Become a premium member for just $35/year and get ad-free access!
SR 2 Corvette
Designed mid-1956 for Harlet Earl’s son Jerry, the SR-2 was put into racing duty in 1957. The car debuted at Daytona Beach in 1957 with a high-speed canopy, fender skirts and bullet-shaped frond headlights. Driven by Betty Skelton and Buck Baker, the car won the modified class with an average speed of 93.074 mph. The SR-2 also finished second in class for the flying mile with a top speed of 152.886 mph.
While the redesign gave the Corvette a fresh look for the new model year, Chevrolet also recognized the importance of commemorating the car's quarter-century of production.  For the first time in the brand's history, two special-edition Corvettes were introduced for the 1978 model year: the Silver Anniversary Edition and the Indy Pace Car coupes. On March 15, 1977, the 500,000th Corvette rolled off the assembly line at Chevrolet's St. Louis manufacturing plant. 
The L84 was the most powerful 327 available for the 1965 Corvette thanks to its Ram-Jet Fuel Injection which was an expensive $538 option. For competition, race customers had a range of options available to them including the N03 36-Gallon Fuel Tank, closer rear axle ratios and the C48 Heater/Defroster Delete (-100).
The 427 Limited Edition option, code Q8A and Z44, was limited to 505 examples globally with 427 destined for North American customers. As a retirement gift to Wil Cooksey, the Corvette plant manager from 1993 to 2008, he chose the color scheme and hand signed and numbered the underside of the armrest console lids on all 505 examples in which this example is #6. As part of the package, the seats and the floor mats have “427” embroidery, and the center-console trim plate is color matched.