This 66 Daytona Corvette was specifically ordered for the purpose of going straight to Daytona. It is one of the two Corvettes to participate in the first 24 hour endurance race at Daytona called the “Continental”. This ’66 Daytona Vette was driven by owner George Cornelius and other relief drivers Bob Brown and Dick Boo. We have actual Vintage black-and-white photos of this Daytona Vette taken by professional photographers in 1966 at Daytona.
This 1966 Daytona Corvette is on the front cover of the 1966 Corvette News Vol. 9 #4 issue. Featured inside is the story of owner George Cornelius operating on a very limited budget going heads up against some high dollar racing teams such as Roger Penske, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren and others. Also in this competition were likes of Don Yenko with his Yenko Stinger (Chevy Corvair). The Penske Daytona Corvette placed first in the GT class over the second place 911 Porsche. This Corvette owned by Cornelius placed fourth, but won a victory of this own in a different way. It was awarded the trophy for the American production car, which proved to be most durable and reliable at Daytona.

This Daytona Corvette is one of only 15 M22 Corvettes built by Chevrolet. There were only 66 N03 ‘big tank’ optioned in 1966. This Corvette is one of possibly a few known to have both the M22 and N03 options. This Corvette’s total option list is: Heavy Duty 427, M22 4-speed, N03 36.5 gallon gas tank, N14 factory side exhaust, F41 heavy duty suspension, C48 radio and heater delete, K66 TI ignition, and G81positraction. GM Engineering documents exist of these special Heavy Duty 427 engines when combined with the M22 transmission. There were 20 CEC HD 427 engines sent from Tonowanda to Zora’s Engineering Division. It is speculated that Zora fitted special motors in Vettes such as these that he knew to be headed for Daytona.