Your special Corvette person is going to look REAL GOOD in one of our Corvette Jackets!
To check out our full line of C5 and C6 Corvette leather and cloth jackets, CLICK the above image.
Corvette people can be a real pain when it comes to holiday shopping. I mean, what do you get a Vette owner after they have their dream Vette?
Here’s a suggestion. ANOTHER CORVETTE!
I'm sure this would do just FINE!
But seriously folks, it CAN be a challenge buying for your favorite Corvette person. So, over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing with you many of the really nice, unique gifts that we’re sure will delight your special Corvette person.
To check out our full line of C5 and C6 Corvette leather and cloth jackets, CLICK the above image.
Today we want to tell you about our fantastic Corvette leather and cloth jackets. We have seven different style jackets, decorated with C6 Corvette logos, C6 Z06 logos, C6 Centennial logos, and C5 logos.
The jacket styles include:
* Lambskin Leather Jackets * Wool Varsity Jackets with Leather Sleeves * Black Aviator-Style Cloth Jackets * Black & Red Block Twill Jackets * Black with Red Trim Twill Twill Jackets * Lightweight Black Oxford Jackets * Spice Heavyweight Twill Jackets
Prices range from $299.95 for the Lambskin Leather jackets to $88.95 for the Aviator-style jackets. Sizes include Medium, Large, X-Large, XX-Large, and XXX-Large. (sorry, no Tall sizes) The “sizes” of our jackets run true – meaning that whatever size your favorite, most comfortable jacket happens to be, THAT’S the size to order. All jackets are “Men’s Cuts.” The jackets are cut to be comfortable while driving.Continue reading “Corvette Holiday Shopping Made Easy – C5 & C6 Corvette Jackets!”→
I suppose we should have known it wouldn’t last forever. Since 2009 the 638-HP LS9 engine that powers the C6 ZR1 has been the official “Most powerful mass production engine in Detroit history.” Well, it seems that Ford has a better idea and weren’t about to let GM hold the gold forever.
The new Shelby will be packing 650-horsepower and 600 lb-ft or torque from it’s supercharged 5.8-liter V8. While that’s only 12-horsepower and more than the LS9 and 6 lb-ft of torque less than the LS9, bragging rights are bragging rights. In the real world, will it matter? No. But the numbers are the numbers. The question is this. Will Chevrolet engineers pull out the “special chip” to goose the ‘12 or ’13 LS9 past the new Mustang? Aftermarket engineering companies, such as Lingenfelter Performance Engineering have proven that there’s PLENTY of red meat left in the stock LS9, such that with just a few bolt-on changes, the LS9 can easily close in on 700-horsepower.Continue reading “The New King of the Hill is NOT the ZR1 Corvette! WHAT?”→
Dateline: 11.14.11 Love it or hate it? Cast your vote at the bottom of this post!
With less than two years to go, Jalopnik.com says this is the C7 Corvette. Believe it… or NOT!
To see the front, rear, and side-view renderings, just click the above image.
Oh course, we won’t know for sure until Chevrolet wants us to know for sure. But Jalopnik.com is claiming that THIS is the the new C7 Corvette, as photographed by someone that isn’t supposed to be photographing things inside the design center. If this isn’t a carefully contrived leak created to stoke the Corvette loyal and faithful, then someone will either NEVER be allowed inside again or someone will be fired!
At the earliest, we’re looking at a “possible” Spring release of the ‘14 C7 Corvette, which puts that 18 months or so out ahead of us now. Will Chevrolet just show us the C7 in Spring ‘13 as the ‘14 C7 Corvette, or will they be taking orders for the ‘14 C7 Corvette? We don’t know. Will the C7 be shown at the Summer press preview so that as the magazines can splash the C7 Corvette at the news stands in early September, along with the rest of the new ‘14 cars? We don’t know.
(Love it or hate it? Cast your vote at the bottom of this post!)
Dateline: 11.10.11 Chevrolet goes straight for the heart strings! Before you watch this, get some tissues…
Okay, this isn’t a Corvette video, but it’s close enough! What a sweet story. Dad gave up his 1965 SS-396 Impala Fastback so that his children could go to college. Years later, his youngsters got Dad’s car back! (Hey kids! I had a ‘65 Vette back in ‘75, how about… oh, never mind.)
Never before or since did the big Impala have so much Corvette in its styling. The rear fender humps are straight off the mid-year Sting Ray and the two sets of triple round tail lights is what many felt the Corvette should have had, so they added their own. Chevrolet could have done something special for the hood and the Corvette knock-off wheels would have looked “boss.”
