Month: March 2012

Mecum Auctions next stop on their 2012 tour is this weekend in Kanas City, Missouri. The 3-day sale runs Thursday March 29th through Saturday March 31st at the Kansas City Convention Center – Bartle Hall. Velocity will have 15 hours of live coverage spread across all 3 auction days. As of this post, there are over 25 Corvettes scheduled to cross the block.

The Kansas City sale will have Corvettes from the 2nd through 5th generations available this weekend with C2’s and C3’s making up over half of the Corvette docket. Here’s how the cars breakdown:

The Corvettes offered this weekend represent good quality cars, but not so good as to elicit the stratospheric bids we’ve seen in recent months. Here are a few to keep your eye on this weekend.

Lot #S86 1967 427/400 hp A/C Corvette Coupe
Normally, a real deal black/black 1967 Corvette can bring megabucks at auction due to the desirability of the color. This nicely restored example should bring good, but not over-the-top, money thanks to honest representation of the non-matching engine and transmission. We don’t know what drivetrain it was initially born with, but other options include functional factory A/C, and power steering and brakes in addition to the blue stinger. The listing states that the VIN and Trim tags are original and that the paint is 3 years old.

Lot #S98 1967 427/435 Corvette Convertible

This white/red roadster is our darling of the auction. The matching number red/white 4-speed car features Bolt-on wheels, headrests, AM/FM radio, redline tires, power steering and brakes, tinted glass, and side pipes. Based on the photos it’s a nicely restored car that should do well. We just wish the listing mentioned some paperwork to document that big 435 under the hood.

Lot #S197 1969 L88/L89 Corvette Coupe
Like Lot 86 above, this blue/blue 4-speed C3 is described as receiving a heart transplant at some point in its life. The listing describes it as an aluminum head L89 that has been upgraded to an L88. Was it one of the 390 original L89’s in 1969? We’re not sure. In addition to the motor upgrade, the car has had: 1 repaint, rebuilt drivetrain, suspension, and brakes in addition to , a new gas tank, new interior, and new exhaust. Recent L88 sales have hovered around $500,000. Here’s your chance to score monster L88 performance at a fraction of what a real one will cost you.

Mecum’s Kansas City Auction begins at 11am central time Thursday through Saturday. Velocity’s live coverage will air Thursday 5-8 PM CST, Friday 3-9 PM CST, and Saturday 1-7 PM CST so clean off your DVR’s now to make room.

If you can’t make to this event or don’t get the Velocity channel, be sure to watch all the action live on Mecum’s website.

Source:
Mecum Auctions

Related:
eBay Promotion Offers a 2012 Corvette and 28 Other Vehicles at Half Price
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Auctions America by RM to Feature 26 Corvettes from the Tony Parella Collection

Five car pile-up sends five to the hospital in NW Harris County.

If you’re not a Corvette aficionado you might not tell that this used to be a C4.

It seems the driver of this Corvette decided to make a U-turn across six lanes of traffic and in the process caused a five-car pile-up, officials in northwest Harris County in Texas said.

The crash sent six people to the hospital around 9 p.m. Saturday at FM 1960 and Gilder.

“A gentleman in a Corvette was heading eastbound to Willowbrook mall, when he decided to do a U-turn across six lanes of traffic at FM 1960 and Gilder,” said Chief Lieder with the Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department.

The Corvette was t-boned by a Ford Expedition, and a Chevy Impala then crashed into them both, turning upside down in the process. In an attempt to miss the wrecked cars, two others crashed into a guardrail.

The Corvette driver is in critical condition at Ben Taub Hospital, and five others ended up with non-life threatening injuries.

Source:
Your Houston News

Related:
Creepy Guy in a Corvette Chased from Elementary School, Crashes into Five Police Cars
[ACCIDENT] 2012 Yellow Corvette Crashes into Goldenrod Post Office
[ACCIDENT] 1977 Corvette Looses Control On Rain Soaked Road

While watching the replay of the 12 Hours of Sebring, I was glad to see Chevrolet continuing the Corvette Racing “Technology Transfer” segments which can be seen during the ESPN/ABC race broadcasts. The Technology Transfer segments highlight the transfer of racing technology from the track to the production Corvettes.

This year, Chevrolet has tapped former Corvette Racing ace turned race commentator Johnny O’Connell to introduce this year’s series of tech transfer which will take a look back at the six generations of Corvettes and many of the innovations which sprang from motorsports racing.

The Technology Transfer segment for Sebring mostly consisted of O’Connell’s set up for Long Beach, where the focus of will be on C1 – the first generation of Corvettes. Johnny delivered the setup from the driver’s seat of a 1953 Corvette and later joked that Chevy would let him drive their million-dollar race cars, but was very hesitant about allowing him to sit in 53 roadster.

