Dateline: 8.28.11 (Our 150th post!) All you’ll need is a knockwurst with mustard on a bun and a tall, frosty root beer!
Special thanks to Jason Harding at CorvetteForum.com.
Perhaps you are simply too far away from southeastern Pennsylvania to attend. Fret not, we’ll bring the show to you. Unless you have been holed up in your Corvette or in your man-cave, you may have missed the news that a hurricane zipped up the East Coast. Hurricane Irene made a mess here and there. While the southeastern part of Pennsylvania only caught the western edges of Irene, Saturday was a yucky day and Sunday was only better in that it was not raining like it was Saturday night. While Irene didn’t deliver a washout, it didn’t help.
Dateline: 8.27.11 Corvettes here, there, and everywhere. CORVETTES as far as the eye can see! It all began on September 26, 1974 when friends Bill and Chip Miller rented the Carlisle Fairgrounds for their first old car parts swap meet. Some 600 vendors rented 800 spaces and over 13,000 car enthusiasts paid $1.00 each to attend. Year after year, Chip and Bill kept improving their operation. In 1981 the Millers bought the 82-acre parcel of land and not only created a local landmark, but established an enterprise that brings in $97 Million dollars to the local economy. Carlisle, Pa has never been the same since!
Being Corvette enthusiasts to begin with, Chip and Bill didn’t need much coaxing to launch a Corvette-only show in August 1981. Over 25,000 Corvette lovers attended to see over 2,000 Corvettes, and a new Corvette tradition was born. Since then everyone who’s anyone in the world of Corvettes has been to the Carlisle show: Zora Arkus-Duntov, Dave Mclellan, Dave Hill, Larry Shinoda, Wil Cooksey. race car drivers including, John Fitch, Mario Andretti, Dick Guldstrand, Tony Delorenzo, artists including Dana Forrester, Dan McCrary, and the list goes on and on.
If you have never been to the Carlisle, let me describe the facility. The first thing that you are aware of is that the place is HUGE! Carlisle is located in the rolling hills of south east Pennsylvania in what is known as “Pennsylvania Dutch Country.” The town of Carlisle dates back to 1751, but is most known for the Carlisle War College that dates back to 1904. Carlisle is also known for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School that was started in 1879. After you enter the fairground, if you look around, you’ll see that the facility is situated in a very large bowl-shaped area. For the Corvettes show, Carlisle productions only allows Corvettes to park in the infield. So, when you are inside, all you see are CORVETTES. Aside from a few trucks and support vehicles, everywhere you look, you see CORVETTES. After four or five hours, it’s sensory overload. “Oh look! Ah, just another ZR1!”
Building T is where you’ll find the “Chip’s Choice” feature Corvettes. Every year there’s a different theme. For 2011 the theme was “Corvette Barn Finds.” Everyone loves a good barn find story, so why not a collection a lost and found old Vettes – patina dirt and everything. In previous years Chip’s Choice has featured Corvette race cars, movie cars, retro rod Vettes, and more. Continue reading “Corvette Timeline Tales: August 26 – 28, 2011 – 30th Anniversary of Corvettes at Carlisle Show!”→
Dateline: 8.26.11 Mr. “I DON’T LIKE Corvettes” goes GAGA over the new ZR1!!!
Here's how Clarkson remembers his C6 ZR1 experience in his dreams...
Watching Jeremy Clarkson reminds me of Dr. Greg House from the last TV series I watched, “House.” He’s blunt, brutal, but honest! In the past, he’s been brutally brutal on Corvettes, once describing the C6 he test drove as a “heaven and hell experience.” Then he closed out his report by saying, “It’s a funny car. I mean, it’s a Corvette, so obviously it’s rubbish. But, you can’t work out why.” Then he whispers, “I actually like it.”
Dateline: 8.25.11 A snarkey look back at late ’80s – early ’90s supercars. I must admit that before watching this I did NOT know who Jeremy Clarkson was. That’s because I really don’t watch very much TV. So, I may well be the last person in America to know who this bloke is. Clarkson is the “presenter” for the TV program, “Top Gear” and he’s quite a character.
