Month: July 2011

While we know the world is blowing up with BMW i news , we didn’t want people to forget about good old V-8s. From the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro to the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Corvette, there is no shortage of options when shopping for a high-horsepower, low-dollar car.

Last week, attendees to the NCRS National Convention had the opportunity to visit GM’s Milford Proving Grounds. One of the highlights of the visit was an opportunity for a hotlap in a Corvette ZR1 with Jim Mero, the GM test driver who piloted the Yellow Corvette ZR1 around the Nurburgring in 7:19.63. Twelve raffle winners were selected for the hotlap opportunity and lucky for us, one of them uploaded the video of their hotlap to YouTube.

Mero’s hotlaps in the Corvette ZR1 took riders on runs across Black Lake at speeds greater than 160 MPH. From the photo below, you can see that Jim was treated like the rock star that he is, greeting fans and signing autographs.

Source:
YouTube.com

Related:
2011 NCRS National Convention Invades the Motor City
[VIDEO] GM Returns to the Nurburgring with the 2012 Corvette ZR1

 

This video of a driver doing donuts in his driveway is one of the best I’ve seen lately and it sure started my day with a smile. And what’s not to love about a burnout video with a rocking soundtrack, multiple camera angles and a slow-mo replay! Plus if you see that basketball hoop in the back, there is the element of danger that the backend of the Corvette would swing around and wack it. But this driver’s car control skills are excellent and the only “damage” was the burnt rubber left on the driveway.

The description of the video from the poster reads:

3 car wide driveway, no one home, 413rwhp, kid at heart. Leads to a kickass burnout. Slight ebrake to initiate then a pop of the clutch. The rest is just “simple” driving. 2008 LS3 powered Corvette C6. 413rwhp, 405rwtq. Enjoy. ps: I do not own the rights to this song but do like it and feel that it fits me perfectly. Seat belt and all…

Source:
CorvetteOnline.com

Related:
Monday Morning Burnout: 1965 Corvette Coupe at the Strip
[VIDEO] C4 Corvette Owner Tires of Winter, Does Burnouts in Garage
[VIDEO] Man Teaches Daughter How To Do Donuts in a Corvette ZHZ

 

If you’re looking for a new car–maybe for a teen driver heading off to college–this weekend may be a good time to buy.

Tintek is a company out of the Czech Republic that has developed a real skill in the vinyl wrapping of sports cars. And while the latest trend in vinyl wrapping seems to be matte colors, Tintek goes the complete opposite with their fleet of sports cars wrapped in chrome. After dressing up a Chevy Camaro SS and an Audi TT, the company released photos of their latest creation, a chromed C6 Corvette Coupe with verticle doors.

Chrome wrapped vehicles haven’t really caught on here in the States and I hope that trend does continue. For more adventures in vinyl wrapping, check out the tintek.cz website or watch the video of the chome wrapped Camaro SS and Audi TT on You Tube.

Source:
Autoguide via GT Spirit

Related:
Is the World Ready for a General Lee Corvette ZR1?
Taxicab Corvette Z06: When You Need To Be Somewhere Fast

 

The hoopla has begun as Chevrolet kicks off festivities for its 100th birthday. General Motors Corporation News Chevrolet has launched a Web site in anticipation of its 100th birthday that encourages fan interaction.

Article and photos contributed by Steve Burns

The National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS) held its 2011 National Convention last week in Novi, Michigan just outside of Detroit. Hundreds of families from around the world converged on the Motor City suburb to look at, talk about, judge, and drool over pristine examples of America’s sports car. In addition to the seminars and judging events at the Suburban Collection Showplace, attendees could attend a number of tours of local attractions including visits to several GM facilities in the area. Click past the jump to check out more from this year’s national.

The 2011 incarnation of the National Convention was hosted solely by the Michigan Chapter NCRS for the first time since 1992. They cohosted the 2004 convention in Windsor, Ontario with the Ontario NCRS chapter.

The week kicked off with the arrival of the national road tour at the convention center. Smaller regional road tours from across the U.S. and Canada met up for a final “en mass” arrival at the show site led by the 1961 Corvettes celebrating their 50th birthday this year.

One of the main facets of the national convention is the judging. Nearly 200 Corvette owners staged their cars inside the show hall in pursuit of Flight, Star/Bowtie, Duntov, McClellan, Performance Verification, and Crossed Flags awards among several others. Judging events took place over several of the convention days. The judging classes encompass all years from 1953 – 1996. There are other classes as well for racecars and cars that are significant to the Corvette hobby but aren’t necessarily “factory correct”.

In addition to judging, there are numerous tech sessions, tours, and seminars held at the national convention. Being right in GM’s backyard provided the opportunity to tour such locations as the Performance Build Center, the GM Heritage Collection, and the GM Wind Tunnel. Even trips to the Ford Piquette plant (where the Model T was born) and the Walter P. Chrysler Museum were planned. Keep an eye out for upcoming articles on some of these stops in the near future. The tech sessions ranged in topics from the St. Louis build process to the ins and outs of Corvette paint. In our opinion, the 2 “must attend” seminars this year were the Advanced Judging Schools and Friday’s talk with the Chief Engineers Dave McClellan, Dave Hill, and Tadge Juechter.

