Chevrolet
Corvette Challenge race car (1988)

Why it matters

The Corvette Challenge was a one-make race series for identical C4s, created after Corvettes won so many SCCA Showroom Stock GT races that the series banned the car. It put the Corvette back on television and made names for drivers such as Doug Rippie, Stu Hayner and Bill Cooper.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Production

Every figure says what it counts.

Independent counts (e.g. engine and colour) are never combined into a calculated figure. Surviving examples are never presented as original production.

History

The C4 won every SCCA Showroom Stock GT race from 1985 to 1987 and was then banned from the series. Chevrolet answered with the Corvette Challenge conceived by John Powell: 56 identical cars in 1988 and 60 in 1989, prepared by Protofab with factory-sealed engines that were swapped between rounds. The race hub counts 116 Challenge cars over the two years and mentions a smaller 1989 batch of 29 cars ordered under option code R7F.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Identification guide

How to tell an original from a replica or later conversion.

The race hub names option code B9P as the way to verify a genuine 1988 Challenge car; the 1989 cars were ordered under code R7F.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   1988 Corvette Tech Center - Model Year Highlights Level A Corvette Action Center

   • Fifty six, street legal Corvette Challenge cars were built

   Accessed 2026-11-12
2. 2
   C4 Corvette (1984–1996): The Complete Fourth-Generation Guide Level B CorvSport

   • 56 identical cars in 1988

   Accessed 2026-11-12
3. 3
   1988 Corvette Challenge Car Series – CorvSport Level C

   • 56 1988 Corvette Challenge cars built by Chevrolet (stated as 'fifty-six')

   Accessed 2026-11-12