2003 Guldstrand 50th Anniversary Corvette Z06 Pictures, Specifications, Information

Hall of Fame Corvette racer and tuner Dick Guldstrand unveiled his Signature Edition Anniversary Corvette at the 50th Anniversary Kickoff event held by the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Based off the high performance ZO6, the Guldstrand Signature Edition features Dick's patented suspension modifications including specific wheels and tires, a high performance exhaust, plus a paint and graphic treatment by former GM designer John Schinella. While not releasing details on the car's engine package, Guldstrand assures Corvette aficionados that it will perform in the manner of all the great Corvettes, and then some.

Sales of the car began in early 2003. Only 50 signed and numbered Signature Editions were built -- one for each year of the Corvette's history.

The Signature Edition Corvette is one phase of Guldstrand's plans to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Corvette. Guldstrand's program, entitled "50 Years of Corvette Thunder" plans a national road show tour featuring historic Corvette race cars and drivers, a commemorative book covering the complete history of Corvettes in competition, a registry of past and present Corvette racers and much more.

"When the Corvette first came on the scene back in 1953, it had potential," says Guldstrand, "but it took racing to hone the car into the world class performer it is today. "Corvette Thunder" is my way of thanking all those racers, amateur and professional, who made the Corvette the great American sports car it is."

427 Power

Hearkening back to the glory days of huge big-block horsepower and torque, Corvette racing great Dick Guldstrand just announced that his Signature Edition Anniversary Corvette will be powered by a New Generation 500 horsepower 427 V8. The announcement was made at the Monterey Historic Car Races at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Using the backdrop of the Monterey Historics, where the Corvette is this year's honored marque, Guldstrand unveiled the powerplant, saying: "For a major milestone like the Corvette's 50th anniversary you need to make a statement. We believe that by resurrecting one of the great performance icons from the Corvette's past, in this case the 427 cubic inch V8, our anniversary car makes that statement."

"Seeing all these great historic Corvette race cars in one place makes you appreciate what the Corvette has meant to American motorsports over the last 50 years," continued Guldstrand. "In conceiving the Signature Edition Corvette, our goal was to connect to the Vette¹s rich heritage with a thoroughly modern sports car. Using the 427 engine configuration allows us to do exactly that."

The New Generation 427 used in the Guldstrand Signature Edition Corvette is built by Katech, Inc., from specifications developed by Guldstrand specifically for the anniversary car. Among its many accomplishments, Katech also produces the engines for the Corvette C5-R race cars that won at LeMans in 2001 and 2002 as well as every American LeMans Series race so far this year.

Beginning with the LS1 5.7 liter V8 block that comes in the basic Z06 Corvette used for the Signature Edition car, Katech bores out the factory cylinder sleeves and installs sleeves of its own manufacture which result in a 4.10-inch bore and 4.0-inch stroke. The stock LS1 has a bore/stoke of 3.898/3.622 inches. The entire block is re-machined with billet steel used for main caps and both head and main bearing studs. Katech pistons are inserted in the enlarged bores, and rings are file-fitted to exactly match the bore dimensions of each cylinder. Carillo rods connect the pistons to a 4340 forged crankshaft.

The top of the engine uses Katech Stage III cylinder heads with cc"d and ported combustion chambers. While the rocker arms and lifters remain factory stock, titanium retainers and stainless steel valves are employed as is an adjustable timing set and a stronger high performance timing chain from the C5-R race car. The camshaft has a high performance profile with higher lift and longer duration, but remains totally streetable. The compression ratio is 10.8:1. Fuel flows to the heads through a Katech ported throttle body.

All of this adds up to a 427 cubic inch engine producing 500 horsepower at 5,600 RPM and 520 ft-lbs. of torque at 4,700 RPM. Yet, it remains totally suited to everyday street driving with its attendant use of air conditioning and long periods spent at idle speeds in heavy traffic.

"Like the original big-block 427 engine, we wanted the Signature Edition 50th Anniversary Corvette to be a true high performance sports car," says Guldstrand, "but it also had to have the civilized road manners and creature comforts expected by today¹s drivers."

After sliding into the leather driver¹s seat of the stunning gold-and-blue car, Guldstrand turned the key and the 427 roared to life. Turning on the air conditioning and slipping a CD into the disc player, Guldstrand smiles, "I think we accomplished that."