Month: March 2012

What happens when a longtime Corvette fanatic and a dedicated Porschephile swap rides?

That’s the subject of a video commissioned by Hagerty Insurance to tease the March 2012 issue of Hagerty Magazine.

With the suspenseful baritone sound of a movie trailer announcer, the video introduces us to David Burroughs, who helped found the Bloomington Gold Corvette show and introduced the concept of certification judging, and Reid Vann, who has been in the Porsche service business in St. Louis for nearly 40 years.

Mr. Burroughs climbs behind the wheel of a 1973 Porsche Carrera RS, while Mr. Vann is at the wheel of a 1970 Corvette LT1 at Gateway International Raceway outside St. Louis.

“The Corvette I expect not to feel quite all together,” Mr. Vann predicts before driving the LT1.

“I’m going to be disappointed if the Porsche is not as good as I think it is,” says Mr. Burroughs, pre-Porsche.

Both cars were performance standouts in their days, with each going 0 to 60 in 5.7 seconds. The Corvette’s top speed, however, was considerably lower than the Porsche’s, 120 to 152 mph.

“Can these men control themselves behind the wheel of an alien machine?” the announcer asks.

The video was just a preview with the full account of the car swap coming later. Stay tuned!

Source:
Hagerty

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We are very excited to announce that Mid America Motorworks has recently joined our family of featured sponsors. As the largest supplier of Corvette parts and accessories in the world and a customer base of nearly 1 million Corvette enthusiasts, it’s most likely that many of our readers are current customers. But for those that aren’t, be ready to be amazed at what Mid America can offer.

Founded in 1974 by a young Mike Yager, who with a $500 loan started selling parts and accessories from his trunk as a way to fund his ability to attend Corvette shows, Mid America Motorworks has grown to nearly 100 employees and a catalog that features over 80,000 products. In fact, Mid America Motorworks carries so many different products for the Corvette owner that attempting to list just the major product categories would be overwhelming. Just know that whether your driving a C1 NCRS show car or a modded C6, chances are that Mid America Motorworks will have the Corvette parts and accessories that you’re looking for!

Many of the products featured in the Big Book catalog come from Performance Choice, Mid America Motorwork’s in-house manufacturing operation that produces everything from carpet, seats and interiors for Corvettes to items that help protect your cars exterior as well.

Are you receiving Mid America Motorwork’s catalogs? Sign up here!

As the company’s Chief Cheerleader, Mike Yager’s passion for all things Corvette is infectious to say the least. In addition to the thriving catalog business, Mid America Motorworks hosts what has become America’s largest Corvette show, the annual Corvette Funfest. Last year’s Funfest brought 15,000 Corvettes and nearly 50,000 enthusiasts to the MA Motorworks campus in Effingham, ILL for four days of Corvette celebrations and entertainment. This year’s 2012 Corvette Funfest is planned for September 13-16.

If you’re in Effingham for the Funfest or just passing through the state of Illinois, make sure you take the opportunity to visit Mike’s extensive collection of Corvettes housed in his very own museum – The MY Garage Museum. We have spotlighted several Corvettes from Mike’s collection over the years including his C5 Corvette prototypes that were at the 2011 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago.

Mid America Motorsports also hosts a couple of old-style swap meets every year as well as one of our favorite events – the annual Drive your Corvette to Work day which happens on the Friday closest to Corvette’s official birthday of June 30th.

If you’re new to Corvettes or haven’t received a catalog from Mid America Motorworks recently, make sure you request your free Mid America Motorworks catalog today. You can also follow Mid America Motorworks on Twitter and Facebook.

Related:
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[VIDEO] CNBC Profiles Mid America Motorworks Mike Yager on “How I Made My Millions”
Mid America Motorworks Wraps Up Another Successful Corvette Funfest

 

Well, here is something you don’t see everyday. Our brothers at High Tech Corvette captured this C4 making two runs at the Texas Mile and both times the “all motor” 4th Gen Corvette breaks the 200 mph barrier.

On the first run, you’ll see the back end gets away just a bit, but the runway provides plenty of open space for the driver to recover. Despite that hiccup, the Corvette ran the mile at 211.8. For the second run, the driver took it a little easier on the launch and the Corvette makes the run straight and fast, finishing the mile at 211.5 mph.

Source:
High Tech Corvette

Related:
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In a press release shared on its facebook page today, Chevrolet Mexico has announced that the Corvette ZR1 and the two Grand Sport models will be available for sale at four retail outlets across the country starting in April. Customers will be able to visit these dedicated “Performance Stores” to shop and custom order America’s sports car.

