Category: C2 Corvettes

Corvette Timeline Tales: 9.13.01 – TV Show Route 66 Inducted into Cruisin’ Hall of Fame at Route 66 Rendezvous 4-Day-Event in San Bernardino, CA – Vids

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Actor and star of “Route 66” Martin Milner accepted the award.
 5-Sept-Timeline-RT-66-TNDateline 9.13.15 (videos at the end of this post) – What a cool concept for a weekly TV drama. Two dudes, tooling around America, working odd jobs, looking for adventure, flirting with pretty girls, and generally being good-guys on white horses. Only instead of horses, the dudes, “Todd Stiles” (played by Martin Milner) and “Buz Murdock” (played by George Maharis) got around in a brand new Corvette. The Corvette wasn’t a “star car” like “The General Lee” from The “Dukes of Hazard,” but it was always “there” and confidently got the boys from adventure to adventure.
Continue reading “

Corvette Timeline Tales: 9.13.01 – TV Show Route 66 Inducted into Cruisin’ Hall of Fame at Route 66 Rendezvous 4-Day-Event in San Bernardino, CA – Vids” →

Wintersteen 427 L88 Grand Sport Roadster

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wintersteen-427-l88-grand-sport-roadster-illustration-front-view

At the Simeone Automobile Museum in Philadelphia, you can actually see, hear,
and smell the Wintersteen 427 L88 Grand Sport Roadster. 

Words and Art by Scott Teeters, written for Vette magazine and republished from SuperChevy.com

The Grand Sport is well storied, so here’s the short version. Zora Arkus-Duntov was a racer/engineer first and foremost. Racing and race cars was always first in his thinking, with production cars a distant second. He essentially used General Motors as his race car shop.

When Duntov learned that Carroll Shelby was building Cobras he tried outflanking Shelby with his own lightweight. Five prototype tube-framed coupes were based on the ’63 Sting Ray wearing Halibrand wheels and side-mounted exhausts. Though Duntov had the backing of Chevrolet general manager Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen and Ed Cole, on January 5, 1963, GM’s hammer came down and the Grand Sport was officially dead. Continue reading “

Wintersteen 427 L88 Grand Sport Roadster” →

Corvette Timeline Tales: September 2, 1965 – Production of the ’66 Corvette Begins

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The Mark IV Chevy Big-Block Becomes a 427!

2-1966-Corvette-TN

Dateline: 9.2.15 – The year 1966 was a banner year for Corvettes for several reasons. It was the best sales year for the short, five-year run of the C2 Sting Ray with 27,720 cars built, and convertibles outsold coupes -17,762 convertibles (64%) and 9,958 coupes (36%). This was back in the days when convertible Corvettes actually cost LESS than coupes. The coupe’s base price was $4,295, while the convertible’s base price was $211 less, at $4,084. My, how things have changed! Not only was 1966 the best sales year of the C2 Corvettes, it was the best year ever for Corvettes to that date. The car had come a long way from its breakout year in 1956 when 3,467 Corvettes were sold.

427_Turbo_JetBut the big news was under the hood. The Mark IV big-block arrived mid-year in ’65 as a 396 and the 327 Rochester Fuelie was phased out. For 1966, the Mark-IV big-block was opened up to its intended size, the magical 427-cubic-inches. Continue reading “

Corvette Timeline Tales: September 2, 1965 – Production of the ’66 Corvette Begins” →

First-Ever 1963 Z06 Corvette Stingray – Dave MacDonald Picks Up, Then Races Z06 #684 At Riverside

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The First Z06 Corvette Was a Race Car!

Dateline: 8.30.15 – The original Z06 was Duntov’s “racer kit” for the then-new 1963 Sting Ray. Unlike modern Z06s, there was no flash to the first Z06, it was strictly hardware designed for the racetrack – no badges, special body panels, or designations at all! But considering the official “we don’t race” policy of GM, 199 1963 Fuel Injected Corvettes with heavy-duty brakes and suspension, wasn’t anything in GM’s big picture. But, if you wanted to race your Corvette in ’63, it was everything, and Duntov made sure you got what you needed.
1963-MacDonald-Z06-Side
Thanks to the SCCA rules that allowed the 2000-pound Cobra to race against the 3100-pound Corvette, even with the Z06 racer kit, the Vette was at a serious disadvantage. Continue reading “

First-Ever 1963 Z06 Corvette Stingray – Dave MacDonald Picks Up, Then Races Z06 #684 At Riverside” →

Long Term Corvette Relationship, Al Paer still owns the 1967 427 Corvette he bought in high school!

