While visiting the annual Corvette Funfest 2014, courtesy of Mid America Motorworks, one fourth generation Corvette really stood out among the sea of beautiful V8 sports cars stretched across the lawns that first afternoon in Effingham, Illinois. This car happened to be a fourth generation Grand Sport sporting the signature, three-color paint scheme and just looked remarkably clean. After tracking down the owner, I had one interesting conversation, and learned just how much history and involvement in the Grand Sport world this C4 has had. While it is understandably hard to differentiate one among a group thanks to the matching paint schemes, if you’ve seen a Grand Sport on display, there is a decent chance that this was the one.

The Owner

This fine example is owned by Dan Jaquess who drove the ’96 from his home in Owensboro, Kentucky. Dan has been a Corvette lover for a long time, and when asked about where his interest in them came from, he said, “Like most, I fell in love with them as a young boy. [I] had to wait until I got my three children out of college, I had a 1991 yellow coupe before the Grand Sport and also have a 2004 Z06 Commemorative Edition with 3,000 miles.”

Mr. Jaquess is a member of the Grand Sport Registry and is extremely active within his club. He is affiliated with such other clubs as the Tri-State Corvette Club, National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS), National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC), and the National Corvette Museum (NCM), just to name a few. He takes great pride in being an active member of these clubs and really knows the C4 Grand Sport history in and out. As an important member of these affiliates, Dan had a lot to share with us, and we were happy to listen.

Skunk Striped

This beautiful car is a 1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, coupe, and is sitting in its full original condition. When asked about what makes Dan’s car unique, he had this to say, “The Grand Sport was the close-out feature car of [the] 1996 C4. Stinky is one of only seven coupes with the same RPOs (Regular Production Options) from [the] factory. He is also #681 out of 810 built (plus 190 convertibles).” In other words, the C4 configuration ran from 1984 to 1996, and the Grand Sports helped to bring this revolutionary generation of Corvette to a close.

To avoid any confusion about the skunk appearing in numerous shots, the skunk is the club mascot of Dan’s club; aptly chosen due to the infamous white stripe that adorns the C4 Grand Sports. Accordingly, Dan has named his car “Stinky” and commonly refers to it as such.

This trademark paint scheme is comprised of the entire exterior being coated in a rich blue color, known as Admiral Blue, which features some violet undertones that allows the blue to really pop when in direct sunlight. Secondly, a fairly wide stripe is painted down the center of the car from nose to tail with two thin pinstripes running in parallel, this brilliant hue is called Arctic White.

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Stinky sports the iconic 3 color paint scheme: Admiral Blue, Arctic White, and red

To complete the C4 Grand Sport’s uniform, two diagonal stripes are laid down in red across the driver-side front fender. This red detail is often accented by a brilliant red interior, but as you can see Dan’s example was built with the more refined, traditional black interior. However, the Grand Sport stripes are still accented nicely by the LT4’s paint scheme when the hood is standing at attention.

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While some Grand Sports have a bright red interior, Dan's example was built with the classic black option

Dan is the second owner of the car and per the original window-sticker, which he showed to us, the car had an original price of $46,300. This would be roughly $70K today when adjusted for inflation, as this was quite the car for the time sporting the new LT4 power plant.

Grand Performance

The C4 Grand Sport came equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox bolted to the most powerful small-block engine Chevrolet had produced to date. The LT4 had a 10.8:1 compression ratio, aluminum heads and camshaft, and an increased rev limiter set to a crisp 6,300 rpm. Among other changes, the new motor was able to produce, a conservatively rated, 330 hp at the crank.

Thanks to the power of the LT4, when strapped to the dyno Dan was able to produce 297 hp at the rear-wheels. This was enough power to push his 3,200 lb Grand Sport down the quarter-mile in 13.6 seconds at 107 mph, certainly nothing to shake a stick at. While these numbers don’t command the same attention as modern specifications, it’s pretty impressive for a bone-stock production car built almost 20 years ago.

The car maintains a completely stock chassis, body, paint job, interior, as well as the engine and drivetrain. While we normally cannot wait to start squeezing more horsepower and torque out of a vehicle and improve its handling, we fully understand and appreciate why Dan chose to leave this example in its original, factory condition. After all, some cars are best left in there original state, especially when you want the car to have the type of exposure that Stinky has, assuming it’s somewhat of a collectible of course.

