ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV LIVES… On Facebook!!!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.16.11
Bentley Publishing keeps the Duntov legend alive in the world of Social Media – Facebook!
The other day while I was looking for the Wikipedia link for “Zora Arkus-Duntov” in Google, I noticed an interesting link. I said to myself, out loud, “What? Zora’s on Facebook???” Obviously Zora didn’t create his own Facebook page, Bentley Publishing, the publishers of his biography, “Zora Arkus-Duntov – The Legend Behind Corvette” by Jerry Burton created the page. If you’re a Duntov fan, this is a delight! The Facebook page is lots or comments, compliments, and photos – LOTS of photos that I’ve never seen before and I’ve been following this man for a long time. To check out the Duntov Facebook page, CLICK HERE.

If you haven’t read Jerry Burton’s Duntov book, READ IT! You’re in for a treat. Some people really are larger than Life. People such as John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Elvis Presley, and many others, just seemed to shine brighter than most. They’re just “people” with the same foibles and shortcomings as the rest of us. They just do extraordinary things and have an unusual exuberance for Life that shines through their life’s work.

Burton’s book lays it all out: Zora the dare devil. Zora the race car builder and driver. Zora the corporate man. Zora the backdoor man. Zora the rake. Zora the corporate Robin Hood, and more. I could not put the book down. When I was finished, all I could say was, “WOW! What’a life!”

I’d like to share here is a Duntov story from my youth. I got the Corvette bug when I was 11 years old in 1965. Over the next few years I built every model car kit and read every magazine I could get my hands on. Car Life, Hot Rod, and Car & Driver is where I learned about Duntov. I thought, “Who is this COOL old guy?” he kind of reminded me of one of my grandfathers.

Duntov loved the limelight and was probably the most "out front" executive at GM.

I wanted to know everything I could about Corvettes, so I wrote Dr. Duntov a letter when I was around 12. I don’t exactly remember what I wrote, but I think I was asking for detail specifications. A few months later, a 9×12 envelope came addressed to me from “CHEVROLET.” It wasn’t from Zora and unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to the letter. But I do recall what else was included. Continue reading “ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV LIVES… On Facebook!!!” →

CorvetteRaceCars.com – Registry – Feast Yourself on Corvette Race Cars!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.15.11
Three guys with gasoline in their veins build a website that’s FOR CORVETTE RACE CAR LOVERS!
I’ll start this out with a bold statement. Had it not been for the effort of Zora Arkus-Duntov and his team of Corvette engineers making sure that Corvette racers had plenty of go-fast parts to race with, the Corvette probably never would have made it through the ‘60s. Look at what happened to the Ford Thunderbird. It takes took about three years to design and develop a new car back then, so simple arithmetic tells you that when the ‘55 T-Bird came out, Ford was already planning and working on the ‘58 4-seater Thunderbird. That’s how committed Ford was to their sports car – NOT.

Fortunately over at Chevrolet, passion, sex drive, and “gasoline in the veins” had the upper hand and today, beautifully restored Corvette race cars command tremendous amounts of cash when they go on the block. “PASSION” is what the website, “Registry of Corvette Race Cars is all about. If you love open headers and the smell of rubber being laid down thanks to horsepower and torque, you’ll be like a “pig-in-poo” at this website.

www.RegistryOfCorvetteRaceCars.com is the place to go if you enjoy looking over Corvette race cars from the earliest days to today’s C6 Corvette racers. ROCR will be 10 years old next year. The enterprise began with two friends sharing information about Corvette race cars. Jim Gessner sent Jan Hyde a survey of C1 straight-axle Corvette racers. While info is great, how do you share it and keep it updated? A website! No one is born knowing how to make a website, so Jim and Jan had to start from scratch. Nearly 10 years later, Continue reading “CorvetteRaceCars.com – Registry – Feast Yourself on Corvette Race Cars!” →

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!! CorvetteReport.com’s NEW “Vette Videos” Feature!!!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.14.11
Corvette videos for every generation and Corvette racing lovers too!

First, I have to thank my wife and business partner, Karen, for dragging me away from my drawing board and into the world of blogging. We launched our first post on CorvetteReport.com on August 17, 2009 – nearly two years ago. For the longest time, I would add a post every now and then, sometimes going weeks or months in between posts. But the more I read and studied the subject of blogging, I could not escape the fact that for a blog to get a lot of traffic, you have to post several times a week – preferably daily.

