatest accomplishments for the C5-R team to date, and undeniably, the accolades earned in these years & the years to come will keep the legend of the Corvette alive as the greatest American sports car icon in automotive history.
AutoArt is celebrating the latest installment of Corvette bred racecars with their own 1/18 scale series of the C5-R. From the first C5-R’s that raced at Daytona in 1999 to the GTS class winning C5-R’s that raced at the 2001 & 2002 24 hours of LeMans, the artisans at AutoArt have replicated many of the C5-R’s key moments. These finely crafted replicas have immortalized the first C5-R’s that raced LeMans in 2000 as well as the #2 C5-R that not only won first in GTS class, but also took the overall winners title at the 2001 Rolex 24 hours at Daytona, arguably the C5-R’s greatest achievement to date. AutoArt’s replicas not only commemorate the C5-R’s, but they observe their drivers as well, capturing Andy Pilgrim’s milestone career achievement with their replica of the 2002 Road America 500 winning C5-R, marking Pilgrims 50th career victory. AutoArt’s C5-R masterpieces are an outstanding way to memorialize the latest chapter in Corvette history.
Each replica is a faithful scale likeness of the original, brilliantly mimicking the C5-R’s sleek bodylines and road hugging stance as well as accurate paint schemes in the manner & venue each C5-R was raced. Flawlessly applied sponsor logos & graphics heavily decorate each C5-R from the nose to the rear mounted tail wing to the Goodyear Eagle slicks wrapped at each corner around sharply detailed alloy spoke wheels with detailed rotors & calipers setting the backdrop. Driver names & nationality designations adorn the roof of the C5-R’s directly above the driver & passenger side doors, among a communications array, all resting atop a Corvette windshield banner. An accurately louvered front hood, precisely positioned air ducts and jewel-like lighting arrangements both front & rear finish off AutoArt’s faultless reproduction of the C5-R’s exterior.
In addition to an expertly executed exterior, AutoArt’s C5-R’s feature removable front & rear body panels as well as opening doors, with each opening part revealing the highly detailed inner recesses of the C5-R. The louvered front cowl lifts off to reveal a detailed imitation of the C5-R’s race bred LS1 V8 mounted above a pair of briefly visible headers that disappear beneath the C5-R’s cockpit, exiting both sides beneath the driver & passenger side doors. An air dam team logo combined with several primary colors & hues of gray & black finish off the engine bay with accents to the bracing arms and non-functioning suspension components as well as the front wheel mounts. Dead astern to the removable front cowl is a removable rear windowed covering, secured to the hull of the C5-R with 2 small screws mounted underneath. Once removed, the rear covering can be raised to reveal several details from wiring & non-functioning rear suspension mechanisms to a pair of bright orange hard plastic air funneling tubes & roll cage bars. Some of the C5-R’s have a cutout in the plastic window of the rear casing for access to the fuel servicing apparatus where as other C5-R’s have the fuel access recessed on either side directly in front of the rear wheel wells. The cockpit of the C5-R is encased between two opening doors that swing out on dogleg hinges with hard plastic windows in the upright position. Inside, the C5-R’s command center is purpose built for business rather than pleasure. The drivers side racing seat is detailed with a full racing harness, enveloped in a full roll cage with extra bracing on the drivers side. The passenger side seat has been deleted and in its place is a complicated array of electrical mechanisms and wires all working together to keep the C5-R in top running order. An authentic racing wheel mounted in front of the telemetry readout, gauges & switches finish off the detailing of the C5-R’s cockpit and the overall superb realism of AutoArts 1/18 scale C5-R.
The C5-R’s are currently writing the next chapter of the Corvette legacy and AutoArt’s 1/18 scale replicas are an excellent way to memorialize what one day will surely be regarded as the pinnacle of the Corvette legend. Grab your piece of history today!
