Dateline: 7.3.11
This is the FIRST of a new series that will be looking back at important dates in Corvette history.
In his day, Harley Earl was called, “The DaVinci of Detroit.”
It all had to begine sometime. On July 3, 1952 Chevrolet management gave the approval to move forward with Harly Earl’s fiberglass sports car concept. Official work orders were issued to build two experimental bodies to be produced using a new material called “fiberglass.” Plus, two full-size functional cars for testing and evaluation. The project’s code name was “Opel Sports Car.”
Dateline: 7.1.2011 Should AWD be Part of the C7 Corvette?
Motor Trend TV recently presented a three-way drag race between a 2012 Nissan GT-R, a 2011 Ford Shelby GT500, and a 2011 Z06 Corvette. These are three VERY different cars.
The 2011 Z06 Corvette has a 7-liter engine with , 505-HP,470 FT/LB of torque, has rear-wheel-drive, cost $75,255 ($98,010 as tested with almost every option), and weighs 3,253-LBS.
The 2012 Nissan GT-R has a 3.8-Liter engine with 530-HP, 448-FT/LBS of torque, has all-wheel drive, , cost $90,950, and weighs 3,898-LBS.
The Shelby GT500 packs a 5.4-liter supercharged 550-HP, 510 FT-LB torque engine, has rear-wheel-drive, costs $49,495 ($55,330, as tested), and weighs 3,801-LBS.
DNA of a Supercar – Chevy shows off their Z06 & ZR1 all-aluminum frame.
Click the images to see the REALLY BIG version.
The August 2011 issue of Motor Trend Magazine arrived in my mailbox today with a special treat from Chevrolet. Starting on page 35, there’s a 6-page, fold-out, tear-out, double-sided ad for the 2012 Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition Corvette. You are first greeted with a passenger side front 3/4 view of the latest Special Edition Corvette at speed on a lonely road.
The straight-axle Fuelie was tough enough to win it’s class at Le Mans in ‘61. Was the last of the C1 the “best”? Let’s have a look-see!
Click the images to see much larger images of these classic Corvette ads.
No matter how well received a performance car is, the day will come when the decision is made, “Let’s build a new version!” For the first generation Corvette, that day arrived in late 1959. Two years before, Ed Cole was driving his Q-Chevrolet project that would have put a transaxle in every Chevrolet car, including the Corvette, by 1960. Chief of GM styling, Bill Mitchell attended the Turin Motor Show in ‘57 and especially liked the humps over the wheels and the unique tapered roof of the Pininfarina and Boano cars. So he instructed his designers to come up with something based on those ideas. Penned mostly by Bob Veryzer and Pete Brock, the new shape is unmistakably the genesis of the Sting Ray.
While the Q-project was quickly shelved, Mitchell couldn’t let go of the Q-Corvette shape. Early in ‘59, Bill made a deal to buy the mule chassis from the Corvette SS racing project for $1. Designer Larry Shinoda was charged with designing a roadster version of the Q-Corvette for the Corvette SS chassis. On his own, Mitchell successfully raced his Sting Ray for two reasons. First, he wanted to go racing, and second, to test the public’s response to the new design. It didn’t take long before it was obvious Continue reading “Was 1962 the “Best” of the C1 Corvettes?”→
One of the fun parts about running a modern blog is that you can see the page view statistics for every post. In the 46 years that I’ve been following Corvettes, I have NEVER seen so much attention and excitement over an upcoming Corvette generation. My take on this is that it is mainly being driven by the proliferation of internet blogs and the speed we are able to post new information. Every time we post something about the C7, the hits take off.
Not that there’s anything inherently wrong or bad with the C6 Corvette. Quite to the contrary. The C6 Corvette has been developed into a top notch GT (Grand Touring) machine with more horsepower every dreamed of back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, an adjustable-from-the-driver’s-seat electronic suspension for track-level performance or highway cruising, launch-control, active braking, lush creature comfort, plenty of factory options to personalize your Vette, and enough honest storage space weekend trips for two!
Could you ask for more? SURE! And I’ll bet that’s exactly what Chevrolet has in store for us.
In an interview with Corvette chief designer Tom Peters in April 2011, he specifically said, “The Corvette Stingray Concept car is NOT the C7.”
The last scrap of red meat Chevrolet tossed to hungry Corvette fans was last May when it was announced that the C7 Corvette would likely be a 2014 model, with a possible release in Spring of ‘13. WOW! That’s less than a year away! What that tells me is that Continue reading “The Stalled Out C7 Corvette Rumor Mill”→
Passion and love bring a famous old Briggs “Swift” Cunningham 1960 Fuel Injected Corvette war horse back to life and into the lead roll in a movie!
