In 1966, racing was becoming increasingly expensive and George Wintersteen was looking for an economical way to stay competitive. He and Roger Penske became friends; the timing could not have been better: Penske offered, "There's another one of these cars at GM." George jumped at the opportunity to buy chassis 002, which would come to be known as the Wintersteen Roadster.
Only two Roadsters were ever built, and both had been sold to Penske; chassis 002, however, had never left GM. Penkse arranged for George Wintersteen to personally pick up his new Roadster at the factory in Warren, Michigan. When he arrived, Wintersteen was met by Zora Arkus-Duntov, father of the Corvette, who delighted in showing off his collection of custom-made higher-performance vehicles.
Wintersteen would campaign the Roadster in the 1966 US Road Racing Championship despite stiff competition in the form of Lolas and McLarens that were becoming fast and reliable.
