Category: C2 Corvettes

Bunkie’s Ride – Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s Factory Custom 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.10.11

Being the general manager of a GM division is hard work, but it sure had its perks!

Special “Thanks!” to Mid American for the beautiful photos! To visit their site, just click the above image.

(Slide show at the bottom of this post)
Back on October 2, 2011 we told you about what would have been Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s  99th birthday. I don’t know if the GM Design Center still does customs, but back in the glory days, one of the perks of being an executive was that you could get a GM car built just for you. I don’t know if the executives actually “designed” their cars or if the GM Design Center guys just “had at it.” (Okay Mr. Knudsen, what color would you like?”) It’s an interesting and very overlooked part of GM’s history. What’s not overlooked is when these cars go on the auction block or are on display at shows.

Kundsen’s GM-customized ‘64 Corvette coupe is now part of Mike Yeager’s Mid America Motorworks “MY Garage” collection of cars, and will be on display at the Mid America booth (#24297) at the 2011 SEMA Show, November 1-4, 2011, in Vas Vegas. (Yes, you can sing a little “Viva Las Vegas” if you have to) Mid America is showing the Knudsen Corvette to showcase their ability to expertly replicate parts for specialty cars through their Performance Choice services.

The Knudsen 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe is just drop dead gorgeous and includes the following special custom features:

* Fire Frost Blue Cadillac paint (same as John Mecum’s grand Sport) over a specially prepared body.
* 327/365 hp engine and original drive train.
* Custom hood with deeper vents. Continue reading “Bunkie’s Ride – Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s Factory Custom 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe” →

Corvettes Score 23% in Edmonds 100 Greatest Chevrolets List

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.27.11
Of the 23 Corvettes Edmonds picked, vote for your favorite at the end of this post!

Is the C6 ZR1 Corvette the "Best Vette Ever?" Cast your vote below!

Back on September 14, 2011 we shared with you the results of Chevrolet’s Centennial birthday celebration popularity contest to find the most popular Chevrolet of all-time. Like American Idol or Dancing With the Stars, the Greatest Chevy contest was a popularity contest. Certainly an argument could be made as to why the C6 ZR1 is the greatest Chevy of all-time because of its overall performance, the LS9 engine, top speed, etc. But that’s not what Chevrolet wanted to know. They wanted to know what was the most “favorite” Chevy of the last 100 years.

Well it seems that the people at Edmonds.com decided to draw up their own list of great Chevys. The 100 top Chevys list isn’t limited to production Chevrolet cars, but includes, race cars, prototypes, and show cars. Of the 100 cars in the list, 23 were Corvettes! Pretty impressive for a low-volumn, limited usage automobile. The list doesn’t appear to be in any specific order and there’s a slide show of all 100 cars too. Also, the story does not explain how this list was drawn up. Regardless, it’s interesting just the same. To review the Edmonds story, CLICK HERE.

Here are the 23 Corvettes:
1. 1953 Corvette – The First Corvette.
2. 1955 265 V8 Corvette – The first V8 Vette.
3. 1957 Fuel Injected Corvette – The First Fuelie Corvette
4. 1956 SR-2 Corvette Race Car
5. 1957 Corvette SS Race Car
6. 1959 Stingray Racer – Bill Mitchell’s race car playtoy Continue reading “Corvettes Score 23% in Edmonds 100 Greatest Chevrolets List” →

Corvette Timeline Tales: Happy 102nd Birthday, Ed Cole

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.17.11
“Kick the hell out of the status quo!” – Ed Cole

Ed Cole was one of what I call, “The Four Fathers of the Corvette.” The first Father of the Corvette was Harley Earl, the designer and creator of the Corvette. Earl was the “Idea Guy.” Ed Cole was the “Go-to” guy. Ed was already the chief of engineering of Chevrolet in ‘53 and was working on what would become the Small-Block Chevy engine. He was also the man that hired Zora Arkus-Duntov. The third Father of the Corvette was Zora Arkus-Duntov. Were it not for his at times, unbridled passion and insistence that Corvettes were successful at the race track, the car wouldn’t have survived the ‘60s. And the fourth Father of the Corvette was Bill Mitchell. His Sting Ray and Mako Shark II designs forever defined the Corvette “look.”