So, what became of the three Chevrolet brothers, Louis, Gaston, and Arthur?
The Chevrolet Brothers: Louis Chevrolet, Gaston Chevrolet, & Arthur Chevrolet
We might be learning more about Chevrolet than their public relations department would like us to know. One of my favorite car blogs is from Hemmings Motor News. Every day they serve up a heap’n, help’n of automotive history and fun. Today they posted an interesting story about the final resting place of the three Chevrolet brothers – Louis, Gaston, and Arthur. As Chevrolet rolls into their centennial celebration year, I’m sure there’ll be all sorts of special features, articles, videos, and books. So, let the fun begin!
Louis Chevrolet in his senior years.
Regardless of what your favorite auto maker happens to be, there’s no argument that “Chevrolet” is one of the all-time top iconic brands in American popular culture. Although the name may well have originated in France, it turns out that Louis Chevrolet emigrated from Switzerland. But first, he went through Paris, then Montreal, before arriving in Brooklyn in 1901. Louis had two younger brothers, Arthur and Gaston.
The Chevrolet car company story is fairly well known. Louis teamed up with William Crapo Durant to form the Chevrolet Company in 1911. Louis and Willy had a falling out in 1915 and Willy sold his shares in the company. With some interesting money machinations, Durant used his funds to eventually buy the controlling shares of General Motors, the company he had lost a few years before. Then in 1917 Durant bought out Chevrolet and folded the name into his General Motors company. (This is starting to sound like a Gordon Gekko story!) Louis took his money and got into the auto racing business, but went broke by the time of the 1929 stock market crash. Needing a job, Louis ended up as a line mechanic in a Chevrolet factory. Although he was a mechanic first, it must have been a humiliating experience.
Here’s the first turn at the first Indy 500 in 1911. Arthur Chevrolet is somewhere in there.
What became of the other two brothers whose name became a cultural icon? Gaston Chevrolet first raced in the 1919 Indy 500 and came in 10th place. But it turned out that 1920 was Gaston’s year – sort of. He won the 1920 Indy 500 with an average speed of 86.63-mph – a very fast speed for the day. Later that year, Gaston was killed in a race at the very dangerous, one-mile board track in Beverly Hills, California. Ironically, because of the points structure at the time, Gaston posthumously won the AAA National Championship. He was only 28-years old. Continue reading “More Interesting, Little Known, Seldom Talked About Chevrolet History”→
William Durant once got approval from GM’s board of directors to buy Ford!
2012 is Chevrolet’s 100th birthday year and unless you’ve been in a coma, you could not have missed the celebration. Last summer we told you about the most popular Chevrolet of all time contest. Sorry plastic fantastic fans, the Corvette fell in the 3rd round of competition and the ‘69 SS/RS Camaro was the eventual winner. Then on November 3, 2011 media outlets celebrated Chevrolet’s 100th birthday with feature stories and slide shows. (see special slide show link at the bottom of this post) Chevrolet commercials have been featuring the 100th birthday celebration, as well as car magazines. And GM’s performance flagship car, the Corvette, will offer buyers the Centennial Edition option for 2012. Yes, it’s a heady time for Chevrolet.
Here's William Crapo Durant in his first car, a 1906 Buick Model F.
But on page 14 of the December 2011 issue, Motor Trend magazine dished up what I thought was a tasty trivia tidbit of seldom talked about General Motors history. Referencing Lawrence R. Gustin’s book, “Billy Durant, Creator of General Motors,” MT dropped this fascinating factoid.
In the early days of the American car industry, there were hundreds of car companies, most of which have been long forgotten. Many of the brand names that are still with us were once shabby little enterprises. Even though it wasn’t the computer age, “business is business” and a feeding frenzy was going on. Car companies were buying up other car companies that were then bought up by bigger or more aggressive car companies. There’s always a bigger fish, right?
William Crapo Durant (yes, that was his middle name) worked out a deal to buy the Ford Motor Company for $2 Million in cash, plus an additional $4 Million paid out over three years, at 5-percent interest. Billy pitched the deal to his company’s board of directors on October 26, 1909 and they approved, IF he could get the financing. But the banks said, “NO!” It probably seemed way too risky with possible cost overruns, etc. Continue reading “General Motors Tries to Buy Ford… In 1909! WHAT???”→
An abused Motion Performance exotic gets a new lease on life!