The Performance Stores will open during the month of April and will be located in four cities in Mexico: Unicars Vehicles and Surman Anzures in Mexico City, Millennium Motors in Guadalajara, Premier Chevrolet in Culiacan and SS Cars in Queretaro.

The Corvette ZR1, which boasts an MSRP in the US of $111,600, will be available for a price of $1,600,000 pesos. Mexican customers can also take advantage of the Corvette Engine Build Experience, where they assemble their own LS9 engine along side a master engine builder at the Performance Build Center in Wixom, MI.

As for the Grand Sports, their name has been shortened to GS, with both the GS Coupe and GS Convertible models offered. The GS Coupe will be offered in either manual or six-speed automatic for $925,000 pesos. The GS Convertible is offered as an automatic only and will sell for $975,000 pesos.

In conjunction with the retail store launch, Chevrolet Mexico has launched www.chevroletperformance.mx where you can learn more about the Corvettes offered as well as the ability to configure your own.

“Con la apertura de estos puntos de venta exclusivos y la llegada de estos vehículos fortalecemos nuestro portafolio de autos deportivos, con nuevas alternativas que excederán las expectativas de los clientes más exigentes e intrépidos”, comentó Francisco Garza, Vicepresidente de Ventas, Servicio y Mercadotecnia de General Motors de México.

GOOGLE TRANSLATION:

“With the opening of these unique selling points and the arrival of these vehicles are strengthening our portfolio of sports cars, with new options that will exceed the expectations of even the most demanding and fearless,” said Francisco Garza, Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing of General Motors de Mexico .

We went into the Mexican site to check out the options and play with configurator. We found out that our Torch Red is being offered as “Rojo Le Mans” (Le Mans Red) and Supersonic Blue is “Azul Yas Marina” (Marina Blue). The LS9 is a “6.2L Supercargado 8 cilindros” motor!

That Chevrolet is being more aggressive in the Mexican market is a good thing. Getting the cars on the ground where potential customers can get up close and personal can only help sell more Corvettes. We do note that exports of Corvettes to Mexico totaled 8 in 2010 according to the final production statistics, so perhaps raising the bar to new sales heights shouldn’t be all that difficult.

Here is the full press release as it was released in Spanish:

Chevrolet anuncia Performance Store e inicia ventas de Corvette GS y ZR1 en México

Chevrolet presenta en México Performance Store, un nuevo concepto de puntos de venta exclusivos para los vehículos de alto desempeño de la marca. Corvette ZR1, la más pura representación de la pasión que tiene Chevrolet por el desempeño, y Grand Sport, la leyenda de las carreras, estarán a la venta a partir de abril en estos exclusivos puntos.

En Chevrolet Performance Store, el cliente podrá ver en exhibición los vehículos deportivos de la marca en un lugar especial para ellos y ahí mismo encontrará las opciones de configuración disponibles, así como aplicaciones interactivas que le permitirán ver el resultado de cómo luciría su vehículo con las características que eligió.

“Con la apertura de estos puntos de venta exclusivos y la llegada de estos vehículos fortalecemos nuestro portafolio de autos deportivos, con nuevas alternativas que excederán las expectativas de los clientes más exigentes e intrépidos”, comentó Francisco Garza, Vicepresidente de Ventas, Servicio y Mercadotecnia de General Motors de México.

Corvette ZR1 ocupa el más alto nivel en el portafolio Corvette y cada uno de sus elementos está enfocado en lograr el máximo desempeño.

“Los clientes de ZR1 tienen la opción de participar en el Corvette Engine Build Experience, el cual permite a los clientes viajar al GM Performance Build Center en Wixom, Michigan, para tener un rol activo en el ensamble del motor LS9 que específicamente llevará su nuevo ZR1”, mencionó Eduardo Gelista, Gerente de Mercadotecnia de Chevrolet Autos. “Esto es personalización llevada al extremo”.

Corvette ZR1 estará disponible a un precio de $1,600,000 pesos.

Por su parte, Corvette Grand Sport, el auto deportivo americano más reconocido, llega también a México y estará disponible en carrocería coupé o convertible con transmisión manual o automática de seis velocidades con cambios en el volante. Su motor de 6.2 litros V8 desarrolla una potencia de 430 caballos de fuerza y un torque de 424 libras-pie. El resultado es un vehículo con un balance perfecto entre desempeño en pista y desempeño en calle.

Corvette Grand Sport llega a México con dos diferentes precios: GS Coupé manual o automático de seis velocidades $925,000 pesos y GS Convertible automático $975,000 pesos.

Las dos potentes versiones de Corvette, ZR1 y Grand Sport, estarán disponibles exclusivamente en los nuevos puntos de venta Chevrolet Performance Store, un concepto que surge de la búsqueda constante por ofrecer la mejor experiencia de compra a los clientes.