While Cole was one of the top engineers of his day, he did not start out wanting to be in the car business. When he first started attending Grand Rapids Community College as a lad, he wanted to become a lawyer! But a part-time job in an auto parts supply store hooked him into cars. He enrolled in General Motors Institute and got his engineering degree and a job at GM. Cole and Harry Barr co-headed a team to design and develop the revolutionary 1949 Cadillac V8 engine. It was the Cadillac engine project that set Cole up to be the lead man on the Chevrolet small-block engine project. Just stop and reflect on what an enormous contribution to Chevrolets and racing the all-time classic Small-Block Chevy engine is.

I called Ed Cole the “go-to” guy because of his relationship with Duntov. Zora was quite an anomaly inside of General Motors. The prevailing attitude towards Duntov and Cole was likely, “You hired him, he’s yours!” It turned out that Cole was Duntov’s corporate angel and he always had Ed’s ear.

The book, “Zora Arkus-Duntov – The Legend Behind Corvette” by Jerry Burton is filled with wonderful stories about Cole and Duntov. One amusing story happened in early 1956 just after Cole and Duntov took a modified ‘56 Chevy Belair to Pike’s Peek and broke several records. After the event, while the guys were celebrating over drinks, Zora told Ed, “We should show the world that the Corvette is no longer an underdog. Let’s show how fast the car will really go.” Cole asked, “How fast is that?” To which Duntov just pulled a number out of the air and said, “Oh… maybe… 150 miles per hour.” Cole was interested, but reminded Zora that his main responsibility was the development of the fuel-injected engine. Zora took Cole’s interest as a go-ahead and started working on body modifications that would eventually lead to the speed record run on the sands of Daytona Beach with John Fitch, Betty Skelton, and himself driving modified ‘56 Corvettes. Duntov was a loose cannon, and he was Ed Cole’s loose cannon.

After Cole was made general manager of Chevrolet in ‘56, he embarked on an over-the-top project called the “Q-Chevrolets.” Cole was fascinated with the idea of using a transaxle on all Chevrolet cars (Corvette included) by 1960, with a marketing angle of Continue reading “Corvette Timeline Tales: Happy 102nd Birthday, Ed Cole” →

Marty Schorr’s “Car Guys Who Lunch” Car Club – Start Your own Chapter!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.13.11
“There’s only ONE rule – Be a real car guy, or be GONE!”
– Martyn L. Schorr, OWner of Sarasoda Cafe Racers Car Club

Marty will probably blush over this, but I’ll say it. Marty Schorr has made a larger contribution to not just the Corvette world, but to automotive hobbyists all over. Marty was at the helm of High-Performance CARS magazine for nearly 20 years. But “CARS” wasn’t the only pub Marty drove. He was also editor of Chevy Action, Speed and Super Car, the founder of VETTE Magazine and Thunder-AM, plus dozens of CARS Annual special editions and a few dozen stand alone car books. His latest book “Motion Performance – Tales of a Muscle Car Builder” is the official history of the Baldwin-Motion experience, as told by the man that helped create the whole shebang! As front man for the Baldwin-Motion experience, Marty provided those wonderful, “in-your-face” PR, advertising, brochures, and catalog campaigns for the successful Phase III Supercars. The list just goes on and on. “Prolific” is an understatement. And now, we should also add “car club impresario” to Marty’s list of accomplishments.

Marty isn't late, but as Maitre d’ café & CCO (Chief Communications Officer), he likes to be at the restaurant first.

Car Guys Who Lunch started in 2003 when a group of dudes with gasoline in their veins got together for burgers and bench racing in a cafe in Sarasota, Florida. A good time was had by all with everyone agreeing, “Lets do it again!” Within a year, “Sarasota Cafe Racers” was officially launched, or should I say, “lunched.” (Arr, arr!) There are two aspects of Car Guys Who Lunch that make it so unique.