The video starts with a piano being dropped on a 911, and other 911 being dropped from a crane. Then a helicopter gun ship fires on an early C4 Corvette. Clarkson savages the 911 first on a race track, but hoots a squeals when the turbos kick in on the 3.4-liter RUF 911. He goes straight after the obvious – at normal speeds, the 911 feels very, well, VW Beetle-like. (Are you allowed to saw such a thing? You can HERE!) “KRIKEY-MOSES!” is what he has to say when the tubros kick in. Back in 1990 the 911 RUF had a top speed of 211-MPH! In the end, he says, “What’a CAR!” The final shot of the 911 RUF is from behind and you get to see some flames popping out of the rear exhaust. Pretty cool!
Dateline: 8.24.11 A crash course on what it takes to build a 250-plus-MPH C4 Corvette
Yesterday we told you about the ASTONISHING 254.76-MPH twin-turbocharged Callaway Corvette. The below video is an excellent presentation of this impressive machine. Reeves Callaway and project manager Tim Good take you on a full tour of the Sledgehammer project. You’ll get to see the Sledgehammer blast the Transportation Research Center in Ohio and even the late John Lingenfelter has a few words to say. Watch this and you WILL be a fan!
Dateline: 8.23.11 Not only was this twin-turbo L98 Corvette packing 898-HP, it was DRIVEN to and from the track!
Yesterday we told you about the rather lackluster turbocharged L-48 ‘79 Corvette. No one was going to get warm over a 280-to-290-horsepower turbo Corvette. But nearly 900-horsepower? NOW YER TALKING! I covered the car back in June 2008 as Illustrated Corvette Series No. 136 for my monthly VETTE Magazine column. The story copy from the article is below.
What’s amazing, besides the raw speed and power of the car, is that Callaway never built another one, at least, one that we know of. If they did, the owner kept it a secret because I’ve never seen or heard of another Sledgehammer. If you’re reading this and know of one, please let me know. What a difference nine years made between the ‘79 turbocharged L-48 that the Chevrolet engineering department built and what Callaway made. But to be totally fair, Corvette engineers aren’t in the business of developing mega-horsepower Vette engines, and Callaway isn’t in the business of designing mass production cars. . So, we’ll give the Corvette guys a pass and kudos to Callaway! And to think, this wasn’t a trailered speed machine. Callaway’s team drive it to the track, set the record, and drove it home! AMAZING! here’s the story. – Scott
While the 200-mph ‘09 ZR1 is receiving well-deserved kudos, nearly 20 years ago Reeves Callaway and his team smashed the record books with a street-driven twin-turbo ’88 Corvette called “The Sledgehammer.”
The Sledgehammer was a radical version of an ’88 production Vette. This was no one-of-a-kind exotic like the Ultimate Aero, built by Shelby Supercars. The Ultimate Aero’s record-setting average speed was 256.18 mph – not much more than the 254.76-mph production-based Sledgehammer.
Plans for the Sledgehammer began after a modified Callaway Twin-Turbo won the Car & Driver “Gathering of the Eagles” top-speed event in 1987. Reeves Callaway drove the car to a top-speed of 231-mph. The car was fast, but it was rough, hot, smelly, and difficult to drive. Corvette Chief Engineer Dave McClellan joked about Reeves 231-mph car saying, “Des Is Der Sledgehammer!” The name stuck and Reeves got busy! Continue reading “What’s the Fastest Street Vette Ever? The 1988 254.76-MPH Callaway SLEDGEHAMMER!!!”→
Dateline: 8.22.11 Before the Callaway Twin Turbo arrived, Corvette engineers were taking a shot at turbocharging a 1979 Corvette
To see the much larger image from the September/October issue of VETTE Magazine, click the image.
The C7 Corvette rumor mill has been quiet the last month of so. Oh, a few weeks ago there was a burp about a possible C7 chassis mule hidden under a late model Corvette Coupe. (not much in that report) Then towards the end of May ‘11 CorvetteBlogger.com posted a report from TheDetroitBureau.com that the C7 would be powered by a turbocharged 3.0-liter V8. Of course, no one really knows except for the Chevrolet and Corvette engineers that are working on the project. But my take is that the little turbo engine report is pure speculation. There have always been those that have wanted the Corvette to be a small European-like sports car. I say, if that’s what you want, buy a Lotus.
Will Chevrolet back down from the 638-horsepower high-water-mark of the current LS9 engine?Let’s hope not. The computer emission controls on the latest LS engines seem to be more than capable of adjusting for horsepower, as we’ve seen from the work of Howard Tanner, the new “Mr. Motion” that’s building the official authorized, 800-horsepower Baldwin Motion Phase III Camaros. (Yes, I have it on excellent authority that a Phase III C6 Corvette is in the works.) What might pull the plug on a mega-horsepower C7 Corvette power plant is the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) standards. But since Corvettes are a tiny percentage of the average of all GM cars, they might be able to slip in a horsepower beast into the C7 to function as their latest, greatest halo car. It’s ALL up in the air and delicious fodder for bench racing.
