The Illustrated Corvette Designer Series, No. 213 Words and art by Scott Teeters as written for Vette Magazine and republished from SuperChevy.com. To understand the Z06, we need to go back to the beginning—1953. The Corvette started out as a show car and quickly turned into a tough guy by 1957 with the 283 fuelie option.
Corvette Prototypes and Concepts – Trend Setting: Part 5 by Scott Teeters
Being a history buff and a Photoshop expert, I recreated the diazo blueprint look in Photoshop. We how have available in a unique square format, 18 Corvette engines from the 1953 – 1955 Blue Flame Six to the mighty LS9 ZR1 engine in both positive and reverse blueprint blue. “What’s under the hood” is usually the second question Corvette owners are asked after, “What year is your Vette?” While all Corvette engines are unique (except for the 1980 California LG4) some have bigger bragging rights than others.
What a better way to pay tribute to your Corvette’s power plant that a blueprint wall hanging for your man cave or special garage. Through our Fine Art America store, our square-format Corvette engine art prints are available in sizes from 8” x 8” to 48” x 48.” You can get a print in a variety of papers and canvas and even have your art print professionally framed by choosing from a huge selection of frame colors, styles, and colored mattes. You can custom design your framed print to fit perfectly into your man cave or special car garage.
Back in the olden days, you know, pre-Bowling Green, if you wanted to buy a Corvette, you simply went to your friendly local Chevrolet dealer and bought your car. While some Corvette buyers may have been aware that their Corvette was built in St. Louis, most couldn’t have cared less, and were more focused on the experience of owning and driving their Corvette, rather than where it was assembled.
All Corvettes from 1953 to 1980 were built in the old St. Louis assembly plant. If you go back and read early road tests from the ‘60s and ‘70s you’ll see a consistent complaint – spotty to poor builkd quality. Some cars were built very well, most okay, and too many not good at all. It was a time when you didn’t want a “Monday car” for obvious reasons. Owners and magazine writers complained and GM listened.
It was an interesting generation. Certainly in the Fall of ‘67 as the first Shark ‘68 Corvettes were arriving in Chevrolet showrooms, no imagined the shape would have a 15-year run, with a chassis designed in 1960! The comedian Gallagher used to have a routine about how Americans have, “S t y l e……” The Mako Shark-II defined THE basic “style” of America’s sports car.
What was your favorite C3 Corvette?
Within the machinations of a big corporation, to get things done, it’s good to have an angel. Zora Arkus-Duntov had several angels. We’ve talked about Duntov’s relationship with Chevrolet honcho Ed Cole. But one angle that doesn’t get much attention was Simon “Bunkie” Knudsen.
Simon’s father was former GM president, William S. Knudsen. While this was helpful for the younger Kneudsen’s career, things weren’t handed to Bunkie – he had to work for what he accomplished. Like many teenage boys of his generation, Simon was interested in mechanical things. When he asked for a car, his Dad gave him one… in pieces for the young man to out back together. During his college years, Summer break meant a stint working at Gm… on the assembly line. Upon graduation, Knudsen got a job at Pontiac in 1939 and quickly rose up through the management ranks. By 1956 he was the general manager at Pontiac.
On June 3, 1971, Dr. Henry Rollings took delivery of his air-conditioned, 500+ horsepower, 1971 Phase III GT from Joel Rosen at Motion Performance in Baldwin, New York. Power was supplied by a blueprinted and balanced 454 LS6 big block built to LS7 specifications and fitted with a GM high-performance hydraulic cam, open-chamber L88/ZL1 aluminum heads, headers and a Holley four-barrel.
Race-prepared, Stock 1990 ZR-1 Shatters a 50 Year 24-Hour Speed Record – 2 Video Below! (This story first appeared in the May 2017 issue of...
This isn’t a car that you drive casually, you definitely have to DRIVE the car. The big-block engine is super responsive with the three two-barrel carburetors. Between the horsepower and torque of the L89 and the optional 4:11 gears, the car delivers amazing acceleration; frightening, if one isn’t used to that kind of raw acceleration.
The Corvette world is mostly populated by male owners and in the past Vette Vues has put a spotlight on many Corvette gals, including; Jill Jahn’s 1959 Corvette; Lyn Adam’s 1964 Grand Sport Roadster replica and her 2009 GT1 Championship Special Edition Z06 (Lyn has owned 28 Corvettes in her life!); Joanne Woodard’s Custom 2016 Coupe (Joanne sold her 2016 Coupe and has a C7 that she’s customizing that we will cover); and we’ve covered Mary Carol Plott’s 1967 427 Coupe, 1971 Convertible, 1981 Coupe, and 2001 Z06.
It all got me to thinking about those infamous, barking side-pipes that were offered from ‘65 to ‘67, and slightly milder ‘69 side-pipes that made even the 300-HP small-block sound as ominous as a junkyard dog. Two unique designs were offered back then. Beginning in ‘63, as part of the overall Z06 package, was the $37.70 N11 option, the Off Road Exhaust System, which included low-restriction, under the car mufflers and 2-1/2-inch exhaust pipes. This option was available through to ‘68 and was officially listed as “off-road.” (That’s GM-speak for “race track”, is in, racing.) The N14 Side-mount Exhaust System was another animal altogether. The system begins at the end of the exhaust manifold flange with the typical 90-degree bend. But instead of bending towards the back of the car, the bends were directed towards the sides of the car. After a short distance of about 12-inches or so, there was a gentle bend of approximately 118-degrees that leads to a long, straight tube that passed as a “muffler.” The “muffler” portion that ran along the side rocker panel had small crimps that created little internal baffles – and not much baffle at that.
In the spring of 1997 I pitched then editor, Richard Lentinello a concept I called, “The Illustrated Corvette Series” as a monthly column. Lentinello liked the idea, but didn’t have an open page for another columnist, so it was, “Thanks, but no thanks”. A week later Lentinello called me to ask if I still wanted to do a column, as one of his other columnist informed him that he could no longer do his column. Of course I said, “Yes!” My plan was to cover every year Corvette in chronological order; so maybe I’d have 50 installments. When Vette magazine was shuttered last December I had completed 275 installments and got a book deal from Car-Tech Books in 2010.
It was a cold, windy, overcast, nasty in Texas on the day of the record run. The timed event started at 9:55:12am on March 1, 1990 with John Heinricy at the wheel of the ZR-1 and Tommy Morrison driving the L98. The pace was essentially flat-out! Heinricy said, “Speed was in the low 190s. We didn’t lift in the turns. We entered them foot on the floor and by the time we came out of it, we’d be in the high-170s. It didn’t slow down much in the turns.” Fuel stops only took about 45-seconds to fill the 48-gallon fuel cell. Interestingly, the chassis and tires weren’t really stressed that much by the low cornering loads – something that would have been an issue at one of the high-banked tracks.
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