Continue reading “Marty Schorr’s “Car Guys Who Lunch” Car Club – Start Your own Chapter!” →

Vette Shows: 2010 Vettes at Glasstown Engines

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.10.11
Show us your engines!

I would venture to say that the most common question Corvette owners get is, “What year is your Vette?” Everyone wants to know how new or how old your Corvette happens to be. The second or third most common question owners hear is “What’s under the hood?” Now, we’re getting down to business. Were it not for stout, high-performance engines, Corvettes would have been just another Detroit pretty face. Two aspects of Corvettes that simply CAN NOT be disconnected on are “looks” and “power.”

In October 2010 when I attended the Vettes at Glasstown Corvette Show I took LOTS of pictures of Vette engines. Since most everyone had their hoods up and were saying in Corvette body language, “Hey! Look at my engine!” why not take pictures? When looked at over the span of nearly 60 years, you can clearly see visual phases in under-the-hood appearance.

From ‘53 to ‘66 engines were amazingly simple and 95% of everything was easily accessible. As emissions controls crept in, things got a little busy and by the end of the C3 generation, all kinds of things seemed to be growing under the hood. The first of the C4 engines had a big, honk’n cover over the cross-fire injectors and by ‘85 Vettes were again full-blown, fuel injected machines. The L98 and the LT1 and LT5 engines all had unique-looking fuelie designs. The LT-5 engine that powered the C4 ZR1 was as visually stunning as the old 427/435 big-blocks.

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With the arrival of the new LS-series in ‘97, the all-aluminum engines started wearing engine covers. Open the hood of a C5 or C6 Corvette and the biggest and first thing you see is the engine cover. The covers aren’t really needed, but they sure look cool and are now Continue reading “Vette Shows: 2010 Vettes at Glasstown Engines” →

Barn Find Maco Shark Corvette at 2011 Corvettes at Carlisle Show

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.6.11
 A rare Silva short-tail Maco Shark goes from orphan barn find to show car beauty!

Every year the Corvettes at Carlisle show has a theme. The theme for the 2011 Chip’s Choice Display was “Barn Finds.” Who doesn’t love an old barn find story? It’s a topic that cuts across all car interests. Today, barn finds have become a special interest category of its own. It seems that barn finds have sifted out into two groups. First there are the cars that look like they were just taken out of the barn – dirt and everything. What was once decades of dirt, blistered paint, animal droppings, sticks, and twigs has now become “patina.” And second are the cars that a normal human would have let rot back into the earth, only to have been beautifully and lovingly restored back to running and sometimes show car condition. For these cars, the “before and after” photos are a lot of fun. “You started with THAT?” Is a common comment.

Here at CorvetteReport.com and BaldwinMotionReport.com we’re a little partial to not only Baldwin Motion Phase III Supercars, but also the Motion Maco and Silva Maco Shark Corvettes. Unfortunately, there are probably more barn find-type Macos than there are finished and running Macos. it’s just part of the nature of kit cars. While Motion offered turn-key Macos, Motion and Silva also sold the body kits. As is the case with all kit cars, about 80-percent of the kits are never finished. What usually stops project kit cars are electrical systems.

While any barn find car being nursed back to health can be a daunting task, a kit car barn find is definitely a few notches up on the difficulty scale. That’s what makes Rick Walker’s 1976 short-tail Maco Shark so interesting. Like a typical barn find car, the Maco had been left out in the elements (in this case, the blistering Florida sun) and had been through several floods, such that the radiator had about 6-inches of sand inside the core, as well as sand packed into the frame and suspension. Although the primer and paint was in bad shape, the fiberglass was unmolested. At one point, the city of Sarasota declared the derelict Vette an eyesore and required the owner to erect a stockade fence so the neighbors wouldn’t have to look at the hideous sight. (that is, from THEIR perspective!)

