Vette Shows: Corvettes Unlimited of Vineland, NJ’s “Last” Vettes at Glasstown Show

Dateline: 9.21.11
A Fond Farewell to a Delightful Venue.

Wheaton Village in Millville, New Jersey had been the home of Corvettes Unlimited of Vineland, NJ for well over a decade. Wheaton Village is a tribute to the old days when commercial glass products were part of the local economy. Today, it’s a beautiful tourist attraction with shops, historical artifacts, and a functioning glass blowing studio in the style of the old days of glass making. So, what a perfect place to have a fiberGLASS Corvette car show!

But things change, and for a variety of reasons, Corvettes Unlimited is having their “American Glass and Steel Show” at Michael Debbi Park in Richland, NJ on October 9 with a rain date of October 16. There will actually, be two separate shows. Obviously, the “glass” part is for Corvettes. The “steel” part will feature muscle cars, antique cars, custom cars, street rods and trucks. For more information about the show, CLICK HERE.

Jonathan Settrella and his 63 Vette – Best in Show – photo by Cliff Shields

In the meantime, enjoy the above slide show. I first attended the Vettes at Glasstown Show in ‘09, where I bumped into my Corvette and artist friend, Jonathan Settrella. With the Corvettes at Carlisle show still fresh in my mind, the Glasstown show seemed down right “cozy.” Don’t get me wrong, the Carlisle experience is astonishing, but being there is a real marathon. While talking with Jonathan I said to him, “This is a very nice little show, really!” To which Jon replied, “Ah! This is nothing! We used to get three times as many cars here.”

But since I hadn’t attended any of the previous shows, what I saw was just right. I was able to take my time, look at all the cars, Continue reading “Vette Shows: Corvettes Unlimited of Vineland, NJ’s “Last” Vettes at Glasstown Show”

Vette Videos: Jeremy Clarkson Gushes All Over the C6 Z06 at Willow Springs Raceway

Dateline: 9.20.11
But on the street, it’s grump, Grump, GRUMP!

Jeremy Clarkson from the TV program, “Top Gear” arguably has the best car-guy job on the planet! All he has to do is drive, burn rubber,  and critique. And his critiques are usually, ah, I’ll be a lot nicer that the comments people leave on YouTube, and describe them as “crabby.”

Clarkson starts off flogging the pants off the 505-horsepower C6 Z06 at Willow Springs Raceway and is just about besides himself! He loves what the car will do on the track and has WAY too much fun rear-wheel-drifting the “Zed-Oh-Six” as he calls the car. (He’s a Brit, so we’ll cut him a little slack!) Everything is sweetness, light, and adrenaline… COOL!

Then, it’s out on to real roads – that’s when the “Clarkson grumping” begins! It’s no surprise that the C6 Z06 is closer to a track car than a GT street machine. And with 505 “net” horsepower, the overall package is more like a Continue reading “Vette Videos: Jeremy Clarkson Gushes All Over the C6 Z06 at Willow Springs Raceway”

Corvette Pace Cars – The First Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car

Dateline: 9.19.11
From the Archives of  The Illustrated Corvette Series

The Corvette’s tough-guy legend is founded on racing and performance. By the mid-to-late ‘70s, Corvette high-performance and racing efforts were in the pits. Power was down, weight was up, and Porsches were eating the Corvette’s lunch at the race track. The announcement that the 25th anniversary Corvette would also be the pace car at the ’78 Indy 500, looked like the highlight of the decade for Corvette fans. But controversy was in the mix right from the beginning.

Initially, it looked like a triple-play for Chevrolet. First, the ’78 Corvette received a sleek new fastback roof that completed the overall redesign started in ’73 with the soft bumper covers. Second, all Corvettes wore the 25th Anniversary badges. And third, three special Corvettes would serve as the pace cars at the ’78 Indy 500, and replicas would be available. Then the details set in.

The initial proposal was that there would be 300 pace car replicas, the same number as the ’53 production run. The car would have a two-tone silver paint (for the silver anniversary), red pin striping, and special Goodyear tires with “CORVETTE” sidewall lettering. Then the plan was to make 2,500 replicas, 100 for each year of production. But there were 6,200 dealers that all wanted at least one replica, so production went up to 6,502 units. Then two key elements were changed. The special “CORVETTE” tires were deemed too expensive, and paint was changed to sliver and black.

Then there was the price issue. The RPO 1YZ8778 package cost $4,302, on top of the $9,351 base price – a 46-percent premium! Here’s what came with the option. The exterior had special two-tone paint and pin striping, unique front and rear spoilers, glass roof panels, sport mirrors, and red pin stripped aluminum wheels on P225/60R15 tires. The interior came with power windows and door locks, tilt-telescopic steering column, convenience group, silver thin-shell seats, AM/FM with a CB radio or an 8-track tape player, dual rear speakers, and a power antenna. The $525 L82 engine rated at 220-hp was not part of the package.