Don't let it boil your blood. It happens.
(Check out the slide show at the bottom of this post!)
SPECIAL REQUEST: According to the Motion Performance “bible,” Marty Schorr’s “Motion Performance: Tales of a Muscle Car Builder” book, only 4 Motion Can-Am Spyder Corvettes were built. One red car with white striping and three yellow cars, like the one presented in the below post. To date, only two of the four cars can be accounted for. As documented in Schorr’s book and on the net, the red Can-Am Spyder is part of Dan McMichael’s collection of Motion cars. And now we know of the below car. If you know of the whereabouts of the remaining two yellow Can-Am Spyders, please let us know. Thanks! – Scott
When it comes to old cars, most of us are familiar with the expression “barn find” and I’m sure that we’ve all had a day dream or two about finding an old neglected exotic, hiding under a pile of stuff in a barn. Well, here’s a new version of that “barn find” expression that I’ll call, “body shop find.” That certainly was former body shop owner and Maryland legislator, Rick Impallaria’s experience.
When Rick decided to get into public service as a legislator, he had a close his body shop business. While the business was officially closed, he still owned the building and equipment, so he leased his old enterprise to former professional baseball player, Richard Green. If you follow professional baseball, you surely will recognize that name. Green had the notoriety of having played in all four Oakland A’s World Series games. Well, life goes on after retirement, even for pro ball players and Green decided to get into the auto body business. In addition to doing customer work, Green brought in one of his own cars, a customized Corvette. After a time, Green’s business fell on hard times and Impallaria ended up having to evict his tenant. Upon inspection of the facilities, Rick found what was left of what had once been just a “customized Corvette,” or so he thought.
Rick's best guess it that the car might have been rear ended. Note that the rear bumber cover section was cut off and there's damage to the nose point.
While Rick is definitely a car guy, he wasn’t familiar with what was in his building. He explains, “Someone mentioned to me that the hulk that was in my building might be a Motion car, but they really weren’t sure. So I did some online research about the Motion cars and then I found your BaldwinMotionReport.com site with the story about the Motion Can-Am Spyder. I was pretty sure I had something and I thought about possibly putting the car back together again, But honestly, I’ve got too many projects going right now and I knew I wouldn’t have the time to do it right.” Continue reading “Body Shop Find: Lost Motion Can-Am Spyder Corvette Has a New Home!”→
Dateline: 11.2.11 Hemmings Motor News old sister publication takes a look back at the first special-built Corvette race car, the SS Corvette
Special thanks to Hemmings Blog for the image. For more very cool car stories, visit http://blog.hemmings.com/. I go there every day!
(Be sure to check out the SS Corvette video at the bottom of this post!)
Back in the early ‘80s there was a new trend in the car magazine biz – specialty publications. Marty Schorr’s VETTE Magazine was ahead of the curve when it came out in ‘76. VETTE was the first “Corvette-only” news stand magazine ever published. By the early ‘80s there was a specialty publication for most brand cars. Hemmings Motor News branched out with a unique magazine called, “SIA – Special Interest Automobiles.” While I remember seeing the magazine on the news stands it wasn’t something I was interested in back then, as it featured many pre-WW II “classic” cars, and I was interested in other things at the time.
Fast forward to today and the wonderful world of blogging, Hemmings has one of my favorite car blogs. It’s the preverbal “box of chocolates” because “you never know what you’re going to get.” (thank you Forrest Gump!) Recently at http://blog.hemmings.com/ they posted an interesting and detailed story about the 1957 SS Corvette race car from theOctober 1988 issue of SIA magazine.
Don’t let the rather scathing introduction put you off, “…the SS was little more than a poorly executed and slapdash affair, deserving of its failure at Sebring and merely spared the pain of further embarrassment… “ The actual article from SIA is very good with lots of pictures, statistics, and some nice technical illustrations of the SS Corvette.
Special thanks to Hemmings Blog for the image. For more very cool car stories, visit http://blog.hemmings.com/. I go there every day!
This is just my opinion, but I think that the introduction was a little unjust for the following reasons. While it is true that Duntov and his team copied the Mercedes 300SL race car’s birdcage frame and chassis, so did many other cars. The design was the standard road racing layout of the day. General Motors of the mid-’50s was arguably the least prepared auto company to even take on such a project, as they had NO experience what-so-ever in building race cars. The only part of the car Chevrolet engineers were familiar with was the 283 Fuelie engine. Plus, the small-block was only in its third year of production and F.I. unit was brand new. Continue reading “Special Interest Autos’ – SIA – 1957 SS Corvette Feature Story”→
December ’69 Motor Trend reports on Chevy’s 10-second, 454 ZL-1 Monster Pumpkin Corvette!