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Al Paer and his 1967 427 Corvette prove that it can be worth getting good grades in high school!

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Photo by: Ana Venegas, Staff Photographer for Orange County Register.

Dateline: 8-29-15 – There is a handful of cars that endear themselves to their owners; Corvettes, Mustangs, Shelbys, GTOs, and several others. But what makes Al Paer’s story so sweet is that Al has owned his 1967 427/435 Corvette roadster since he was in high school! Because Al was getting good grades in school, his Dad let him drive his ’62 Pontiac Tempest. In 1967, Al’s Dad let Al trade in the Tempest for a new ’67 427/435 Corvette Roadster. WHAT’A DAD!

Al has made the ’67 Roadster his own. He has added Hooker Header side pipes, L88 aluminum heads, performance camshaft, aftermarket chrome wheels, a front chin spoiler, Continue reading “

Long Term Corvette Relationship, Al Paer still owns the 1967 427 Corvette he bought in high school!” →

1966 Corvette vs 2015 Toyota Camry! SAY WHAT???

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It’s not about numbers,
it’s about PASSION!

1966-Corvette-vs-CamryDateline: 8.27.15 – Carlos Lago at Motor Trend arguably has one of the coolest jobs of our time – driving and hot-lapping modern and classic cars, and getting paid to do it and HAVE FUN! Carlos says it all up front. The Camry is an appliance, the 1966 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe with a 4-speed, knock-off aluminum wheels, and factory side pipes is what you WANT to drive, it’s what you LUST to drive! (Make those side pipes BARK and GROWL!)

Not much is known about the Corvette other than the obvious – it’s a small-block with a four-speed and everything is stock, right down to the car’s weakest point, the painfully skinny bias-ply tires. The tires just killed the Corvette’s lap time. The Camry turned in 1:37 @97-mph compared to the Corvette’s 1:44 @ 83-mph. Continue reading “

1966 Corvette vs 2015 Toyota Camry! SAY WHAT???” →

Corvette Timeline Tales: August 22, 1957 – GM designer, Peter Brock submits sketches for a new Corvette design – VIDEO

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GM designer, Peter Brock submits sketches for a new Corvette design and Chief of Styling, Bill Mitchell, approves and orders Styling to proceed with Brock’s design.
Brock-Sketch

Peter Brock was one of the youngest designers ever hired by GM Styling. Ed Cole was the new general manager at Chevrolet and after the success of his small-block Chevy engine design, he wanted to make a follow-up splash by introducing the entire 1960 Chevrolet line of cars equipped with a transaxle, including an all-new Corvette. A transaxle would improve weight distribution and yield more front seat interior space. Continue reading “

Corvette Timeline Tales: August 22, 1957 – GM designer, Peter Brock submits sketches for a new Corvette design – VIDEO” →

John Meyerhoff and Mary Carol Plott’s Corvette Love Affair – Pt 2

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Mary Carol Plott’s Corvette Personal Passion Story

Mary-Carol-1by Scott Teeters as republished from Vette Vues – You can enjoy Part 1 of the story (John Meyerhoff’’s story), HERE.

Dateline: 8.11.15 – Last month we told you about Lake Placid, Florida Corvette couple John Meyerhoff and Mary Carol Plott and their stable of driver Corvettes. Before the C7 Corvette came out, John had one of each generation Corvette! Between John and Mary Carol they have nine Corvettes (five are John’s and four are Mary Carol’s), but not all nine are in Florida. John also has a place in upstate New York.