 

 

After three years of work and unspecified expense, (Walker did all the work himself) the Silva short-tail Maco Shark Corvette is now a street machine/show car! All Maco Corvettes are technically “kit cars,” so they are all different,.Walker’s Maco maintains the classic Bill Mitchell “Shark” blue with faded light gray, simulated shark coloring and the unique nose vents. “Custom” touches include Continue reading “Barn Find Maco Shark Corvette at 2011 Corvettes at Carlisle Show” →

Vette Shows: The Sights of C2 Corvettes at the 2011 30th Corvettes at Carlisle Show

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.3.11
2011 Corvettes at Carlisle Week continues with coverage of 1963 to 1967 C3 Corvette Sting Rays – The Original American Idol!

Yesterday we showed you some of the C3 Shark Corvettes from the 2011 Corvettes at Carlisle Show. We attended on friday and it was a good thing because I read on keith Cornett’s CorvetteBlogger.com that overcast skies on Saturday have vendors packing by noon time. Hurricanes seldom blow up the east coast the way that Irene did, what’a shame it had to be that weekend.

While the 1965 Mako Shark II show car was a total game-changer for Corvette styling, back then no one was saying, “Gee, don’t you think the Sting Ray is looking a little tired?” NEVER HAPPENED. I’ve often wondered what the Corvette would look like today had the shark styling had not happened and the Sting Ray design was allowed to develop and mature, the same way the 911 Porsche did over the years. Today’s 911 Porsche still has the basic look from when the car first arrived as a 1965 model.

[nggallery id=26]

While Chevrolet stylist Larry Shinoda is generally credited for designing the Sting Ray, Larry’s work began where the Q-Corvette ended. In 1957 Ed Cole, the lead designer on the small-block Chevy engine was no the general manager of Chevrolet and wanted to leave his mark on future Chevrolets by reengineering the entire line up of Chevy cars with transaxles so that the interiors could all be opened up with the elimination of the big transmission hump. The larger project was called the “Q-Chevrolets” and the “Q-Corvette” was just one can in the line. The Q-Chevrolets were supposed to be introduced by 1960, but after the numbers were crunched, the entire project was canceled.

Here's what designers inside the Corvette design studio were thinking back in 1957. The basic shape was spot on!

Bill Mitchell took the opportunity to make the Corvette his own. He liked the look of the Pininfarina and Boano body designs on the Italian Abarth cars. The strong horizontal crease and fender humps were borrowed from the Italian cars. The structure of the Q-Corvette had a hoop/roll bar behind the driver’s seat. This allowed the car to have lift-out roof panels and the absence of an a-pillar for the windshield. Stylists Bob Veryzer and Pete Brock worked under Mitchell’s direction, with the help of Continue reading “Vette Shows: The Sights of C2 Corvettes at the 2011 30th Corvettes at Carlisle Show” →

Say, what’s the easiest way to keep up with what’s happening at CorvetteReport.com?

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.31.11
We’ve made it “easy as pie” for ya!

Ever since we dropped a ZR1 LS9 engine into our blog site, we’ve been posting at least once a day, sometimes more. At first, I thought, “How in the world am I going to find interesting Corvette material to post every day?” HA! Silly me! With nearly 60 years of Corvettes to talk about, I’ve concluded that I could do this for another 100 years and not run out of material to cover! The topic is so broad and deep, there’s ALWAYS something fun and interesting to talk and write about in the world of Corvettes!

Enter your email address:

So, to make it fall-off-a-log easy for you to keep up with us, we’ve created the above handy-dandy, sign up form. It’s not a “newsletter,” just a brief email announcement letting you know that there’s a new post at CorvetteReport.com. The email you will receive will look like this… Continue reading “Say, what’s the easiest way to keep up with what’s happening at CorvetteReport.com?” →

Engine History Made! 100,000,000 Small-Block Chevy Engines, and Counting!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.19.11
Chevrolet announces the 100-millionth Small-Block Chevy engine to be built and installed in a ’12 Corvette in Fall 2011

Former chief of Chevrolet engineering and president of General Motors, Ed Cole.

