1964 CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRAND SPORT


Bill Tower (above) knows he is lucky to be the custo- dian of Grand Sport number 5, which looks like it just rolled off a race track.


Grand Sport and uttered the hopeful words: “If you ever want to sell it, give me a call.” Around Christmas 1978, that call came, and Tower had to sell everything that wasn’t nailed down, as well as arrange for a hefty loan that amounted to a lot more than his salary. “Everybody thought I was crazy,” he admits, but nobody’s laughing now. “A week doesn’t go by that people don’t call about it.” Many of those callers want the car for shows and ex- hibits, but Tower, who’s still working almost 50 years after graduating from GMI, doesn’t have the means to ship it all over the place. The other calls come from wealthy collec- tors who think they can give the car a better home. Funny thing is, it’s hard to imagine a better custodian than a man who worked on the Grand Sport engine program, crewed for Jim Hall, and personally and painstakingly restored Grand Sport number 5 to its exact original configuration.


All four car owners know just how lucky they’ve been. They also know about choices and sacrifice. Raffi Mina- sian knew that selling the Pegaso would be in the best interest of his entire family, while Murphy had to wait years to restore the Cisitalia. Guynes had to give up risking his increasingly valuable Cobra at the drags and Tower had to incur a substantial debt to get his incredible Grand Sport. And all have had to face down wealthy aspiring owners who think they are more deserving. But we know better.


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