Category: Corvette History

John Greenwood Retrospective: A Corvette Legend Passes by K. Scott Teeters

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john-greenwood-corvette-tribute

On July 7, 2015, the Corvette community lost another legend; John Greenwood passed.

Words and Art by K. Scott Teeters as written for Vette Magazine, republished from SuperChevy.com

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 223

On July 7, 2015, the Corvette community lost another legend; John Greenwood passed. He was 70 years old. John was a member of a very small club of legendary Corvette figures that only needed one name, such that when you said that one name, it spoke volumes. Just a few others are: Shinoda, Lingenfelter, Callaway, Yenko, Guldstrand, and of course, Duntov. Engage any serious Corvette person in some bench racing, drop the name Greenwood and instantaneously all manner of mental images come to mind: suspension packages, C4 body kits, BFGoodrich Stars and Stripes, 427 ZL1 racers, and the most outrageous Corvette racers ever, the C3 widebody “Batmobile” Greenwood IMSA cars. Continue reading “

John Greenwood Retrospective: A Corvette Legend Passes by K. Scott Teeters” →

1978 Corvette History & Art Prints Video Catalog by K. Scott Teeters.

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The late ‘70s were indeed “strange dayz” for the Corvette.
 Art, Article and Video production by Scott Teeters

In the late seventies, founding Fathers had all been put out to pasture. Harley Earl was long gone, Ed Cole made his exit in September 1974, Duntov was gone from GM in January 1975, and Bill Mitchell took exit, “stage left” in July 1977. Without angels in the boardroom, what would become of the Corvette?

Fortunately, the afterglow of the work of the Founding Fathers had tremendous momentum, despite power cuts, weight increases, and 100-percent price increase since 1967. The ’77 Corvette set an, all-time-high sale record of 49,213 units. When the ’78 Corvette was introduced on October 6, 1977, the press and public were surprised to see a very handsome facelift – the return of the fastback. Continue reading “

1978 Corvette History & Art Prints Video Catalog by K. Scott Teeters.” →

Desiring the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and Other Beautiful “Objects” Back When…

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BY PAUL NIEDERMEYER as republished from CurbsideClassic.com

1963 Corvette Sting Ray: Ravishing New “Lust” Object Appears Out Of The Depths Of The Ocean for Sixties Era Pre-Teenager

If you were ten or so like me in 1963, these two were likely the most memorable (good) things that happened that year–provided you either had the the kind of parents who’d let you see Dr. No or had an older accomplice willing to sneak you in via the fire escape door in the alley. All of which was still easier than seeing a new ’63 Sting Ray in the flesh, at least in Iowa City. Of course, once one had finally arrived at the dealer I could actually run my hands over it, check out its innards and even slip right inside it. Ursula Undress-ing would have to stay in the realm of imagination. Continue reading “

Desiring the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and Other Beautiful “Objects” Back When…” →

Ever Wonder About the Grand Sport Corvette History?

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Grand Sport History

by Staff as originally published in Corvette Online.  History by John Heinricy

We recently attended the C4 Gathering at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Aside from the opportunity to check out the Skydome progress and see the great new displays, we had the opportunity to sit in on a few presentations.

One such session was conducted by John Heinricy and Jim Minneker. He also happens to own C4 Grand Sport serial No. 1, but we will touch on that a bit later. Heinricy had some awesome first-hand information, and even told a few stories that few people have ever heard about his experiences working for GM. Continue reading “

Ever Wonder About the Grand Sport Corvette History?” →

1953 NASCAR Racer that Saved the Corvette

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Photos courtesy Terry Michaelis.

by Jim Donnelly as republished from Hemmings Daily Blog

A lot of car people, and especially a lot of people who like Chevrolet, know the basic framework of the story. The Corvette started out as a show car during the Motorama shows presented by General Motors and made it to production on the cheap. Snail-like sales of the hallowed originals – just 300 in 1953 – nearly led to the car being dropped. Folklore has Zora Arkus-Duntov delivering an over-my-dead-body ultimatum that kept the Corvette alive. The real story is more complicated and compelling. It involves a very special early Corvette that predicted its future remaking as a true sports car with V-8 power. The car is also being extensively shown at some of the country’s most prestigious car shows.

It’s in the collection of Pro Team Corvette, the dealer and restorer of classic Corvettes based in Napoleon, Ohio. We’ve been in touch with Pro Team president Terry Michaelis, who has not only been generous with information on Corvette number 211, but is also asking the Hemmings Nation for help on researching its racing history. But first, let’s look at the car. Continue reading “

1953 NASCAR Racer that Saved the Corvette” →

One Millionth Corvette Restored – Timelapse Video

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1-Millionth Corvette Restoration Timelapse

Chevy finishes restoring one millionth Corvette after sinkhole damage

by JORDAN CHITTLEY as republished from The Globe and Mail

When a sinkhole opened up underneath the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky last year, it swallowed the one millionth Corvette that rolled off the assembly line – a white 1992 model.