Forty years ago it took a lot to get a car to run 10s in the quarter-mile. You needed a BIG engine, open tuned headers, a giant gas sucking Holley carb, slicks, ear plugs, and a lot of NERVE! Today, it’s no biggie for a performance car to run low 11’s. Lingenfelter Engineering has been able to get a mildly modified ZR1 to run low-to-mid 9s with ALL of the stock creature comforts. All you have to do is HOLD ON!
No, back in the old muscle car dayz, low 11s and high 10s in the quarter-mile was Super Stocker and Modified Production territory. Low 10s and 9s was the realm of Pro Stockers with the likes of Grumpy Jenkins, Sox & Martin, Dick Landy, Dyno Don Nicholson and a few dozen others. In their day, they were the rock stars of drag racing.
When the December 1968 issue of Hot Rod Magazine hit the news stands, with a full-cover shot of the all-aluminum 427 ZL-1 engine, heads spun like Linda Blair in The Exorcist! The headline at the top of the cover read, “A 625-HP LOOK AT: CHEVY’S ALL-ALUMINUM 427.” While today we might say, “There’s no substitute for a supercharger,” back then, the expression was “There’s no substitute for cubic-inches. If there’s enough meat left in the block, just bore it out and insert bigger pistons. Chevy’s 427 had been in production since ‘66, so when the ‘70 models came around, what was Chevrolet to do? Bore, Baby, Bore!
The cast iron 454 was a no-brainer, but what about the all-aluminum ZL-1? Just to see what kind of response they’d get from the press (as if they weren’t sure) Chevrolet engineers Tom Langdon and Gib Hufstader built a special 454 version of the ZL-1, coupled it with a Turbo 400 3-speed tranny, a high-stall torque converter, tall gears, and 9-inch slicks. Yes, it was a quasi-Super Stocker and they let the automotive press make passes on a 1/4-mile stretch at the test track!
Dateline: 10.30.11 Here’s the latest installment from the Illustrated Corvette Series VETTE Magazine Column
(Check out the Greenwood video at the bottom of this post!)
It was early last July that Kevin Mackay of Corvette Repair sent me a link to the RM Auctions online version of their Monterey Auction Catalog. Kevin and I have had many conversations about early Corvette race cars, so he knows that I’m a big fan. Any time a Greenwood Corvette goes on the block it’s big news, so I posted a story about the auction right away. For the next 6 weeks or so, the car magazine and Corvette blogs were on fire in anticipation of the auction. RM Auctions broadcasts their auctions online, so I stayed up and watched the coverage and sale of the Greenwood ZL-1. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. Here’s the post of the auction coverage.
Since the car has so much historical importance, I decided to cover the car in my VETTE Magazine monthly column, “The Illustrated Corvette Series.” The January 2012 issue of VETTE just came out, so I’m sharing the story and art with you below. Enjoy! – Scott
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175: #49 Greenwood ‘69 427 ZL-1 Racer
“Stars and Stripes On The Block!”
Expectations were high when it was announced that the No. 49 Greenwood BF Goodrich “Stars and Stripes” Corvette was going on the block at the 2011 RM Auction Monterey event. Some estimated that the car would sell for $750,000 to $950,000. In ‘09 the Gulf One ‘63 Z06 Corvette racer went for an astonishing $1.113 Million! So there was quite a buzz in the Corvette community.
John and Burt Greenwood knew all about Duntov’s “racer kits” and like many others, took maximum advantage of the special hardware. The Greenwood boys had another advantage. Sr. Greenwood had been a WW II fighter pilot and worked at the GM Tech Center. Their Dad would sometimes take young John and Burt to work on Saturdays, to let the lads see the experimentals and prototypes. It was better than an invitation to Elvis’ house! Continue reading “Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175 – Greenwood Stars & Strips Goes On The Block!”→
(Check out to six slide shows at the bottom of this post!)
Autumn in New Jersey makes up for Summer in New Jersey. If you can live in Jersey, you can live almost anywhere, as we get it all – LOTS of snow in the winter, below freezing temps in the winter, 100-degree temps with 95% humidity in the Summer and an occasional huricane. But when October rolls around, it’s PERFECT! And a fantastic time for a car show.