Restored old race cars has become an exciting aspect of the Corvette hobby. If you have ever wondered if master craftsmen are still working today, I suggest checking out the work of Kevin MacKay, at Corvette Repair. Kevin and his crew have brought back to life famous Corvette race cars, including the Roger Penske ‘66 L88 Corvette, several of John Greenwood’s Corvettes, and Briggs “Swift” Cunningham’s 1960 Fuel Injected Le Mans class-winning 1960 Corvette, the star of the new documentary film, “The Quest.”
Here’s the official movie preview…
Here’s what I find to be so cool about these kinds of cars. The men that build or buy race cars do it to win races. Some cars become champions, others just competitors. But what usually happens is that this year’s used up race car is sold off and the team owner buys a new fresh car. The new owner of the used racer usually repaints the machine, Continue reading “Will “The Quest” Be the Ultimate Corvette Movie?”→
John Greenwood’s 427 ZL-1 BF Goodrich Corvette Race Car
Special thanks to www.RollingThunderz.co
Aluminum engines are so common today that no one even notices. But back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, aluminum engine components were considered trick hardware. All-aluminum high-performance engines were only found in exotic European cars. Having learned his engineering and racing craft in Europe, Zora Arkus Duntov first proposed an all-aluminum engine as part of the 1957 Q-Corvette proposal. Also included in the proposal was an aluminum transaxle. This was actually part of a larger plan called the Q-Chevrolets for 1960. Chevrolet chief engineer, Ed Cole, envisioned the entire line of Chevrolet cars equipped with the transmission mated to the rear axle as a way of vastly improving the interior space of every Chevy.
The plan was eventually scrapped for cost reasons, but Duntov was definitely keyed in on the idea of adding aluminum engine and drive train components into his Corvettes as a way to lighten the car. Through the ‘60s, aluminum parts slowly crept into the Corvette. But it wasn’t until the introduction of the ‘67 L-88 that the automotive press and fans really took notice of the lightweight hardware.
One of Duntov’s favorite playgrounds – the GM test track!
But when Zora and his team unleashed the all-aluminum ZL-1, jaws dropped and eyes popped! The thought of a solid-lifter, 12.5:1 compression, big carb 427 that weighed as much as a small-block was just OUT’A SIGHT! FAR-OUT! GROOVY, MAN!
Hot Rod Magazine splashed the all-aluminum ZL-1 on the cover and caught a lot of heat for spinning the fan on an engine that was obviously not running or attached to anything. The yellow headers or ANY headers for that matter were NOT part of the ZL-1 package. Unfortunately for fans of lightweight Corvettes, the ZL-1 was for all intent and purposes a teaser option. Yes, the ZL-1 was an official option costing $4,718, PLUS $1,032 for the L-88, on top of the $4,781 base price of the ‘69 Vette. Only three ZL-1’s were “officially” built and all are accounted for. However, there may have been 10 or so ZL-1 Corvettes built as demo cars. CARS Magazine editor, Marty Schorr was one of the fortunate few that got to drive a ZL-1 ‘69 Corvette and it was NOT one of the three surviving ZL-1 Corvettes.
Special thanks to http://www.rmauctions.com/
Fortunately, for racers, such as John Greenwood, ZL-1 engines could be purchased as crate engines. While Greenwood wasn’t the only Corvette racer to use a ZL-1, his stars and stripes, BF Goodrich-sponsored Corvette became a legend. One ZL-1 engine even made its way into Jim Butcher’s Top Fuel dragster and actually held the NHRA elapsed-time national record for a few week in 1973. The all-aluminum ZL-1 gave Butcher a 500-pound advantage over the cast iron Hemi dragsters of the day!
It’s too bad that it would take 28-years before a production Corvette would finally be powered by an all-aluminum engine. The LS1 engine powered the ‘01 C5-R Corvette to Corvette’s first big class win at le Mans. Today’s all-aluminum, 638-horsepower LS9 engine is the most powerful production car engine ever produced in Detroit’s history and is ONLY available in a Corvette!
Scott
Would a Fuelie ZL-1 work for ya? YIKES!!!
NHRA Gatornationals – Hemi fans COULD NOT BELIEVE that Jim Bucher’s little Chevy Top Fueler set the NHRA Top Fuel ET National Record with a 6.09 ET! Too bad the car didn’t dip into the 5’s!
I covered the 1969 ZL-1 Corvette in VETTE Magazine in July ’09 in ICS No. 149
The Phase III GT was only a few months old, and Joel Rosen rolled out an even WILDER version of his ultimate Corvette GT.