The fall made the iconic sports car look more like a pancake. Now, after more than four months and 1,200 man hours the restoration is complete. Continue reading “One Millionth Corvette Restored – Timelapse Video” →

Driving Across Country in a Corvette – Rt 66 Star, Martin Milner Dies

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Martin Milner drove a Corvette across America for four years in Rt 66 Series

By DENNIS MCLELLAN as republished from LA Times

Dateline September 2015. Martin Milner, who drove a Corvette across America for four years as the co-star of TV’s “Route 66” and later traded in the iconic convertible for a police patrol car as a star of “Adam-12,” died Sunday at his home in Carlsbad. He was 83.

His death after a long illness was confirmed by his son, Stuart.

The red-haired, freckle-faced Milner had more than a dozen years of work in films and television behind him in 1960 when he began plying the highways and byways of America on “Route 66,” portraying Yale dropout Tod Stiles opposite George Maharis’ streetwise New Yorker Buz Murdock.

The hourlong dramatic series on CBS, in which the two young men became involved in the problems of the people they met as they crisscrossed the country and worked a variety of jobs, was shot on location. Continue reading “

Driving Across Country in a Corvette – Rt 66 Star, Martin Milner Dies” →

A Sneak-Preview of The Quest, the 1960 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Racer Restoration Story

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Corvettes on Netflix Watch Instantly!!!

The-Quest-1960-Cunningham

Dateline: 9.5.15 – If you are a Netflix subscriber, you’re in for a treat! Corvette Nation aired for two seasons with the third season bogged down in a law suit. Well, it you missed the series as it rolled out on the cable network, Velocity, seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix in their Watch Instantly library.

Corvette Nation is fun with great visuals and if you’re already a Netflix subscriber, you can’t beat the price. Concerning the lawsuit, Continue reading “

A Sneak-Preview of The Quest, the 1960 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Racer Restoration Story” →

Corvette Timeline Tales: September 4, 1956 – The second Corvette SR-2, for VP of Design, Bill Mitchell, is completed

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Bill Mitchell launches a purpose-built 1956 Corvette race car

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As Director of Styling under Harley Earl and the appointed heir to the Earl throne, Bill Mitchell enjoyed some sweet perks – one being that he could have custom cars built by the Chevrolet styling department. Harley Earl’s son, Jerry caused some upper management concern when it was discovered that he was racing a Jaguar. Management felt Master Jerry should at least be racing a GM car, preferably a Corvette – thus the SR-2 was created. The car was a little heavy, but looked cool with its extended nose, fairing cones over the headlights, Halibrand racing wheels, door scoops, twin windshields and a short fin off the rear deck.

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Mitchell liked what he saw, but took his a few steps farther by adding a fairing behind the driver with a tall fin attached. Mitchell’s SR-2 went through several incarnations. Continue reading “

Corvette Timeline Tales: September 4, 1956 – The second Corvette SR-2, for VP of Design, Bill Mitchell, is completed” →

History of the National Corvette Museum Sinkhole – Time-Lapse Video

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Time-Lapse video shows sinkhole repair at the National Corvette Museum.

The nightmare is over! The sinkhole is filled and the Skydome is open. To pay tribute to the cars that went down, the recovered eight cars that crashed into the open hole are in the exact position they were in the morning the earth opened up.

Eight cars went down. The 2009 Blue Devil, the 1992 1 Millionth Corvette, and the 1962 Corvette that were on loan survived, although pretty beat, all will be fully restored. The least beat and the first restored was the Blue Devil C6 2009 ZR1. The black 1962 Corvette is being restored by Chevrolet, and the 1 Millionth Corvette was fully restored.

Image: http://www.CorvetteBlogger.com
Image: http://www.CorvetteBlogger.com

The remaining five cars that were not recoverable include; the 1993 ZR-1 Spyder, the 1984 PPG Pace Car, the 1994 40th Anniversary Corvette, the 2001 Mallett Corvette, and the 2009 1,500,000 Corvette. Continue reading “

History of the National Corvette Museum Sinkhole – Time-Lapse Video” →

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!

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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” →

Corvette Timeline Tales: Sept 2, 1994 – The National Corvette Museum Officially Opens

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Dan Gale & Zora Arkus-Duntov’s Dream Comes True, After a TON of Work

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Dateline: 9.2.15 – There are many car museums in the world but nothing like the National Corvette Museum. Located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, just a quarter-mile from where Corvettes are built, customers can not only tour the assembly plant, they can take in Corvette history at the museum. Starting in 2001, Corvette customers could take delivery of their new car at the museum (option RPO R8C) and get the full royal treatment. The museum was the dream of the late Dan Gale and Zora Arkus-Duntov. In 1986 the Library, Archives, and Museum Committee was formed and Gale was one of the charter members. Duntov wanted a place to store the artifacts of Corvette history.

Duntov-Gale Obviously, a lot of money needed to be raised and in 1991 Gale was elected as president of the NCM’s board of directors and headed up the “Capital Campaign” Continue reading “

Corvette Timeline Tales: Sept 2, 1994 – The National Corvette Museum Officially Opens” →