The Chevrolet Corvette is rightfully known as one of the best performance bargains in the business. Where else are you going to find a mid-engine supercar making nearly 500 horsepower for less than $100,000? There are exceptions, though, and none more exceptional than this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64 that recently became the most expensive Corvette ever when it sold for $7,705,000 at RM Sotheby’s Miami auction.
Why So Expensive?
This car is the first factory-backed Corvette race car that GM ever built, and the company built just one. It raced only once at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1957, and while it unfortunately retired after just 23 laps due to a failed rear bushing, it set a lap record on the track with Juan Manuel Fangio behind the wheel.
In the 1960s, the car eventually found its way to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, perhaps as a strategy by Duntov to keep it away from people at GM who might want to see its demise.
The SS Project XP-64 was the personal project of Zora Arkus-Duntov, the father of the original Corvette. Duntov is said to have saved the Corvette from the scrap pile by insisting it have a V-8 engine and pushing for its participation in motorsport. He got his wish in 1956. The project became known internally as the SS Project XP-64 and was later given the official name of Chevrolet SS.
Chevrolet SS Specifications
|
Engine |
283 cubic-inch V-8 |
|
Power |
300+ horsepower |
|
Transmission |
4-speed manual |
|
Weight |
1,850 pounds (dry) |
|
Body |
Magnesium |
As you can see, the Chevrolet SS was an exercise in aerodynamics, weight reduction, and power. Its engine is a high-tech-for-the-time 283 cubic-inch V-8 that made over 300 horsepower, and its curbweight is an astonishingly low 1,850 pounds dry – nearly 1,000 pounds fewer than a production Corvette at the time.
Unfortunately, after the car’s early retirement at the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring, the Automobile Manufacturers Assocation, which was comprised of every US automaker, decided to end all factory-supported racing programs. If this had not happened, a new SS with many upgrades would have competed in the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans. Alas, there wouldn’t be another factory-backed Corvette race car until the C5.R program in 1999.
TopSpeeds Take: How’d We Get Here?
It was fortunate Chevy still found a use for the SS Project XP-64 after its forced retirement in the late ’50s. The automaker occasionally trotted it out for promotional purposes, its first being the 1957 Michigan State Fair. It also appeared in magazines such as Road & Track.
In the 1960s, the car eventually found its way to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, perhaps as a strategy by Duntov to keep it away from people at GM who might want to see its demise. It officially entered the museum’s collection on May 29, 1967 where it remained until this year.
The museum offered the car for sale by RM Sotheby’s at the auction house’s Miami event in late February, 2025, where it attracted an astounding bid of $7.7 million by the time the gavel fell. The previous most expensive Corvette ever was a rare 1967 L88 model that sold for $3.85 million at a Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction.
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