So, last Spring I got on the stick and started posting every few days and by mid-June, just about every day. I also studied other car blogs to research what I like and what I don’t like. I found three blogs that I liked because they are constantly being updated. And because there’s always something new and fresh, I visit Keith Cornett’s CorvetteBlogger.com, Marty Schorr’s CarGuyChronicles.com, and Hemmings Blog EVERY day. Why? Because they’re FUN! To quote Forrest Gump, “It’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”

Last week was “Vette Videos” week. I asked myself, “How could I make CorvetteReport.com better and more fun?” Add videos! DUGH! So over the last week, I have been hammering away at my Mac’s keyboard filling up the eight video sections with fun Vette videos. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as much as I did researching, writing, and stitching together the 25 video posts to get our new feature loaded up.

At the top of the page in the red bar, look for the third drop down that says, “VETTE VIDEOS.” When you click the link, the drop down will give you eight choices – C1 Vette Videos, C2 Vette Videos, C3 Vette Videos, C4 Vette Videos, C5 Vette Videos, C6 Vette Videos, C7 Vette Videos, plus Corvette Racing Videos. “Vette Videos” will be a regular feature at CorvetteReport.com, along with our “This day in Corvette history” feature titled, “Corvette Timeline Tales.” Continue reading “SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!! CorvetteReport.com’s NEW “Vette Videos” Feature!!!” →

Vette Videos: 2009 Press Conference Debut of the Corvette Stingray Concept Car

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.14.11
GM’s top Car Guy, Ed Welburn, introduces the Tom Peters-designed Corvette Stingray Concept car to the world at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show!

Every debutante has her day, that special day when she’s the bell of the ball. Corvette styling chief and lead designer of the C6 Corvette and the Corvette Stingray Concept car, Tom Peters was a proud papa on February 11,2009 when GM’s Ed Welburn debuted the Corvette Stingray Concept car at the Chicago Auto Show. Before we get into the rest of the event, let me get this out of the way in the beginning. In Spring ‘11 I had the opportunity to talk at length with Tom Peters for my Illustrated Corvette Series No. 170 2-page color special edition covering the latest and arguably the swoopiest Corvette concept car to ever wear the Corvette moniker. Tom was emphatic, “This is NOT the C7 Corvette.”

I already knew that before we spoke and perhaps it was my clarification before we talked that I was not trying to fish for details about the C7 design we all know Tom and his team have been working very hard upon. Our conversation was strictly focused on the actual Corvette Stingray Concept car. While there are tons of photos with copious amounts of regurgitated generic speculation about what the latest concept Vette represents, there were actually very few details about the actual car. You can read the compete article as it appeared in the August 2011 issue of VETTE Magazine, HERE.

But for this post, lets get back to the debut video. Corvettes have never been far from Hollywood. Millions of Americans weekly enjoyed the adventures of Todd Styles (Martin Milner) and Buzz Murdock (George Maharis) in the early ‘60s TV show, “Route 66.” Corvettes have had bit parts in everything from the Elvis Presley movie, “Clambake,” the film, “Corvette Summer,” the 80s TV show “Stingray,” and now the latest in the Transformers franchise, as the car/transforming robot machine, “Sideswipe” in the Michael Bay film, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” Unlike the Presley film, “Clambake” which used a red version of the ‘59 Stingray Racer, Continue reading “Vette Videos: 2009 Press Conference Debut of the Corvette Stingray Concept Car” →

Vette Videos: 1973 4-Rotor, Mid-Engine AeroVette

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.13.11
Take a trip in the CorvetteReport Time Machine back to 1973 for a look-see at what could have been the first mid-engine production Corvette!

 

 

Chief of GM Design, Bill Mitchell had one order for designer Henry Haga, "Make it sleek!"

With all the chitter-chatter in the C7 Corvette rumor mill about a possible mid-engine Corvette, we thought it would be fun to take a trip back to 1973 for a look at what many thought would be the replacement for the C3 Mako Shark-styled Corvette. Corvette chief of engineering, Zora Arkus-Duntov had been pitching the mid-engine layout since the 1960 CERV I car. Not only was the AeroVette a mid-engine layout, it was to be powered by a 420-horsepower, 4-rotor Wankel rotor-motor engine. GM had licensing rights to develop the radical rotary engine that seemed to have a lot of potential.

The car's bi-fold gull wing doors made it fairly easy to step into the car.

In ‘73 there were two, rotary engine-powered Corvette prototypes. The XP-892 used a 2-rotor engine and had a body designed by Pininfarina. While it was a nice-looking car, it really didn’t shout, “CORVETTE!” The 4-rotor car was built on the chassis platform of a previous 1970 experimental Corvette that was simply known as the XP-882. The 4-rotor car definitely screamed, “CORVETTE!” Continue reading “Vette Videos: 1973 4-Rotor, Mid-Engine AeroVette” →

Vette Videos: Experience the C5-R Corvette at Le Mans!!!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.13.11
Come on! Let’s take a HOT LAP around Le Mans in a C5-R Corvette!

