Category: C6 Corvettes

Farewell to Fitness Guru AND Corvette Fan, Jack LaLanne

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Let’s all do a few pushups in memory of Jack!

Here’s LaLanne and his ’05 Corvette. Did Jack test the Corvette’s performance capability? You betcha!

If you are a baby-boomer like me and remember black & white TV, there’s no way you could have missed Jack LaLanne. So, it was especially sad to see another cultural icon of Post WW II America pass away. (David Nelson, member of the Nelson family of TV’s “The Ozzy & Harriet Show” died January 11, 2011) Jack passed at his home in Morro Bay, California of respiratory failure due to pneumonia. LaLanne was 96 years young.

What immediately came to my mind when I read the news were grainy TV images of an effervescent, enthusiastic, guy with a very narrow waist, very broad shoulders, and big arms, exercising as if he could do that all day, every day, and LOVE every minute of it!

What most of the public didn’t know about LaLanne was that he was a passionate car lover with a long affection for Corvettes. Continue reading “Farewell to Fitness Guru AND Corvette Fan, Jack LaLanne” →

2010 Production Corvettes, Grand Sport, Z06 & ZR1

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The Return of the Grand Sport & Boutique Corvettes”

The Grand Sport option is available in all colors, enabling customers to personalize their ride.

In retrospect, ‘09 can be best summed up with a Charles Dickens quote from his classic book, A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” 2009 should have been an awesome year for Corvettes. But it turned out to be the worst sales year since ’61. Sales went from 35,310 units in ‘08 to just 13,934 for ’09 – a 60-percent drop! Of course, this lead to a lot of internet speculation that the bottom has dropped out of the sports car market, because nearly all sports car marquees saw sales plummet. So, people don’t want sports cars, now? Hardly. It’s the economy, stupid! Continue reading “2010 Production Corvettes, Grand Sport, Z06 & ZR1” →

Fun Corvette CDs For The Holidays

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The Annual Holiday Challenge For Corvette People Begins!

As the holidays approach, we often have the same challenge with our Corvette friends – “What do you get your favorite Corvette person that they don’t already have???” Well, we might be able to help you out.

We have added three new Corvette CDs and 15 Chevrolet CDs to our Illustrated Corvette Series website. For this post, I’ll just cover the Corvette CDs that are priced to be perfect stocking stuffers.

2011 Corvette Anthology CD

The “2011 Corvette Anthology” is an Official GM LIcensed product and is a digital encyclopedia of Corvette information and fun for Vette lovers of all ages and owners of Corvettes from 1953 to 2011. This CD has over 1,800 photos, hundreds of graphics, and 56 videos and Corvette TV commercials. My “Illustrated Corvette Series” is also on the CD! The CD has statistics and options for the entire lineage of Corvettes. There’s also an option to print out the entire CD as a book! Plus, the CD comes with a brilliant screen saver for PCs. Just $19.95, plus $5.00 for shipping and handling. Continue reading “Fun Corvette CDs For The Holidays” →

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 162 – Special Edition Corvettes, Part II

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A Look Back At Special Versions Of Chevy’s Special Sports Car, Part II

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 162 - Special Edition Corvettes Part II

11×17 Color Laser prints available at www.IllustratedCorvetteSeries.com

The arrival of the ‘05 C6, and then the ‘06 Z06 created such a big splash, no one was expecting a special edition any time soon. So when the ‘07 Ron Fellows Special Edition Z06 was announced, Corvette fans were treated to what would become an almost yearly experience. Except for ‘10, there have been special edition Corvettes every year. IN ‘08 and ‘09, there were two special editions each year! Chevrolet was really getting into this “special edition” thing. Part II covers the special edition Corvettes from the ‘04 Commemorative Edition to the latest “to drool for” special-ed Vette, the ‘11 Carbon Edition.

So, parking brake released, engage first gear, and let’s go! Continue reading “Illustrated Corvette Series No. 162 – Special Edition Corvettes, Part II” →

Rarer Than Rare – 2009 Special Edition Corvettes

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Sold 2009 Corvette Special Editions Are Few In Number!

By Illustrated Corvette Series Columnist & Artist, K. Scott Teeters

Down Economy Creates Rarest Corvette Special Editions

2007 Ron Fellows Special Edition Z06

Today’s down economy is no secret. Since late 2008 Detroit’s problems have been well publicized and now it looks like the “can do no wrong” Asian companies are in the hot seat as well. According to Edmunds Auto Observer, Chevrolet sold 13,934 Corvettes for ‘09 – the lowest sales figure since 1961! Since the entire sports car market took a dive, Corvette had a lot of company. It’s not that the market doesn’t want sports cars, but to quote one of my least favorite politicians, “It’s the economy, STUPID.” Continue reading “Rarer Than Rare – 2009 Special Edition Corvettes” →

Looking at C6 LS3 Small-Block Chevy Corvette Engine, The Mighty LS3

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ICS 154 Article as Seen in Vette Mag
ICS 154 Article as Seen in Vette Mag

From a recent issue of Vette magazine

Written and Illustrated by Vette Columnist, K. Scott Teeters

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 154
The C6 LS3 Small-Block Chevy Engine “The Mighty LS3”

I believe that one day, we will look back at the first six years of the C6 and call them “The Golden Years of High-Performance Corvettes.” Continue reading “Looking at C6 LS3 Small-Block Chevy Corvette Engine, The Mighty LS3” →

“Corvette Oddball!” Grumpy’s Toy – A Corvette?

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Let’s Play, “Corvette Oddball!”
Quirky Vette Factoids

Grumpy’s Toy- A Corvette?

by K. Scott Teeters

Hey! No mailbox hood scoop and Lakewood traction bars???
Hey! No mailbox hood scoop and Lakewood traction bars???

Question: Is the “Grumpy” Corvette for real?

Answer: I’m going to make a broad assumption that everyone reading this knows who Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins is. If not, we’re going to have to suspend your drivers license for a month while you take Muscle Car and Nostalgia Drag Racing Sensitivity Training Classes. Test at the end.

But seriously folks, Bill Jenkins is a true living legend, right up there with Zora Arkus-Duntov, A.J. Foyt, Don Garlits, and lots more. Da’ Grump doesn’t live too far from the Carlisle Fairgrounds – just up the PA Turnpike a ways. Back in 2007at the Corvettes at Carlisle Show,  it seemed that the bright guys from K. C. Kerbeck, in Atlantic City, NJ thought it would be a lot of fun to dress up an out of the box, $44,950 Corvette with a few official Corvette accessory items, add some stripes, letter the car with “Grumpy”  and “JENKINS/KERBECK” graphics. Then, to really send up the flag, they got the grumpy one himself to come by on Saturday, sign autographs, and grunt through endless bench racing stories. Continue reading ““Corvette Oddball!” Grumpy’s Toy – A Corvette?” →

2009 SEMA intros Grand Sport Heritage Package

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SEMA Attendees Treated to Corvette Grand Sport Eye Candy
GM’s Heritage Package a Sweet Eye-Full!

Upon reading about all the action at SEMA, I see that Corvette watchers got an unexpected eye-full at the Show last week. Just when you might have thought the new Grand Sport couldn’t get any sweeter, POW! right in the kisser with the stunning Grand Sport Heritage Package. The new Cyber Gray shows off the lines of the C6, as if the body had been carved from a solid chunk of pyrite or some material made by the BORG. Continue reading “2009 SEMA intros Grand Sport Heritage Package” →