At the advance judging school NCRS Master Judges used several original, unrestored Corvettes to demonstrate some of the finishes, markings, colors, and fasteners that were used by the plant in a particular model year. Each car is placed on a lift so it can be scrutinized from all angles. Examples from each of the first 4 generations were covered this year. We spent most of our Friday underneath a 1970 ZR1 with 300 miles and 1979 L82 with just 3 miles on it. The amount of history and originality on each of these cars was simply amazing. Almost like they were frozen in time.

After the Advanced Judging school we attended a talk by current and past Corvette Chief Engineers. Dave McClellan spoke about some of GM’s design leaders of the past as well as some great reference books for a little summer reading. Dave Hill then spoke about the C6R racing program and some of the design aspects of the new Corvettes. Lastly Tadge Juechter facilitated a presentation on all of the new 2012 content. Several people tried, but we couldn’t get him to reveal any secrets about the C7! He did give us a little tidbit on how the new Commemorative Edition wheels are made, though. The black and red hoops are first molded and then painted red. Next they get a coat of black paint over top of the rouge hue. Finally the red stripe is created by machining off just the black paint to reveal the snazzy red pin stripe. It’s complicated process, but as Tadge said, it makes for a much higher quality product.

By far, the highlight of the tours was the driving tour of the Milford Proving Grounds. 220 Corvettes were given a police escorted drive through Milford, MI and into the grounds. Once there the owners gathered at the famous Black Lake for photos and the chance to check out some of the 2012 Corvettes. The yellow Nurburgring record-holding ZR1 and Corvette Engineering race trailer were on display as well. 12 lucky raffle winners were selected at random to ride along with GM test drivers in ZR1’s on some of the various test tracks where they were treated to savage acceleration, launch control demo’s, and a leisure cruise at 160mph around the high speed ring. 6 additional attendees bid on the opportunity to ride with Jim Mero himself in a ZR1 around another test loop. The thousands in bids went to the NCRS Foundation Charitable Fund. We didn’t win and we were way too cheap to bid, but watching Mero race across the Black Lake at 160+ was entertainment enough for us. The car basically sounds like a small Formula 1 car racing around Spa or Monte Carlo. All the winners exited with ear-to-ear smiles after their rocket rides. After the rides were completed Mero signed autographs for fans who requested them. Once playtime was over, owners hopped back into their rides and completed their tour of the grounds on tracks like the North/South straightaway, 7 sisters and the “Lutz Ring”.

The Michigan NCRS, the sponsors, and volunteers created a fantastic weeklong Corvette experience with activities for Corvette owners of all generations and ages. Next year the club heads out to Ron Burgundy’s neighborhood of San Diego, California. Make your plans now as it’s sure to be another first class event.

Related:
[PICS] Canterbury Vette Fest
[PICS] Corvettes at the NCRS Regional Show in Wildwood NJ

 

Since the first race at the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway in 1994, the Brickyard 400 has grown into one of NASCAR’s biggest events. For the five years, Corvette has led the pack as the pace car including last year’s race that was paced by the Bowling Green Metallic Grand Sport. This year’s Pace Car will be announced tomorrow at a special event, but we did find Corvettes and Camaros serving at “Festival Cars” which are the vehicles driven by track officials and other luminaries.

As the 2012 convertible Camaro is the new hotness in Chevy’s performance car stable and served as this year’s pace car for the Indianapolis 500, we have a feeling that it will be named the Pace Car for the 2011 Brickyard 400. If that changes and Corvette is once again named, we’ll let you know!

In the meantime, check out the previous Corvettes to pace the Brickyard 400 under our Related Posts section below. Although I love the color of the Bowling Green Metallic on 2010’s Pace Car, my favorite design was the Corvette Z06 that paced the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in 2009.

Source:
Brickyard 400
Photos by: Ron McQueeney

Related:
GM Goes Green with Brickyard 400 Corvette Pace Car
Corvette Z06 Pace Car Leads the Pack at NASCAR’s Allstate 400
Official Photos of the Allstate 400 Corvette Z06 Pace Car
Update: Official Photos of the Allstate 400 Corvette Z06 Pace Car
Z06 Corvette to Pace Brickyard 400

 

The Corvettes of Southern New Brunswick are revving up for their next big show. Raymond Cromwell, left, president of the Corvettes of Southern New Brunswick, Bill Brown, centre, vice-president, and member Karl Steeves pose with a 1994 C4 and a 1966 C2 Stingray.

November 3, 2011 marks the 100th birthday of Chevrolet , and as part of the celebration, General Motors has teamed up with Pandora to create a special Chevy 100 station.