During the race, the title sponsor Mobil 1 had their own tech transfer segment called “Technical View”. That segment also featured Johnny O’Connell and the Corvette C6.R as he discussed Mobil 1 motor oil’s long standing partnership with Corvette Racing and how the oil technology has improved over the years. Those improvements have lead to better fuel economy and engine performance for street cars that utilize Mobil 1 oil.

You can watch video here, plus we threw in a little bonus coverage which includes Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner doing battle with Joey Hand and BMW as well as a promo for Chevy’s Race to Win sweepstakes.

We bring you the next installment of Corvette Racing’s “Technical Transfer” segment from the streets of Long Beach when the American Le Mans Series heads to California in April.

Related:
Corvette Racing: Recapping the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring
Chevrolet Corvette Inducted into Sebring Hall of Fame
[VIDEO] Corvette Racing Tech Transfer: Headlights

How would you like to buy a brand-new 2012 Corvette for half of the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price?

Friday will be your chance as auction site eBay Motors and online seller AutoNation continue their joint promotion of selling 29 new vehicles from General Motors, Ford, and Nissan for a remarkable 50 percent of MSRP.

The bargains are designed to promote the launch of AutoNation’s AutoNation Direct online sales division and include four half-off models each day, culminating with the 2012 Corvette on Friday. That means you could be the lucky one to get a new ‘Vette for around $25,000 since list price on America’s Sports Car starts at $49,600.

Better warm up your trigger finger, though, because so far the vehicles have been gone in a flash. Lucky buyers have already snapped up a Chevrolet Volt for $22,615, a Ford Fusion for $16,385, a Nissan Sentra for $9,210, a Ford Mustang for $15,142.50, and a Camaro LS for $12,720.

To be a part of the promotion, you have to set up a free account with eBay. Then if you’re lucky enough to be the first bidder, you’ll have to post a $500 deposit within 24 hours and then make full payment within three days.

To try and make sure you don’t miss your dream car at a bargain, you might want to get the eBay Motors mobile app in case you have to leave your computer.

Source:
CBS News

Related:
Corvettes on eBay: 1954 EX87 Corvette Test Mule Replica
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During the rollout out of the C6 in 2005, Chevy introduced just the base coupe and convertible models with the performance-laden Z06 coming a year later in 2006. When Chevrolet introduces the C7 Corvette next year, the speculation is that we’ll initially have just two models to choose from – the standard Coupe and Convertible – while the upgraded Grand Sports, Z06 and ZR1 performance models will arrive at a later date. Now Motor Trend has weighed in with their predictions of just exactly when we can expect to see the various Corvettes appear in C7 form.

Our friends at Corvette Blog came across the rollout predictions in the latest print version of the magazine. They noted that there was not attribution to any official statement by Chevrolet, so take the following with a grain of salt, especially when you see the V6 base Corvette rumor raised once again:

“The rollout for the C7 Chevrolet Corvette will look like this: The standard coupe will launch in late 2013 or early ’14, with the convertible coming three to six months later. The Z06 is next, a full year after the standard coupe. Then comes Gran (sic) Sport coupe and convertible, with the ZR1 the last of the next-gen Corvettes to hit showrooms. Rumor has it that the ZR1′s supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 will shrink in displacement slightly, for corporate average fuel economy reasons, and there will be a 3.6-liter V-6 version of the base Corvette, though not at launch.”

That translates into the models being released:

• Fourth Quarter 2013 – Base 2014 Corvette Coupe
• Second Quarter 2014 – Base 2014 Corvette Convertible
• Summer of 2014 – 2015 Model Year – Z06 Coupe
• Later in 2015 Model Year – Grand Sport Coupe & Convertible
• Summer of 2015 – 2016 Model Year – ZR1 Coupe

While the rollout calendar makes sense based on previous new Corvette model introductions, GM has not yet indicated that the six current Corvette models will also appear as C7s. We also know that when Jalopnik published their illustrations of what they say is the C7 Corvette, they chose to show the ZR1 model which may indicate that GM’s C7 rollout may be more compressed than the three year model span from 2014 base C7 to the 2016 ZR1 C7.

CorvetteBlog is anticipating that the 2014 Corvettes will actually begin to appear at dealerships in September 2013.

Source:
Corvette Blog

Related:
C7 Corvette Illustration on Cover of Car and Driver’s April 2012 Magazine
[VIDEO] C7 Corvette Captured on Spy Video
Jalopnik to Reveal ‘Real’ C7 Corvette on Monday at Noon; Updated with Photo of 2014 Corvette ZR1