This week Chevrolet announced that the 100-millionth Small-block Chevy engine will be built sometime in Fall 2011 and will most likely be installed in a 2012 Corvette! So three cheers to Chevrolet.

Hip, hip, HOORAY!
Hip, hip, HOORAY!
Hip, hip, HOORAY!

Although the small-block Chevy engine was designed to be an efficient passenger car engine, the design’s simplicity and durability has been providing Chevy fans with some of the fiercest engines ever. SBCs have powered just about every kind of race car from Indy and Le Mans, to drag strips and dirt tracks all over America.

Which SBC will be the magic 100 millionth engine has not yet been announced. It could be the mighty 430-horsepower LS3 engine used as the base engine for the Corvette, or possibly the most powerful production engine ever built in Detroit history, the 638-horsepower supercharged LS9 that powers the C6 ZR1 Corvette rocket ship. I’m sure that Chevrolet will make a BIG media splash about this car.

Enjoy our Small-Block Chevy engine gallery.

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The man credited with designing and developing the SBC was former General Motors president, Ed Cole. As a youngster Cole liked to tinker with radio sets and was briefly a field rep for a tractor manufacturer before enrolling in the General Motors Institute where he got his degree in engineering. In 1949, along with GM’s Harry Barr, Cole developed the acclaimed 1949 Cadillac OHV V8 engine. By 1952 Cole was promoted to chief of engineering for Chevrolet. His first major project was the design and development of the replacement for Chevrolet’s tired, old, Stovebolt-Six engine. The finished engine was essentially a simplified, smaller version of the Cadillac OHV engine he’s helped design in ‘49.

When nested between the front fenders of the new ‘55 Chevy, the 265-cubic-inch, 162-horsepower engine looked, well, tiny. It probably only took a few weeks for hot rodders to realize that there was a ton of red meat in the little lightweight engine. The new small-block Chevy quickly developed the nick name “Mouse Motor.” Within a few years, the new SBC completely changed hot rodding and racing. It was, “good-bye Flathead Ford” and “Hello Small-Block Chevy.” Continue reading “Engine History Made! 100,000,000 Small-Block Chevy Engines, and Counting!” →

Vette Polls: Was There a 6th 1963 Grand Sport Corvette? Cast Your Vote!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.5.11
Corvette Odd-Ball: A Juicy Story, Indeed, But Some Documentation Would Sure Help!

Special thanks to Dave Friedman for the basic photo of the above art. if you love Grand Sport Corvettes, you should get a copy of "Corvette Grand Sport" by Lowell C. Paddock, with photos by Dave Friedman.

Read the below post and let us know what you think in our informal poll. Do you think there was a 6th 1963 grand Sport Corvette?

View Results

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The Corvette hobby has grown so wide and deep you could spend all day, day-after-day, and probably not be able to keep up with everything. So I didn’t beat myself up for not discovering this sooner. While poking about for some background on another project, I stumbled upon a post talking about a story from Autoweek writer, William Jeanes that addressed the notion that there was a SIXTH Grand Sport Corvette. If you’ve been into the Corvette hobby for a while, you’re familiar with the GS Corvette story: Five lightweight Grand Sport Corvette race cars were secretly built by Zora Arkus-Duntov as a counter punch against the Shelby Cobras. The cars showed potential, but GM’s president, Frederick Donner, order that Chevrolet MUST comply with the official GM policy that “we DO NOT race cars.”

Duntov and Chevrolet’s general manager, Simon “Bunkie” Knudsen, were ordered to stop what they were doing. The cars were not ordered to be destroyed, so Duntov loaned the cars out and eventually, they were sold. From there, the GS Corvettes were raced, hammered on, became outdated, sold, resold, and at one point in the early ‘70s were nearly lost. Eventually, all five cars were found and have been lovingly restored. Today, they are very valuable pieces of Corvette history.

While the prospect of a 6th GS is an intriguing story, it’s got “modern urban legend” smell all over it. Unfortunately, it’s all based on anecdotal stories. Here are the key points:

1. Texas oil man John Mecom claims that he bought 6 GS Corvettes.

2. Road & Track artist and Mecom pal, Bill Neale claims that his friend, John Mecom, had a photo in his trophy room showing 6 GS Corvettes in his shop.