While several sets of tires have been used up and burned through, as they should be, Stinky still sports both of the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) correct tire sizes, both stern and aft.

In front lies a pair of 275/40r17s while the power is pushed through a pair of 315/35r17s in the rear. Both of which are mounted upon the factory, ZR1-style black spoked wheels with polished lips. These tires definitely help put the power to ground, and thanks to the LT4, these Grand Sports have their share of it.

A Stinky Life

It is not uncommon for Dan to drive his cars a great distance to participate in the Corvette club lifestyle he loves so much. As he said, “I have 70,000 plus miles on Stinky and all of them were traveling to car shows and trips with our car club.”

Aside from the small sample of awards listed that this great car has won, during a stent from 2005-2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013, Dan’s car has won either “The Gathering” or “The Bash” at the National Corvette Museum. Dan added, “The three years I did not [win], Stinky was on display inside the National Corvette Museum.”

This particular Corvette has actually had quite a relationship with both the museum as well as its birth place. In 2011, it was selected as the only C4 to return to the assembly plant to be displayed during an “all employee 20th year celebration.” One C3, one C5, and one C6 were the only other cars selected to appear. Dan also mentioned that, “In 2013, Stinky was selected as the 1996 representative to be on display during the Museum Celebration of the 60th year for Corvette, as one car was selected for every [production] year.”

“Stinky has a garage full of awards for Best of Show, Best Sports Car, Best Undercarriage, Best GM, Best Engine, as well as a long list of other awards.” While the awards and recognition can never hurt, Dan was quick to add that, “I have enjoyed traveling with my wife, Willa (passed away October 28, 2013) all over the country meeting Corvette people and have made many life long friends.” While it was very unfortunate to hear about Dan’s loss, he has gained an amazing group of friends through the years and continues doing what Willa and he most loved doing together.

Regarding such awards, Dan wanted to add, “All my celebrity awards were earned by my wife because she always sat and read during the shows, and was very knowledgable about the Grand Sport history.” It must have been pretty neat having a wife involved with your passion to that level, and we would of loved to have seen Willa stump some resident Grand Sport expert at a car show.

A Moment of Misfortune

When asked about any unfortunate damage or mishaps with the car, Dan’s tone changed for a few moments. He explained that, “After a car show, which Stinky won, I left him locked up and attended a demolition-derby at the fair grounds. [The] car was rocked, as in being keyed. Luckily, it was able to be buffed out.”

Initially Dan thought he was going to have to get the panels repainted, which brought in an estimate of around $3,500. He was able to show us a few faded Polaroids of the damage and still had the receipt from the detailer who was able to restore the factory paint.

One could only imagine the frustration and anger felt walking out to your prized car, only to find such senseless, cowardly vandalism. However, Dan didn’t have any ill words to speak about the offenders; he seemed to just be that kind of a person. All in all the memory is remembered as a fortunate one, in that Stinky was able to maintain his original paint and you’d have no idea the damage occurred if Dan didn’t tell you.

Wrapping It Up

It was a real pleasure getting to know both Dan and his award winning 1996 Grand Sport, Stinky. The car has an extensive, well documented history, and should Dan decide to pass him along at some point, we are sure the new owner will be more then happy to carry on the tradition. As we often see, this vehicle has meant a whole lot more to its owner then just being a great sports car.

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Dan really loves to have his mascot present in all areas of his Grand Sport

Stinky has allowed Dan and his wife to spend many years together, traveling the country and building new relationships. While it is no secret that Dan is a sincere Corvette enthusiast, after all he currently owns two, he was not reserved in reiterating that it’s all of the great people around the country he’s befriended that makes it worth while. In agreement with his position, this was more then evident at this year’s Corvette Funfest. Of all the various car clubs and organizations, Corvette owners, and fans have to be some of the greatest collections of people in any hobby, automotive or not.

We would like to personally thank Dan Jaquess again for his participation, and allowing us all to learn a bit more about the C4 Corvette Grand Sport. Dan, we hope that you continue to enjoy Stinky and make many new memories with your most recent 60th Anniversary edition Corvette. You really know how to document a car’s history and we look forward to seeing what progress you have made with your C6. Hopefully we will see you at next year’s Corvette Funfest or cruising the highways of the Mid West!