Las tiendas iniciarán operaciones durante el mes de abril y se ubicarán en cuatro ciudades de la República Mexicana. Los Distribuidores Chevrolet Performance Store son: Unicars Vehículos y Surman Anzures en el Distrito Federal, Milenio Motors en Guadalajara, Premier Chevrolet en Culiacán y Autos SS en Querétaro.

Para complementar la experiencia los clientes pueden visitar el sitio: www.chevroletperformance.mx y conocer más acerca de los modelos que se comercializan en México, así como configurar su vehículo de acuerdo a sus preferencias.

Source:
Chevrolet Mexico

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One of the highlights of attending the 12 Hours of Sebring are the seminars put on by the Corvette production team. Corvette’s Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter and Corvette Product Manager Harlan Charles made the trek from Detroit and brought down several Corvettes to show off to the faithful in the Corvette Corral including the new 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible with the 60th Anniversary Package.

The video opens with Tadge and Harlan talking about the new 427 Convertible and the various engineering feats needed to put the LS7 into a convertible body. We learned its curb weight was 3,355 lbs and that the 427 Convertible’s power to weight ratio was better than the Ferrari California, Porsche turbo convertible and the Audi V8 R10 spider. Harlan also filled us in on some of the new features and options appearing on the 2013 Corvette like the new Night Race Blue color and a complete lineup of black wheels.

Another special Corvette they brought down to show off was the Ron Fellows Torch Red Hall of Fame Tribute Z06 that was displayed last year at the Corvette Museum’s Anniversary celebration as well as appearing at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch booth at SEMA.

Before turning over the presentation to questions and answers, Tadge introduced another Corvette Hall of Fame member Joe Spielman who told a few good stories. Joe ended his talk by saying “When I go off to that happy hunting ground in the sky, I’m taking a Corvette with me!”

As the Q & A session started, we heard from owners about their favorite colors (Blue) and a color they most want to see on a Corvette (Green), as well as their favorite engine sizes (the V8).

Finally, after a C7 question from Ron Fellows, Tadge proclaimed that although he wasn’t going to talk about future products (C7), he would show us one part that comes from the C7 Corvette. Tadge just happened to have that one part in his pocket, which he pulled out and displayed to the crowd for about a second. With everyone laughing, he said he wasn’t going to tell us what it is, but described the part as very finely machined, lightweight and very expensive. The picture above shows the Tadge holding the C7 part.

A special thanks to Jake Drennon of the C5/C6 Registry for providing the video.

Source:
Youtube.com

Related:
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GM Unveils New 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible and 60th Anniversary Package
[VIDEO] GM Discusses C6 and C7 Corvette at Sebring

 

After 34 years of marriage, Corvette Forum member “Sonny557″ and his wife probably thought they had seen everything possible. But then on their way back from their anniversary trip to San Antonio, they passed an older man in a Lincoln Continental towing his 1966 Corvette on a trailer.

They passed each other back and forth for at least 20 miles through congested traffic, and then finally as the couple was driving past the trailer once again, he said to his wife that the tie-down straps on the car looked awfully weak.

No sooner than those words had come out of his mouth than the man looked in his rearview mirror and saw a 1966 Corvette rolling down I-35 North at about 70 mph – with no driver behind the wheel!

Somehow, the car finally rolled onto the shoulder of the interstate and came to a stop in a concrete drain. The only damage was a major scuff mark on one of the tires, but the car escaped unharmed!

Here is the full account of the runaway Corvette from Corvette Forum member Sonny557:

Me and my wife Dianna took a weekend trip for our 34th anniversary to San Antonio. On the return trip we passed an older gentleman in a Lincoln Continental towing a trailer with his ’66 ‘vette on it. Well, traffic was stop and go for at least twenty miles, so we passed him, he passed us, no big deal. BUT, we finally got past the congestion and passed him again, I mentioned to my wife his straps and chain seemed kinda flimsy. As I was saying this we just passed the front of his car when I look in my rear view mirror to see his ‘vette is unloading down hwy I-35 North at approximately 70 mph !!! So I’m watching in my mirror as his ’66 is rolling along the highway with no driver!!! It slowly reaches the grassy part of the shoulder and slows down somewhat before going into a concrete drain and goes on for several more feet before coming to a stop. Miraculously only the whitewall had a major scuff mark on it, the car had no scratches or rash!!

All ended well he jumped in started her up, drove to the next off ramp, a passing policeman had stopped to assist brought him back to get his continental and trailer.

Talk about your miracles!

Check out the full discussion of this story on the Corvette Forum.

Source:
Corvette Forum

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