The controversy started right on the showroom floor. For a premium collectible,” quality was not good. On many of the cars, fender seams and slight bubbles were clearly visible. The black upper body paint only made the defects look worse. Then there were the opportunistic dealers who tacked on surcharges that bumped the price up to between $15,000 to $22,000. Continue reading “Corvette Pace Cars – The First Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car”

Corvette Timeline Tales: Happy 102nd Birthday, Ed Cole

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”

Scale Visions’ 2012 “Carlisle Blue” Corvette Series in 1:25th Scale

Dateline: 9.16.11
Master Model Maker, Don Theune’s Scale Vision 2012 “Carlisle Blue” Corvette Series

It takes knowledge, skill, and passion to create scale replicas of Corvettes, race cars, and nostalgia drag racing machines to the quality level of a Scale Visions model. Many a car guy started out building model car kits. I sure built a lot of them and was pretty good at it. But Don has turned a boy’s hobby into a vocation. For well over 20 years, Theune has been turning out, head turning 1:25th scale versions of classic Corvettes.

As a salute to Carlisle Productions for 30 years of Corvettes at Carlisle car shows, Chevrolet christened their new 2012 metallic light blue Corvette paint color, “Carlisle Blue.” Theune has been a part of the Corvettes at Carlisle scene for a long time and several of Don’s creations  have been sold off with the proceeds going to the Chip Miller Charitable Foundation. To commemorate the new Carlisle Blue, Theune has created a special batch of his museum-quality scale visions.

Thirty units of each 2012 Corvette body configuration (coupe, roadster, Grand Sport,  Z06, and ZR1) painted in Carlisle Blue are now available. Plus, each model includes a miniature version of the event directory, plus a special license plate that reads, “CHIP 30th.” One of Don’s Carlisle Blue Corvettes is now part of The National Corvette Museum’s collection of Corvette models on display in the Red Spire Room.

If you’ve been a long time attendee of the Corvettes at Carlisle event, you may remember the special presentation Theune made to Zora Arkus-Duntov in 1995, of a set of all five 1963 Grand Sport Corvette models. Continue reading “Scale Visions’ 2012 “Carlisle Blue” Corvette Series in 1:25th Scale”

Vette Videos: SUPER RARE, One-of-a-Kind 1972 Motion Moray Eel Corvette

Dateline: 9.15.11
The last of Joel Rosen’s Shark Corvettes – The Moray Eel

As cool as the Mako Shark-styled production 1968 Corvette was, there were a few that were… disappointed. Why, you wonder? Because the ‘68 Corvette WASN’T the ‘65-’66 Mako Shark II show car. Making a show car is one thing, designing a car to be mass produced is another. While the Mako Shark II show car looked large on the stage, it was actually about 7/8s the size of the production Corvette. In other words, a VERY tight little package that could not directly translate into a production car.

But it was fiberglass man, John Silva that took it upon himself to make his own Mako Shark. “Kit cars” were all the rage in the mid-to-late ‘60s. Meanwhile, on Long Island, New York, Joel Rosen was building ground-pounding big-block Phase III Chevys and was looking for something really exotic to offer his Corvette customers. Rosen bought two complete Silva Maco cars and got permission from Silva to make molds off of the Silva parts to make his Motion Maco kits. The Maco kits were kind of a “love it, or hate it” thing. It wasn’t quite as svelte as the Mako Shark, but for many, it was close enough.

For creative types, such as Rosen, the mind never stops. In the early ‘70s Joel was on a roll with his “shark-thing.” His Motion Maco Shark burst on the street scene in ‘71, quickly followed by two interesting variations. The Manta Ray featured the front end of the Phase III GT with its distinctive tunneled headlights and Continue reading “Vette Videos: SUPER RARE, One-of-a-Kind 1972 Motion Moray Eel Corvette”

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CHEVROLET!!! The Results Are In, and the Most Popular Chevy of All-Time Is…

Dateline: 9.14.11
By Popular Demand! The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro is the Most Popular Chevy in the Last 100 Years!

Chevrolet is making the most of their 100th birthday. For the Corvette community there’s the 2012 Centennial Edition option that is available on every model Corvette. It’s a beautiful aesthetics package and I’m sure that when combined with the other customer options will make for some very interesting combinations.

Several months ago, Chevrolet launched a popularity contest asking, “What’s the Best Chevy Ever?” On August 31, 2011 we covered the story because it had come down to the last two finalists – the 1969 SS Camaro and the 1970 SS Chevelle. Like we said, this is strictly a popularity contest, because if performance and technological achievement was the objective, the clear winner would have been the C6 ZR1. But, that was not the case.

Yesterday, Chevrolet announced the winner. So, as voted on by Chevy fans around the world, the most popular Chevy of all time is… The 1969 SS Camaro!!! Chevrolet points out that not only was 1969 the last year of the original Camaro design, it had the following accomplishments.;

* The ‘69 Camaro paced the Indy 500 for the second time.
* The ‘69 Camaro was the first and only year for the Corvette all-aluminum ZL-1 427 engine.
* The ‘69 Camaro’s Z-28 and SS/RS packages qualified the car to compete in the Trans-Am Series.
* The ‘69 Camaro sold 243,095 units.