A few months after Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr rocked the house at the ‘69 New York Auto Show with the Baldwin Motion Phase III Corvette, plus, got the official blessing from Corvette chief engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov, the next version of the GT was shown on the September ‘70 issue of High-Performance CARS Magazine. The fixed-headlight was a real polarizer, but it was definitely unique. It’s too bad that federal regulations did not allow for the clear lexan headlight covers, because the covers were available for “show” or “off road” use only, and looked great.
From 1969 to 1971 only 12 Phase III GT Corvettes were built. Due to the extensive custom body work on top of the performance enhancements, the Phase III GT Corvettes were THE most expensive of all of the Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars. Continue reading “The Baldwin-Motion Phase-III GT Corvette – Version 2.0”→
“High performance” can be measures in many ways. While a “Corvette vs Prius” match up is truly apples and oranges for many obvious reasons rather silly, this competition is strictly a fuel efficiency contest.
(BOTH hands on the steering wheel, Prius “driver!”)
The video presents no background info on the two cars, so we don’t know the age of the Prius and since we never see anything other than the very front and rear of the C5, it could be anywhere from a 7-to-15-year old Corvette. After traveling 42.7 miles, the Corvette used just 1.402 gallons of gasoline, netting out 30.4 mph. The Prius drank only 1.083 gallons, netting out an impressive 39.4 mpg.Continue reading “C5 Corvette vs Toyota Prius in a Fuel Mileage Shootout!”→
Here’s how Rosen’s Sharks got started. MORE TO COME!
As if the Phase III SS-427 wasn’t enough, Joel Rosen unleashed his version of what he thought a GT, or “Grand Touring” Corvette should be at the New York International Auto Show in April 1969. The European GT concept was based on a car with a strong chassis, big engine, heavy duty breaks, room for two, plus space for luggage. Rosen ascertained that the only American car that would fit that bill would be a 427 Corvette. While I didn’t get to see the car at the show, I could NOT miss the August 1969 issue of CARS Magazine with what looked like a stunning, blazing red, ‘68 Corvette with some very interesting body work. Actually, the car was Monaco Orange, but it sure looked RED in print.
The standard Baldwin Motion performance enhancements were applied to the already heavy duty Corvette as a starting point. The new big feature was the fastback rear window that opened up the interior space behind the seats, providing more storage space that a C2 Sting Ray Coupe. Continue reading “CARS Magazine Archive: The First Phase III GT Corvette”→
I’ve been a big fan of Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr’s, Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars since 1968. While they were not the only tuners that were offering packaged supercars, they were the only ones to offer a money back guarantee that their car would run 11.50 in the quarter-mile, or YOUR MONEY BACK! Plus, Rosen and Schorr came up with a signature look for their cars that has been imitated by many.
In all the years that Phase III supercars were built and sold, not a single customer ever asked for a refund because their Phase III car didn’t perform!
I’ll be covering all the RED HOT Baldwin-Motion Phase III muscle cars – the Phase III Corvettes, Phase III Camaros, Phase III Novas, Phase III Chevelles, and the ultimate sleeper machine, the Phase III Biscayne. Continue reading “NEW BaldwinMotionReport.com Website!!!”→
C7 Sneak-Peek, Or Just the Latest Corvette Concept Car?
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Intro: Not since the Mako Shark II hit the nation’s car shows has a concept car caused as much excitement within the Corvette community as the Corvette Stingray Concept. It’s been two years since the low-slung, sexy silver Stingray hit the automotive press and fans right between the eyes. And thanks to fans with excellent Photoshop skills, there has been a steady stream of images that look, well, like real cars! What the panting public has been short on are details about the car – what’s it made of, what about that unusual front suspension, and what’s really under the car’s engine covers that say, “Hybrid Stingray”? Chevrolet was long on generalities and short on red meat details. When I decided to cover the new concept car in my VETTE Magazine column, I knew I would need some inside help. Thanks to VETTE’s senior associate editor Christopher Phillip, I had an interesting series of conversations with a few GM insiders. After reassuring the gatekeepers that I was NOT trolling for C7 details, I was able to get a phone audience with Corvette chief designer, Tom Peters to discuss what they were thinking when designing the concept car. So, special thanks to David North, David Caldwell, Nichole Carrier, and Tom Peters for their assistance with the story. – Scott
Like blood in a pool of sharks, there’s nearly a fever pitch of anticipation and speculation over the upcoming C7 Corvette. If you Google search the term “C7 Corvette” you’ll get nearly 600,000 results. Whenever I post a C7-related story at CorvetteReport.com, the page hits take a spike. C7 fever began in mid-’07 with reports of a possible mid-engine C7. From there, nearly every possible “what if” concept was pinned on the the C7. Unlike previous “future Corvette” times, computer-generated images only added to the confusion because some looked like real prototype cars! Continue reading “Illustrated Corvette Series No. 170 – Corvette Stingray Concept”→
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