After decades of “why can’t we have a factory Corvette racing team?” Chevrolet and GM finally got behind a racing Corvette in ‘97, the way they did with NASCAR Chevrolets. With the vastly superior C5 platform, Chevrolet and Pratt & Miller engineers took their time developing all aspects of the C5-R. The results were SPECTACULAR!

The C5-Rs raced for 5-1/2 seasons, with the half season being ‘99 with only 5 races entered and one 2nd place finish. For the 2000 season the team entered eight races, taking one 1st place win at the Texas Motor Speedway. But it was 2001 that the Corvette Racing team hit their stride. In the 10 races for the season, the two-car team took eight 1st place wins and six 2nd place wins, PLUS, they won their class at Le Mans. In international sports car racing, the saying is that if you win at Daytona, a lot of people will notice. But if you win at Le Mans, EVERYONE will know!

Continue reading “Vette Videos: Experience the C5-R Corvette at Le Mans!!!” →

Vette Videos: C6 ZR1 Corvette “SMOKIN!!!” TV Commercial

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.13.11
Is 638-horsepower from the factory HOT ENOUGH for ya?

So far we have heard no news at all as to the possibility of a C7 ZR1 Corvette. But, then again, we’re not getting any news about the C7 base Corvette either. Corvette engine developers and engineers have proven that the computer controlled emission devices on the ZR1’s LS9 engine are more than up to making sure high horsepower and emissions standards can be maintained. And with the winds of change swirling around Detroit and rumors of much smaller Corvette engines, turbo versions, hybrid setups, etc… it’s anyone’s guess as to what will be under the fiberglass or carbon fiber hood of the next generation Corvette.

Depending on where Detroit goes in the next few years, the ZR1 may be the hottest factory Vette for a long time. We'll see!

In the mean time, the ZR1 is still with us, at least for another two years. Who knows, Continue reading “Vette Videos: C6 ZR1 Corvette “SMOKIN!!!” TV Commercial” →

Vette Videos: 1953 Corvette TV Commercial

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.12.11
It all had to begin somewhere…

Harley Earl was a leader in women's rights in the workplace.

What an OUTRAGEOUS proposal! Take a Chevy sedan chassis and drivetrain, soup up the in-line-six “Stovebolt” engine, and dress it with a sexy lightweight body made of an exotic new material – fiberglass. That’s was GM chief of design, Harley Earl’s idea of an American sports car.

The Stovebolt-Six engine was goosed by adding three Carter one-barrel carbs, a more aggressive solid-lifter cam, increased compression to 8:1, dual valve springs, stronger exhaust valves, and a high-efficiency water pump. The 115-HP Stovebolt six was reborn as the Blue Flame Six and packed a mighty 150-HP @ 4200 rpm and 224 LB/FT or torque. (calm down, calm down) The transmission was the tried-and-true Chevrolet Powerglide automatic with the shifter on the floor.

The Blue Flame Six engine had 150-horsepower, 223-lb/ft or torque, and a redline of 5,000 rpm!

While the fiberglass was exotic for 1953, there was a more practical reason for using the plastic material – COST. Even though finishing the body was more labor intensive, it was no where near the cost of making the huge metal stamps for steel body parts. Chevrolet engineers determined that if the car failed, they would have a minimal financial risk using fiberglass. Continue reading “Vette Videos: 1953 Corvette TV Commercial” →

Vette Videos: 1992 C4 ZR-1 Corvette Promotional Video

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.12.11

Take a ride in the CorvetteReport.com Time Machine back to 1992 for
a review of the ’92 ZR-1 Corvette.

Even though the big news for the ‘92 Corvette was the LT1 350 engine with 300-horsepower (a 50-hp jump from the previous L98 engine), the 375-horsepower ZR-1 continued to get most of the attention. The ZL-1 and its LT5 engine had proven itself in March 1990 when the Morrison Motorsports ZR-1 shattered a 50-year 24 hour average speed record, recording an astonishing speed of 175.885-mph!

 

Photo from www.ZR1NetRegistry.com

The engine was so stout that engine builders, such as Corvette racing legend, Kim Baker, were building LT5 engines that were pulling horsepower figures in the low 600-plus range, WITHOUT the use of turbos, roots, or centrical superchargers!  The LT5 was arguably one of the strongest engines to ever work under the hood of a Corvette.