3. Retired GM employee, Jim Champlin worked at the GM Milford proving Grounds claims that he was personally charged with destroying the 6th GS in late ‘64 or early ‘65. He says that after the car was returned from the Bahamas, he was told to “make it disappear.” So, he put two tires in the car, doused it with gasoline and BURNED IT. Champlin also says that his supervisor, Bob Cameron witnessed the destruction. Continue reading “Vette Polls: Was There a 6th 1963 Grand Sport Corvette? Cast Your Vote!” →

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 172 – 1967 L89 427 Corvette Corvette

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.28.2011
Was This The Best C2 Sting Ray?

In March of ‘65 GM’s styling VP, Bill Mitchell blew everyone away with his Mako Shark II concept car. The new shark just had to be the next Corvette. Management was so excited, they tried to get the rebodied Sting Ray completed as a ‘67 model – a totally unrealistic goal. When it was obvious that the new design wouldn’t make it in time to be a ‘67 model, stylists were tasked to give the existing Sting Ray one last pass.

The stylists came back with subtle changes that made the ‘67 Corvette totally unique. Most obvious was the new five-louver front fender vents and the 15×6-inch steel rally wheels with their beauty rings and caps, the backup light was relocated just above the license plates, and a closer look revealed that the fender badges were gone. Since ‘65, big-block Vettes could easily be spotted by the domed hood. Big-block ‘67 Corvettes received the new “Stinger” hood scoop, which is arguably the most popular performance car hood scoop of all time. While not functional, except for the L88 racing version, it just flat-out looks great! The interior had slightly revised seat patterns and door panels, the passenger-side dash grab bar was gone and a center-mounted parking brake added. The suspension and drive train was unchanged, however, the Kelsey-Hayes knock-off cast-aluminum wheels were redesigned for a regular 5-lug pattern. Knock-offs and spinners were deemed unsafe by the government.

The big news was under the hood. Two small-blocks were available, the base 300-HP engine and the $105, 350-HP L79 327. But it was the selection of big-blocks that made jaws drop. With five 427s to choose from, the question was, “how much horsepower would you like and how much money do you have?” Continue reading “Illustrated Corvette Series No. 172 – 1967 L89 427 Corvette Corvette” →

Corvette Timeline Tales: July 1962 – Production of the “Lightweight” aka Grand Sport Begins

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.27.11
This could have been the beginning of a grand adventure for Corvette racing!


This is how we tend to think of the ’63 Grand Sport Corvette, with its aggressive fender flares, scoops, vents, and fat racing wheels and tires. Initial production was supposed to be 100, but Duntov envisioned at least 1,000 Grand Sports!

For those of us who are fans of the early days of the Corvette, the name, “Zora Arkus-Duntov” casts a very long shadow. GM’s chief of styling, Bill Mitchell once referred to Zora as, “Just a lowly engineer on a low-volume production Chevy.” While that may well have been correct, thanks to friends in very high places inside Chevrolet, Duntov got away with some astonishing things. And the Grand Sport wasn’t the first or last bodacious stunt he pulled.


There wasn’t much under the thin fiberglass body. The car had magnesium Hallibrand knock-off wheels,  an aluminum bell housing, transmission case, and rear differential, plus a 36-gallon fuel tank. Note how the side pipes came off the stock cast iron exhaust manifolds. FIA rules mandated that the cars carry a spare tire. (GM photo from the book “Corvette Grand Sport” by Lowell C. Paddock)

For this adventure, Duntov’s GM “angel” was Simon “Bunkie” Knudsen. While Bunkie personally never raced cars, he did work on the GM assembly line as a college student in the ‘40s and was passionate about race cars. While general manager at Pontiac from 1956 to 1961, Knudsen was responsible for Continue reading “Corvette Timeline Tales: July 1962 – Production of the “Lightweight” aka Grand Sport Begins” →