To see the much larger version and read the story from the September/October issue of VETTE Magazine, click the above image
But the turbocharged issue is interesting and got me to remembering an earlier turbo Corvette that Chevrolet was tinkering with. Back in 1979 the above show car Corvette was powered by a 195-HP L48 engine with an AIResearch tubrocharger that bumped the power up to around 280 – 290-HP. Why they didn’t use the more stout L-82 engine, only the Corvette engineers know. Ask Dave McLellan if you get the chance. But the extra 90-to-100-horsepower didn’t WOW anyone in the already husky ‘79 Corvette. But the car sure looked cool! The silver Coupe wore production front and rear spoliers, Continue reading “A Turbocharged Blast From the Past – the 1979 Experimental “Turbo Corvette””→
Dateline: 8.21.11 Former Hot Rod Magazine editor and publisher, Jim McFarland interviews Zora Arkus-Duntov in 1991 So, if you happened to have an extra $580,000, one of Zora Arkus-Duntov’s most famous “racer kit” cars could have been yours! The 1969 John Greenwood 427 ZL-1 BF Goodrich Corvette racer WOWed the crowd, but the bidders were tight with their bids. Very few people know how much the seller paid for the car in ‘06 when it was purchased from the Chip Miller Estate, or how much the restoration work by Corvette Repair cost. Suffice to say that the car was “well bought.” That’s auction-speak for “someone get a GREAT deal!”
Restored old Corvette race cars have become quite the prized possession for Corvette collectors. In early ‘09 the ‘63 Gulf One Z06 Corvette sold for an astonishing $1.113 Million. With the depressed economy as it is, it’s hard to say if the same car would fetch the same price today. No one knows for sure, but, ah, it’s not likely. What IS likely is that restored old “racer kit” Corvettes will continue to be high-profile machines at the auction, regardless of their sale price. From 1957 to the end of his working career, Mr. Duntov always made sure his beloved racers had “the good stuff” readily available from any Chevrolet Parts Department catalog. No one worked the corporate manufacturing system like Zora did and Continue reading “Vette Videos: Zora Speaks! Zora Arkus-Duntov’s Last Public Interview”→
Dateline: 8.20.11 Buyers “Bought Well” at the RM Auctions Monterey Event
Well this was the first car auction I ever watched “live” online. I have to say that the interface on the RMAuctions.com was fall-off-a-log simple and played all the way through without a burp. The auctioneers were quite different from the local farm auctions where I’ve spend many a Wednesday evening. You could actually understand what the RM auctioneers are saying and they were so polite. Not that I was expecting an R-rated show, but it all was quite “proper.”
But a lot of fun just the same. And I appreciated how you got to see the cars rolled up on the turntable, so you got to see them from all angles. Plus they showed close-up interior, engine, and suspension photos. Most of the cars had been meticulously well maintained and restored. One 289 Cobra that had obviously been raced, had it’s original paint, minus a few scrapes here and there. The auctioneer humorously quipped, “I just LOVE the patina on the original paint!”
The Greenwood #49 1969 427 ZL-1 B.F. Goodrich Corvette was the 44th car to go on the block. Most of cars 100 to 143 were “pushed” up and on to the turntable and those that were driven were so quiet you couldn’t tell if the engines were running. But as the Greenwood car was being introduced, there was THUNDER in the wings! They DROVE the open headered Corvette on to the turntable! When the ZL-1 was shut off, the auctioneer said, “It doesn’t get any cooler than that! 750-horsepower, ladies and gentlemen!” Corvette race cars SO ROCK!
Dateline: 8.19.11 Chevrolet announces the 100-millionth Small-Block Chevy engine to be built and installed in a ’12 Corvette in Fall 2011
Former chief of Chevrolet engineering and president of General Motors, Ed Cole.
This week Chevrolet announced that the 100-millionth Small-block Chevy engine will be built sometime in Fall 2011 and will most likely be installed in a 2012 Corvette! So three cheers to Chevrolet.
Although the small-block Chevy engine was designed to be an efficient passenger car engine, the design’s simplicity and durability has been providing Chevy fans with some of the fiercest engines ever. SBCs have powered just about every kind of race car from Indy and Le Mans, to drag strips and dirt tracks all over America.
