In 2002 Holden Motorsport was looking at running a Holden Monaro in the Bathurst 24 Hour endurance sports car race against the likes of the Lamborghini Diablo GTR, Ferrari 360 N-GT, Chrysler Viper ACR and Porsche 911 GT3. After the Holden Racing Team reportedly turned down the job of building the Monaro, GRM accepted the job of building the car as well as running it. The car ran a GRM developed version of the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R's 7.0 litre (427 cui) motor which had taken numerous class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The GRM engines were built by the team's engine builder Mike Excel. The car became known as the Holden Monaro 427C.