Month: October 2011

We’ve documented several times here and here the hilarity that ensues when an unsuspecting person gets trapped in a Corvette due to the battery being dead. Unless you’re familiar with the manual release lever on the floor, you’re stuck in a fiberglass box, or a holding cell as one would-be auto thief in Canada found out the hard way.

According to Prince George Police, the owner of a Corvette had just jump-started his car in his driveway and was returning the battery charger to the garage when 20 year old Brent Jameson Morgan jumped into the running car, locked the doors and attempted to drive away.

Unfortunately for the would-be thief, driving a manual transmission proved to be too hard to handle and the car stalled in the driveway. The Corvette could not be restarted and the man became locked inside. The owner of the Corvette saw the man was armed with a hatchet and bear spray (Oh Canada!) and called 911.

When police arrived, they found the robber had smashed the driver side window and was trying to squeeze through it. He was taken to jail and charged with mischief under $5,000, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a break-in instrument and theft of $5,000 or under.

Source:
Vancouver Sun

Related:
Another C6 Corvette “Dead Battery Entrapment” Leads to Hilarious Video
Man Gets Locked Inside a Corvette ZR1, Calls 911 for Help
Thieves Steal a Blue 1975 Corvette in Florida Heist

Article contributed by Teddy Field / Corvette Forum

Concept cars are designed to give the public a glimpse into the future. A taste of what could be, if the brass upstairs should happen to feel generous. So let’s have a look at the Top 5 Corvette Concepts, and dream about what might have been.

1968 Corvette Astro II XP-880

Unveiled at the 1968 New York Auto Show, the Astro II was Chevrolet’s mid-engined answer to Ford’s GT-40. It featured a reverse-mounted 427, with a 2-speed PowerGlide transmission, and a center-backbone frame. This unusual arrangement allowed the car’s 20-gallon fuel cell to be mounted in the center of the frame, for optimal weight distribution. And the backwards-mounted engine was able to hide its starter and ring gear in a space under the reclined seats.

The Corvette Astro II was able to pull an impressive 1.0g of lateral acceleration, and it even weighed 300 lbs less than a production 427 Corvette (3,300 lbs). At the time, many people expected GM to launch a mid-engined Corvette like the Astro II, but that never came to be. Probably because the Astro II’s PowerGlide transmission proved too weak for such a powerful car.

1954 Corvette Corvair Concept

That’s right, Corvette Corvair. Barely nine years earlier, the entire world was at war. Hitler had attempted to take over Europe, and Hirohito killed 2,350 Americans stationed in Hawaii. We wound up winning the war, but not before paying a heavy price.

America bounced back shortly after, and we were looking forward to a future free of oppression. It was an optimistic time, and that was clearly evident in American car design. GM’s chief designer Harley Earl, wasn’t afraid to take chances. So he put tail fins & a metric-ton of chrome on nearly every car in GM’s line—even its new sports car, the Corvette.

Corvette sales had slumped for 1954, and Chevy’s new sports car line needed a shot in the arm. So Earl’s team took a production Corvette and added a sleek fastback body. Complete with large chrome tail pipes exiting through the fiberglass body’s hind end.

It wasn’t the most practical design, but it had the European flair that most customers of the time favored (remember, our GI’s had just spent a lot of time over there). And while the Corvette Corvair never made it into production, the name would eventually find its way onto Ralph Nader’s favorite car!

1969 Manta Ray

You were probably expecting to see the famous Corvette Mako Shark on this list, but we’re going to do one better. This 1969 concept car was actually the original 65′ Mako Shark II with a slightly different body.

Chief designer Bill Mitchell had been using the 65′ Mako as his daily driver, but he surrendered it in 1969, to make an updated version of the car that inspired the current (C3) Corvette.

The Manta Ray Concept retained many of the Mako Shark’s original features including; a digital speedometer, headrest-mounted speakers, and a deployable rear bumper. But after Mitchell’s Makeover, the new concept had the new all-aluminum ZL-1 427, rear-mounted flaps that deployed under hard braking, and bodywork that emulated a massive Manta Ray.

1959 Corvette Stingray Racer: XP-87

Though manufacturer sponsored racing was officially banned, Chief Designer Bill Mitchell decided to build a concept Corvette race car using his own money. So he enlisted the help of fellow designer Larry Shinoda, then he procured Zora Duntov’s 1957 SS test-mule chassis as a base.

The resulting Stingray Racer was powered by a 315-hp, fuel-injected 283 cid V8, and was successfully campaigned by SCCA driver Dr. Dick Thompson—aka “The Flying Dentist”. He actually wound up winning dual consecutive class championships in 1959 and 1960, and the Stingray Racer was detuned and retired to show-car duty.

While the Corvette XP-87 helped Mitchell and GM test improvements to the 4-speed manual transmission, and discover new uses for aluminum, it’s best known for influencing the design of the C3 Corvette.