Which SBC will be the magic 100 millionth engine has not yet been announced. It could be the mighty 430-horsepower LS3 engine used as the base engine for the Corvette, or possibly the most powerful production engine ever built in Detroit history, the 638-horsepower supercharged LS9 that powers the C6 ZR1 Corvette rocket ship. I’m sure that Chevrolet will make a BIG media splash about this car.
Enjoy our Small-Block Chevy engine gallery.
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The man credited with designing and developing the SBC wasformer General Motors president, Ed Cole. As a youngster Cole liked to tinker with radio sets and was briefly a field rep for a tractor manufacturer before enrolling in the General Motors Institute where he got his degree in engineering. In 1949, along with GM’s Harry Barr, Cole developed the acclaimed 1949 Cadillac OHV V8 engine. By 1952 Cole was promoted to chief of engineering for Chevrolet. His first major project was the design and development of the replacement for Chevrolet’s tired, old, Stovebolt-Six engine. The finished engine was essentially a simplified, smaller version of the Cadillac OHV engine he’s helped design in ‘49.
When nested between the front fenders of the new ‘55 Chevy, the 265-cubic-inch, 162-horsepower engine looked, well, tiny. It probably only took a few weeks for hot rodders to realize that there was a ton of red meat in the little lightweight engine. The new small-block Chevy quickly developed the nick name “Mouse Motor.” Within a few years, the new SBC completely changed hot rodding and racing. It was, “good-bye Flathead Ford” and “Hello Small-Block Chevy.” Continue reading “Engine History Made! 100,000,000 Small-Block Chevy Engines, and Counting!”→
Dateline: 8.18.11 Hot Vette Race Car Auction Action in Monterey!
In the tradition of the Grand Sport Corvettes, C3 "Shark" Vette race cars look TOUGH!
It’s the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance week in Monterey, California. On Friday, August 19, 2011 five Corvettes will be going on the block at the RM Auctions Monterey event.. Of the five cars, four are race cars, with the most prominent being the John Greenwood 1969 427 ZL-1 BF Goodrich “Stars and Stripes” race car. The other race cars include a ‘59 Fuelie, a ‘61 Fuelie, and a ‘73 SCCA/IMSA Coupe. The lone stocker is a black ‘60 Corvette.
If it happens that you will not be attending the event, fret not! You can watch the auction action LIVE! If you go to the RM Auctions homepage, HERE. Look for the “VIEW LIVE AUCTION” link with the green button with the triangle in the middle. The auctioning fun begins at 6:30 Pacific time and will run for four to five hours. Of the five Corvettes that will be going on the block, the Greenwood car will probably get the highest bids. Pre-auction expectations are that the car will go off for between $750,000 to $950,000! With the current economy, it will be interesting to see how high the numbers go.
Here’s a review of the five Corvettes…
The Greenwood car is Lot #144. For full details, CLICK HERE.
Dateline: 8.17.11 Former Corvette Quarterly Editor and Campbell-Ewald Associate Creative Director Jerry Burton Chats with Bentley Publishing about Corvettes
Yesterday we shared with you the Facebook page for Zora Arkus-Duntov.I don’t know if GM still has this policy, but back in Duntov’s day, GM had a manditory retirement age of 65. So on January 13, 1975 Zora had his official GM Retirement Dinner. Aside from a few minor consulting projects, Duntov has was out of the Corvette picture. It’s almost hard to believe that he’s been out for over 36 years now. In retrospect, he was only involved with the Corvette for 22 years but obviously made a tremendous and lasting impact. In part 1, Jerry talks about his involvement with Chevrolet and the Corvette team.
In part 2, Jerry talks about possible technologies that might be used in the Corvette as a means of complying with the ever increasing fuel efficiency standards that all new cars will be required to meet. While numbers such as 35-to-40 mpg migh sound intimidating, Jerry tells of a C6 Corvette that he tested that got 30.5-mpg! Continue reading “Vette Videos: Zora Arkus-Duntov Biographer, Jerry Burton Speaks!”→
I can only describe the Corvettes at Carlisle experience as a “happening.” Pardon the 60s expression, but I AM a baby boomer. There’s so much to see, look at, oggle, take in, sounds, smells, talking, laughing, smiling. Plus, the Corvettes! (12 more videos below) Continue reading “Vette Videos: 13 Videos Featuring the Sights and Sounds of the Corvettes at Carlisle Show!” 