Mary-Carol-2
When it comes to performance cars and Corvettes, what is usually the case is that when a couple gets together, at first, it’s the guy that’s the “car guy.” Yes, there are exceptions, but “generally speaking” performance cars are a guy-thing. For most gals, it takes a while to warm up to machines. But that’s not Mary Carol. The car bug got a hold of her back in 1965 and never let go. Continue reading “

John Meyerhoff and Mary Carol Plott’s Corvette Love Affair – Pt 2″ →

The Curious Case of the Fake 1967 Corvette

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Fake 67

Beware of FAKE Corvettes at Auctions, Even Top Auction Outlets

by Steve Lehto as republished from Jalopnik.com

Dateline 8-7-15 From time to time, readers point out cases to me from other states on topics I have written about. And last week I got a doozy. The man who bought a fake “rare” Corvette and could not sue for fraud due to disclaimers made by the seller, Mecum Auctions.

In 2011, Isaac Pardo attended an auction in Illinois where he saw a very rare black 1967 Corvette. The car was offered with a certificate of authenticity. Pardo won the car by bidding $68,500. Before he even left the auction, someone pointed out to him that the car was really just a 1964 Corvette which had been reworked to look like a 1967. I am not a Corvette guy, so I can’t even begin to guess why any of that makes sense, but trust me: In the most general terms, some of this sounds like it might raise legal issues. Continue reading “

The Curious Case of the Fake 1967 Corvette” →

Crossing RM Auctions-Unique GM Styled GPV-57 1964 Corvette Sting Ray

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BY SEAN SZYMKOWSKI as republished from GMAuthority.com

“Bunkie” Kundsen’s 1964 Vette Hits the Block!

Dateline: 7-29-15 The phrase “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to” rings so true with the story of this C2 Corvette. Once upon a time, GM brass had the pull to have a car handcrafted to their own desires. Here is an excellent example of that.

In 1963 Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen, general manager of the Chevrolet brand since 1961, ordered a special Corvette for his personal use. But, it wasn’t to be any C2 Corvette. Bunkie had signed off on many important Corvette variants during his tenure up to 1967, something important to understand regarding this 1964 C2 Corvette’s significance. Continue reading “

Crossing RM Auctions-Unique GM Styled GPV-57 1964 Corvette Sting Ray” →

Corvette Odd-Ball: Was the 1938 Adler Trumpf Rennlimousine the Genesis of the Iconic Sting Ray’s Roof?

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Was Corvette Designer Larry Shinoda Inspired by an Old German Pre-WW II Racecar?

1-Side-by-Side-Rear

Dateline: 7.22.15 The lineage runs like this. In 1957 Chevrolet’s new general manager, Ed Cole (the engineer credited with the design of the small-block Chevy engine – the greatest, longest-in-production engine in Detroit history) decided that by 1960 ALL General Motors cars would use a transaxle to improve weight distribution, handling, and to open up interiors for more space. It was call the “Q-Chevrolets” and yes, there was to even be a Q-Corvette. Continue reading “

Corvette Odd-Ball: Was the 1938 Adler Trumpf Rennlimousine the Genesis of the Iconic Sting Ray’s Roof?” →

Corvette Prototypes and Concepts – Trend Setting: Part 6

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1964-chevrolet-corvette-gs-illustration

A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes Part 6

Words and Art by Scott Teeters as republished from Vette magazine online at SuperChevy.com. Read the other experimental stories HERE.

General Motors makes hundreds of kinds of cars and trucks. Some sell hundreds of thousands of units a year, which makes Chevrolet’s Corvette a complete enigma. Given the small number of Corvettes sold every year, it is a modern American manufacturing miracle that the car survived for 61 years.

The Corvette was “officially” born on January 17, 1953 at the GM Motorama Show at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, in New York. To understand the impact of Harley Earl’s two-seater sports car concept car, you have to look at typical cars of 1953. The car was low and sleek, and wasn’t over festooned with styling gimmicks. Based on the response from attendees, Chevrolet rushed the car into production, and the rest is history.

Today, the Corvette is GM’s flagship car. When Chevrolet unleashes a new Corvette, the automotive world stops to take notice. But things were not always this way. Up to the C4, there were many inside GM that wanted to see the Corvette go away. For the first 20-some years, the car suffered from an identity crisis.

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Corvette Prototypes and Concepts – Trend Setting: Part 6″ →