Here are some of my favorite 1969 Camaros… Continue reading “MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CHEVROLET!!! The Results Are In, and the Most Popular Chevy of All-Time Is…”

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

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!”

ULTRA RARE! 1977 Motion Performance “Phase III” Turbo Corvette

Dateline: 9.12.11
From the archives of Chevy Action Magazine, a turbocharged 350 Phase III Swedish export Corvette!

Perhaps if Car Craft Magazine hadn’t splashed the story, “King Kong Is Alive and Living On Long Island” in the January 1974 issue, Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen would have had a few more years to build Baldwin Motion Phase III Supercars. It seemed that the federal government thought Motion had a huge enterprise that was cranking out thousands of pollution belching, tire burning , fire breathing social menaces. The DOT had some very stiff, crushing fines they wanted to levy against Rosen for EVERY emissions control device that was removed from every car he built. Talk about heavy-handed and over reaching.

In the end, after seeing that Motion Performance was a very small operation, the Feds backed off, fined Rosen $500, and issued a “cease and desist” order that precluded him from selling modified cars for street use. If cars were sold within the USA, a disclaimer went along with the car that read, “This vehicle does not comply with DOT and EPA regulations and is for off-road use only.” The disclaimer had to be signed by Rosen and the owner.

That pretty much put the kabash on the Baldwin Motion Phase III Supercars. However, if you bought a new Chevy or had a Chevy that you wanted “Motionized,” it was up to you as to getting your car inspected. If you were going to buy the car and take it outside the United States, no problem. Through the last half of the ‘70s and well into the ‘80s Mr. Motion built and sold lots of “export” supercars. Continue reading “ULTRA RARE! 1977 Motion Performance “Phase III” Turbo Corvette”

My FAVORITE Corvette TV Commercial, Plus, One Right in Your Eye!

Dateline: 9.11.11
One for the heart and one with ATTITUDE!

We all have that “special Corvette moment.” You know, that moment that defined and marked our passion for Corvettes. The moment that before it happened, Corvettes were NOT a part of our awareness. And afterwards, everything was different. For me, it was tagging along with my big brother in 1966 to a local Chevy dealer where I saw a ‘66 Coupe sitting on the showroom floor and a salesman gave me a brochure. It’s different for each of us, but I’d venture to say that if you think back, there was a definite “moment.”

The “Jump’n Jack Flash” commercial for the then-new C6 Corvette does an excellent job of capturing “that moment” for a young lad. While I didn’t have such a vivid day dream and Suzy Holcomb didn’t “wink” at me in HER Corvette as we passed by one another flying through the air in our respective Vettes, the spirit of “the moment” is spot on and so is the closing line, “The all-new Corvette! The official car of your dreams!” This commercial ROCKS!

The second commercial positions the new Chevy Cobalt as the younger family sibling that doesn’t know when to leave its “older counterpart” alone. Like a big cat, the C6 Vette grumbles after a few taps then ROARS, BURNS RUBBER, DOES A 180, and Continue reading “My FAVORITE Corvette TV Commercial, Plus, One Right in Your Eye!”

Vette Shows: 2010 Vettes at Glasstown Engines

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”

Vette Videos: Virtual LS7 Engine Build & High-Speed ZR1 Build

Dateline: 9.9.11
STEP RIGHT UP and see the AMAZING Z06 engine assemble itself in virtual reality!!! AND see the Monster-Motor LS9 built in just 2-minutes and 13-seconds!!!

To see the BIG version, click the above image.

If you’ve been following us here at CorvetteReport.com you will have noticed that WE LIKE ENGINES here. Being a muscle car, sports car, and drag racing historian, I’m well versed on the great engines of the past. It took a long time for aluminum to work its way into American performance engines. All the way back in 1957 Zora Arkus-Duntov was proposing an all-aluminum engine for the Corvette. It just seemed like an excruciatingly slow process. We got aluminum intake manifolds, water pumps, bell housings, and transmission cases by the early ‘60s, aluminum heads from ‘67 to ‘69, and one minimal attempt at an all-aluminum big-block in ‘69 with the 427 ZL-1. While the ZL-1 was available as a separate purchase for a long time, we had to wait until ‘97 for the arrival of the all-aluminum LS1. Since then, we have been treated to the LS6, LS2, LS7, LS3, and the 638-HP monster LS9.

Machined steel is cool, but there’s something unique about machined aluminum. The LS7 animation is quirky-cool. Not only does the engine float in a blue sky, the crankshaft and entire assembly is animated as the parts come together on their own, the entire engine horizontally rotates. It’s very cool.

The second video is a speeded up assembly of a real LS9 engine at the GM Performance Build Center, in Wixom, Michigan. The new Corvette Engine Build Experience option lets ZR1 and Z06 buyers watch and help build their own engine. How cool is that?! The video is kind of an “over the shoulder” view of the experience – but, REALLY FAST! Continue reading “Vette Videos: Virtual LS7 Engine Build & High-Speed ZR1 Build”