RedRCKT

http://money.cnn.com/gallery/autos/2...tes/index.html

CNN/Money posted their top 10 most valuable corvettes, with photos (link provided). Here they are:

1963 Grand Sport

Value: $6 million to $8 million
The 1963 Grand Sport only barely qualifies as a production car but, going for between six and eight million dollars, it definitely qualifies as valuable. Only five were built before General Motors pulled the plug on the program that created it. Underneath that Corvette body it was, for practical purposes, a racecar.

With the all-new seventh-generation Corvette being unveiled in Detroit, the experts at Hagerty Insurance, where they closely track collector car values, put together this list of the 10 most valuable collectible Corvette production cars from years past.

NEXT: 1969 Chevrolet Corvette ZL-1

Value: $1.4 million

With an aluminum engine churning out over 500 horsepower, the ZL-1 was the most powerful version of the already strong L-88 Corvette. In fact, ZL-1s were the most powerful production Corvettes available until fairly recently. Only two are known to have been built that year.

NEXT: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L-88

Value: $1 million

The 1967 L-88 is considered the best of the second generation Corvettes, according to Hagerty. Among these so-called "mid-year" Corvettes, the very best were the 20 L-88's built that year with an engine officially rated at 430 horsepower. Its real output was actually more than that.

NEXT: 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L-88

Value: $478,000

1969 was the final year of production for L-88 option package on the Corvette. This year 116 were built. Again, these were intended for race track duty. Prices can vary a lot, depending on a car's racing history.

NEXT: 1953 Chevrolet Corvette

Value: $300,000

This was the first production Corvette. It was cool looking but, really, not such a big deal otherwise. It had a 150-horsepower 6-cylinder engine and a two speed automatic transmission. The car is poorly built and the 300 that were made that year were basically exactly alike. All had white exteriors with red seats. They were the first ones, though, and that alone makes one of these worth a lot more than a 1954 car.

NEXT: 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 "Big Tank"

Value: $209,700

The "Big Tank" refers to this car's 36-gallon gas tank, useful in racing because it minimized fill-ups. It also had a 345 horsepower fuel-injected engine and performance suspension and brakes. This car also has the iconic split rear-window featured on 1963 cars.

NEXT: 1957 Chevrolet Corvette "Fuelie"

Value: $129,200

Fuel injection -- a system by which gasoline is squirted into the air entering the cylinder rather than just being sucked in as the air flows past -- can improve a vehicle's efficiency and performance. It was offered as an option on the Corvette for the first time in 1957. You could get a car with a 283 cubic-inch engine -- 4.6 liters in today's metric numbers -- producing 283 horsepower.

NEXT: 1955 Chevrolet Corvette

Value: $113,000

The big news for 1955 was the introduction of a V8 engine. It was an option, at first, but it wasn't long before the straight-6 was no longer offered. By this time, General Motors was just about ready to give up on the Corvette. The V8, which finally generated some real performance excitement, was one of the things that saved it. The other, ironically, was the Ford Thunderbird. Ford's competing car outsold the Corvette but showed that there really was a market for a fun American two-seater. Before long, Ford added back seats to the Thunderbird, leaving the two-seat sports car market to the 'Vette.

NEXT: 1962 327/360 "Fuelie"

Value: $96,500

It would have cost you, but in 1962 you could add options like fuel injection and a 327 cubic inch engine to your Corvette to turn it into a serious performance machine. In that day, few cars that weren't big sedans put out anything like this Corvette's 360 horsepower.

NEXT: 1996 Grand Sport convertible (LT4 engine)

Value: $40,800

Generally speaking, fourth-generation Corvettes are not considered the most desirable by collectors. according to Hagerty. Even the high performance ZR-1 from the same generation is very affordable. But this Grand Sport, available for one year only, was almost as fast, easier to work on and is actually worth a good bit more.

96GS#007

Interesting.

I would have expected to see something like the '67 427/435hp in there vs the '96 Grand Sport.

Corgidog1

CNN is off the mark by not mentioning the 67-69 L89 cars, the regular 67 427/435s, etc etc.

flange

clearly an author who didnt do full research, or listened to their friend. Modern Z's, Zr1's, and even grand sports are more valuable than the 1996, along with many older models. Unless there was some criteria other than "value" its a flawed list.

Gary '09 C6

I don't have much faith in whatever CNN publishes, anyhow...

Flame Red

Yep, the 96 GS was nice for it's day, but I don't think it makes the cut for this list.

Yep, they are Libitard liars.

ZR1Cat

yep, the 67 427 (L71) engined roadster with sidepipes needs to be added IMHO Not that I am biased or anything.

Sabre34

My choice would be the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 "Big Tank". But, I have always had a soft spot for mid years, especially 63's, 65's and 67's.