2009 Corvette Sting Ray (aka Sideswipe)

Detroit has been a suburb of Hollywood for most of the last century. And while the two cities may be separated by many acres of fruited plains, the products produced by these two cities are very intertwined. Case in point; the Transformer movies.

Hollywood producer Michael Bay relied on GM’s styling department to come up with the look for the AutoBots—mankind’s robotic saviors. This is why Bumble Bee was a Camaro, the medic-bot was a Hummer, and the one that got ripped in half by Megatron was a Pontiac Solstice (how appropriate). So for the second installment of the popular movie franchise, GM allowed Bay to use their Corvette Sting Ray Concept for the part of Sideswipe.

Meant to pay homage to Bill Mitchell’s Sting Ray Racer, and the famous Stingray Split-Window Coupe, the 2009 Stingray Concept has dramatic body lines, draping huge wheel arches like a little black dress on the backside of Angelina Jolie. And while we don’t know what engine powered the autobot, we sure hope that Sideswipe gets transported to our local Chevrolet dealer real soon.

Source:
Corvette Forum

Related:
Corvettes on eBay: 1954 Corvette Nomad Recreation
Corvettes at Carlisle: Meet the Original American Idol
[PICS] Up Close and Personal with the Corvette Stingray Concept

While at Petit Le Mans, I had the opportunity to pick up the first novel by Tammy Kaehler called “Dead Man’s Switch”. If you’re into reading mysteries and love following the American Le Mans Series, then this book is for you!

The mystery novel centers around female race car driver Kate Reilly who is looking for a full-time ride in the American Le Mans Series and finds the dead body of a popular driver who races with a privateer Corvette team. When she takes his seat for the ALMS race at Lime Rock, she quickly vaults to the top of a lengthy list of suspects.

As the race weekend progresses, not only does Kate have to learn the track and gain familiarity with her Corvette C6.R, she also meets a variety of individuals who each had their own motive for doing away with the Corvette’s previous driver. The action keeps ratcheting higher and higher and doesn’t stop until the checkered flag falls on race day.

The book was first written when the factory Corvette Racing team was still competing in the now defunct GT1 class and Tammy decide to use the previous ALMS class structure as the basis for the novel. The author combined real life companies and organizations with completely fictional characters. So while the book is complete fiction, the settings, surrounding and racing events are very familiar to those of us that follow the ALMS and Corvette Racing.

Another thing to take away from the book is the superb technical descriptions of what goes through the mind of a driver as they fly around the track at speeds greater than 160 mph. Although she never raced herself, in researching the book she credits Andrew Davis as well as several other well-known drivers including Johnny O’Connell and Patrick Long, as well as Corvette Racing’s Doug Fehan and former GM racing manager Steve Wesoloski.

Here is a short video featuring the author Tammy Kaehler describing the process she took to writing her first novel as well as an introduction to the heroine of the story, Kate Reilly.

We understand that the second installment of the Kate Reilly racing mystery series is underway and I’ll be adding that book to my reading list as soon as it comes out. In the meantime, if you haven’t read “Dead Man’s Switch”, head on over to Amazon.com and get your copy today. You can also learn more about the author at TammyKaehler.com.

Related:
Book Review: The Corvette in the Barn
The Quest Documentary is Now Available on DVD
[VIDEO] Tommy Milner’s Helmet Cam from Night Practice at Petit Le Mans

Have you ever seen a successful business and wondered how they got to where they are today? Mike Yager of Mid America Motorworks is one of the icons of our hobby and a true American success story. With $500, he turned his passion for Corvettes into one of the largest automotive parts and accessories catalogs in the country. Recently, Mike’s journey to success was featured on the CNBS show “How I Made My Millions“.

At 20 years old, Mike purchased his first Corvette, a 1967 convertible. An avid car show attendee, Yager funded his trips by selling t-shirts, patches and manuals out the back of his car. Sales grew and in 1976 he started Mid America Enterprises and launched his first catalog – a two page black and white mail order flyer. Today, Mid America features some 80,000 products and mails some 4.5 million Corvette and VW catalogs every year to its customers.

Here is the segment entitled “Wheels of Fortune” from CNBC’s “How I Made My Millions”

Mike success in the Corvette hobby allowed him to assemble an outstanding collection of Corvettes and Volkswagens which can be viewed at MY Garage. Each year, Mid America Motorworks puts on Corvette Funfest, the largest Corvette show in the country attended by 17,000 Corvettes and upwards of 45,000 enthusiasts.

Source:
YouTube.com via CorvetteOnline.com

Related:
Mid America Motorworks Wraps Up Another Successful Corvette Funfest
Friday is National Drive Your Corvette to Work Day
Mike Yager’s 1957 Corvette Barn Find