Unlike the C6 ZR1, which is its own unique model, the C4 ZR-1 was an option package that cost a staggering $31,683 on top of the $33,635 base price of the ‘92 Corvette, for a grand total of $65,318 – PLUS other options!  Continue reading “Vette Videos: 1992 C4 ZR-1 Corvette Promotional Video” →

Vette Videos: Building the 1957 Corvette SS Racer Video

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.11.11
Take a trip in the CorvetteReport.com Video Time Machine to 1957!

Many times, a bold project must have a bold leader. Zora Arkus-Duntov was one of the all-time great corporate outsider misfits. Not only was he the only executive at GM that had actually raced cars, he had raced at Le Mans! Plus, he was constantly wandering off the reservation!

Corvette SS racer at Sebring 1957.

After Sebring in ‘57, it was obvious that modified stock Corvettes would never be competitive against the Jaguars and Ferraris. GM’s chief designer, Harley Earl proposed building a “Corvette” based on a D-Type Jaguar with a Corvette engine and a modified body. When Zora heard about the proposal and looked into what would be needed to create such a car, red flags popped up all over the place for the wild Russian. But Earl was no fool, he was a master tactician, and may well have made such an outrageous proposal as a way of pushing Chevrolet towards building their own purpose-built Corvette racer.

Obviously, because of Duntov’s background, he was the only man to lead the project. After he put together his team of designers, draftsman, and fabricators, the chassis of a Mercedes-Benz 300SL was used as a model for how to construct a tube space frame. Continue reading “Vette Videos: Building the 1957 Corvette SS Racer Video” →

Vette Videos: 1997 C5 Corvette TV Commercial “WHAT IS IT?!?”

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.11.11
No, it’s NOT a preview for a new Tom Clancy movie, it’s the NEW 1997 Vette!

The C5 Corvette was supposed to be out years before, but financial troubles at GM kept pushing back the release date. While this was frustrating for Corvette fans, the positive part was that it gave the Corvette team the time to make the car as good as they could. The basic design of the C5 platform was started by Corvette chief engineer Dave McLellan. When mcLellan retired in 1992, former Cadillac engineer, Dave Hill was made the third Chief Engineer for the Corvette. The C5 was so well designed that by ‘99 engineers determined that they had done nearly as much to the car’s platform as they could, without designing a new platform. This naturally paved the way for the C6 Corvette.

1997 Corvette print ad.

Off the C5 platform we got the Z06 Corvette and the C5-R Corvette race. The Corvette Racing Team won Le Mans in ‘01 and dominated the 2002 ALMS  series with 10, 1st place wins and 8, 2nd place wins in 11 races with the two-car C5-R team. An interesting factoid about the C5 Corvette platform is that the car had over 1,200 FEWER parts than the C4 platform!

Someone must have been a Tom Clancy fan when they were designing this TV ad. Fun dialog from the commercial…
“Satellite just located another test site.”
“We don’t KNOW what it is!” Continue reading “Vette Videos: 1997 C5 Corvette TV Commercial “WHAT IS IT?!?”” →

Vette Videos: “The King” Is Back! The 2008 “Elvis Burning Love” Z06 Corvette TV Ad

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.11.11
The C6 Z06 is definitely a HUNK’A, HUNK’A BURN’N LOVE

Elvis Presley’s death on August 16, 1977 touched America like no other. What was initially a heartbreak for the man that took rock’n roll mainstream, has turned into an annual celebration of one man’s music that continues to touch the hearts of millions. Memphis is currently gearing up for Elvis Week, an organic event that began as a solemn remembrance that is now a happy time for visitors from around the world. it is truly a unique American experience.

In the world of high performance cars, the Corvette is very much like Elvis Presley – born of humble beginnings, big, flamboyant, loud, with a strong personality, an American original, often imitated, and never duplicated. The expression, “The King is Back” was PERFECT for the C6 Z06 Corvette. While the C5 Z06 is a fantastic car, the C6 Z06 took the monicker to a whole new and higher level of performance. With an extra 100-horsepower from the LS7 engine and a refined suspension, the C6 Z06 caught even seasoned high performance Corvette owners short.  One man I know that has had many Corvettes over the years told me that Chevrolet should require high performance driving school training with this car. Skeets and others said the same thing and Chevrolet listened.

The commercial begs the question, “Was Elvis a Corvette fan and did he own any Vettes?”  The short answer is, no and yes – kind of. Continue reading “Vette Videos: “The King” Is Back! The 2008 “Elvis Burning Love” Z06 Corvette TV Ad” →