Corvettes Unlimited of Vineland, New Jersey changed their venue for their annual car show from Wheaton Village, in Millville to the Michael Debbie Park in Buena Vista. To draw more attendees, the club opened up the show to classic and muscle cars, hence the new name for the show, “The Glass & Steel Show.” While it turned out there there was more steel than glass, it was a delightful show just the same. I for one enjoyed the steel side as much as the glass side.
I took LOTS of pictures, so we have several slide shows to share with you below. Enjoy! – Scott
The People's Choice Award went to: Michael T. Cafarelli, of Minotola, N.J. - 2006 white coupe. The Best of Show Award went to: Gary & Patty Rickets of Salem, N.J. - 1965 silver & red Sting Ray coupe.
Here are the winners. All of the Corvettes in the show can be seen in the below slide shows.
Stock: 1963-1967 – 1st. place: Ole Olson, Northfield, N.J. – 1966 Red Convertible Stock: 1968-1973 – 1st. place: Joe Biaselli, Vineland, N.J. – 1973 blue convertible Stock: 1968-1973 – 2nd place: Louis Rodolico, Aston, Pa. – 1976 red coupe Stock: 1968-1973 – 3rd. place: John O’Brien, Egg Harbor Township, N.J. – 1973 orange coupe Stock 1974-1982 – 1st. place: Oscar Pierce, Bridgeton, N.J. – 1978 red coupe Stock 1974-1982 – 2nd. place: Richard Thomas, Pittsgrove, N.J. – 1982 silver coupe Stock 1983-1996 – 1st. place: Joseph Burrell, Williamstown, N.J. – 1984 red sport Stock 1983-1996 – 2nd. place: Wayne Wright, Little Egg Harbor, N.J. – 1996 silver convertible Stock 1983-1996 – 3rd. place: Jon E. Bowen, Pennsville, N.J. – 1994 dk. red coupe Stock 1997-2004 – 1st. place: Carmen Petrongio, Vineland, N.J. – 2002 blue coupe Stock 1997-2004 – 2nd place: Linda & Lou Deman, Nesco, N.J. – 2003 red convertible Stock 2005-2012 – 1st. place: Dennis Enoch, Cherry Hill, N.J. – 2008 black convertible Stock 2005-2012 – 2nd. place: John Ormsby, Glassboro, N.J. – 2008 red convertible Stock 2005-2012 – 3rd. place: Buster Petonglo, Newfield, N.J. – 2009 blue Z06 Modified 1953-1967 – 1st. place: Paul Rickets, Pennsville, N.J. – 1966 blue convertible Modified 1968-1975 – 1st. place: Bill& Dawn Merola, Egg Harbor Twp., NJ 1973 red convertible Modified 1976-1982 – 1st. place: Bill & Sandy Ward, Mullica Hill, N.J. – 1982 grey coupe Custom 1953-2012 – 1st.place: Gary & Patty Rickets, Salem, N.J. – 1965 silver coupe Custom 1953-2012 – 2nd. place: Jonathan Settrella Bridgeton, N.J. – 1976 red coupe People’s Choice: Michael T. Cafarelli, Minotola, N.J. – 2006 white coupe Best of Show: Gary & Patty Rickets, Salem, N.J. – 1965 silver coupe
For their third go for the 1995 Indy 500 Corvette, product planners decided to let the designers have at it!
Corvettes have paced the Indy 500 11 times and there have been six Corvette Pace Car replicas offered since 1978. When you look back at the cars in chronological order, there’s an interesting progression. The ‘78 Corvette Pace Car was very stately with its black and silver paint with thin red pin stripping. It was very much of a muscle car-type decoration. The ‘86 Corvette Indy Pace Car couldn’t have been more understated – yellow with lettering on the door. That’s it. Chevrolet hadn’t yet embraced the possibilities of a Corvette Pace Car option and basically wanted to avoid the angst the ‘78 car caused.
But by the time the ‘95 Corvette Indy Pace Car arrived, it was obvious that management let the designers have at it. These cars have to be seen in the daylight to be appreciated. The dark purple metallic paint on the upper portion looks like a lollipop. I don’t know the designer that came up with this design, but BRAVO! Since ‘95 Corvette Indy 500 Pace Cars have been, shall we say, brash, with the exception of the silver & black ‘08 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car, which was a salute to the first 1978 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car. Continue reading “1995 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car – The First “Designer” Indy 500 Corvette”→
