Month: April 2012

An owner’s love affair with her Corvette never dies. Jill Struck’s relationship with her 1960 Corvette is proof of that.

Back in 1966, thanks to $100 in savings from a part-time job and a $1,000 bank loan, she was able to buy a 1960 Corvette in her neighborhood that she had been drooling over for years. After driving it throughout high school, she spruced up the car in 1968 with a custom paint job, new rims, and a new 327 fuel-injected motor.

Alas, another Corvette soon came along and stole her heart – a 1968 427 roadster she bought in 1970 and still owns today. She parked the ’60 in her garage in San Jose in 1975 and never started it again until just recently.

After retiring, Jill decided it was time to get her first love up and running again. With the help of the local GM muscle car restoration experts at GM Sports in San Jose, she was able to get the ’60 back good as new.

“We wanted to preserve the car’s history, leaving as much of the original 1968 restoration intact,” GM Sports owner Steve Marini said. “At the same time, we needed to make this car reliable. The fuel injection system was challenging, but we got it running perfect.”

Source:
Examiner.com
Photo Credits: Steve Natale

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If you’re looking for something to do with your Mega Millions winnings, we recommend heading to Mecum’s Spring Classic Auction coming up in May. There they will be offering this 1957 racer which was the first car to use Rochester Fuel injection backed by a 4-speed transmission.

Racing history of the car includes duty at Daytona, Nassau, and Sebring. But more notable than that are all of the “firsts” that appear this particular car. The Rochester Fuelie unit is serial number 1005 which is the oldest known functional unit. Racing legend Smokey Yunick was tasked with testing the new technology which was also used as backup for other factory racers. The FI unit also appears on the cover of the original 1957 Chevrolet Fuel Injection service manual. Other development uses for the car include work with the airbox cold-air induction system seen on a very limited number of production cars.

Other notable items include the first:

• Heavy duty brake system with finned drums, air cooling ducts, and vented backing plates among other items.
• Anti-lock brakes with a driver controlled setup. A feature not standard on Corvettes until 30 years later.
• Borg-Warner 4-speed. You “numbers” guys will like the October 1956 date code.
• Heavy duty suspension featuring heavy duty front and rear springs and shocks as well as a front sway bar and quick steering adapter. This setup would later become RPO 684.

Some of the standard-issue racing features include a voluminous 37 gallon gas tank, roll bar, seat belts, and aircraft lights for night time use.

After its retirement from active duty it was restored to its Sebring livery by Tim and Carol Partridge after 21 years of ownership. Since being completed the car has been displayed at the National Corvette Museum and participated in the Road America Corvette World Tribute where it won the Peoples and Judges Choice awards.

Offered as Lot #272, the Smokey Yunick racer will cross the auction block on Saturday, May 19th. Given the recent lofty bids on other significant racers like the 1960 Race Rat and 1961 SCCA National Champ, we can expect big bucks to be offered up for this highly desirable piece of Corvette history.

Mecum’s 25th annual Spring Classic Auction takes place May 15th – 20th at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.

Source:
Mecum via Hemming’s

Related:
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Zip Corvette Parts has long been known for serving owners and enthusiasts as a trusted source of Corvette parts and accessories. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of their founding in 1977, Zip Corvette is throwing a party and you’re invited! Check out Zip’s “Cruising in the Fast Lane” celebration on Saturday, April 14th at their headquarters in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

Zip’s Cruising in the Fast Lane celebration will be a great way to spend a day with all your Corvette friends. Held on the grounds of Zip’s corporate campus, located at 8067 Fast Lane in Mechanicsville, Virginia, the celebration will run from 10am to 3pm. It’ll be a great day of music, food, technical demonstrations, raffle prizes and lots of Corvettes. The first 100 cars will receive a special anniversary gift bag and everyone on-site can enjoy a 10% showroom discount.

All you have to do is show up (with your Corvette, of course). There are no registration forms, no entry fees and no judging. Just Corvette people doing what they love – showing off their cars and spending the day with other enthusiasts.

From their humble beginnings in 1977 to today where they serve customers all around the world, Zip Corvette has long been an innovator and leader in the Corvette parts industry. We think 35 years is something worth celebrating – and Zip Corvette parts is going to do just that – all year long, with special events and promotions.

Click here to find out more about Zip’s Cruising in the Fast Lane anniversary celebration. And if you’re not already on their mailing list, click here to request a generation specific Corvette parts catalog.

Source:
Zip Corvette Parts

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The newly designed Corvette Daytona Prototype scored its first victory on Saturday at the GRAND-AM Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP driven by Antonio Garcia and Richard Westbrook started at the pole and never looked back. This was Spirit of Daytona’s first victory in the Corvette DP class.

“You talk about a weekend of firsts,” Westbrook said. “First win for our team and the first win for Corvette DP, which is just incredible. We’ve come a long way since Daytona.

“It’s good to get the monkey off your back. It’s good for everyone. It’s good for morale to just to get that first victory out of the way.”

The No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance “Red Dragon” Corvette DP piloted by Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney finished in 2nd place just 2.15 seconds behind the leader. In third place was Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett in the No. 01 BMW/Riley Daytona Prototype.

The Alabama race also provided some Corvette DP vs Corvette DP drama. At the 1:45 mark, the No. 10 SunTrust Corvette DP driven by Max Angelelli failed to provide enough room on coming out of a turn to Darren Law in the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP. The contact sent the Law off course and into a restraining wall. Law was able to return to the pits for a lengthy repair stop while Angelelli was penalized a Stop and Go for the incident.

In GT, it was the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed Mazda RX-8 with Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito that finished first, followed by Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato in the No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari 458 Italia Grand Am. In third place was the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche GT3 driven by Leh Keen and Andrew Davis.

The Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R driven by Jordan Taylor and Paul Edwards finished 6th in the GT class.

Here are the highlights of the Porsche 250 from Barber Motorsports Park:

The Corvette Daytona Prototypes will be back in action April 27-29th at the Grand Prix of Miami at the Homestead Miami Speedway.

Source:
Sports Car Illustrated

Related:
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The words of praise about the Corvette ZR1 soar as high as the beautiful scenery of Italy as Motor Trend Editor At Large Angus MacKenzie and successful racer Justin Bell drive Chevy’s fastest ‘Vette ever from Munich, Germany to Maranello, Italy.

And in case you’re not familiar with Italian geography, there is a pretty well-known maker of high-performance cars in Maranello.

“An Australian driving a Brit in an American car in Germany, what a combination,” Justin remarks. “An international goulash of driving talent.”

But the jokes come to a halt when the two issue a friendly challenge to see if they can reach a mind-boggling 200 mph in the ZR1 on the German Autobahn, which Angus likens to one of the seven wonders of the automotive world.

Justin manages to make it to 195 before someone pulls in front of him and puts a stop to his hair-raising stunt. Angus then climbs behind the wheel, and with Justin doing the play-by-play reaches “170, 180, 190, 195, 6, 7, 8, 9, that’s 200 miles an hour, you bastard! Oh, my God, I’ve got sweat running down my face!”

“There’s nothing like that anywhere in the world,” Angus says. “I mean I have to come to Germany once a year just to go as fast as I can on the road. This thing has unbelievable power, and it really shows on a road like this. It’s a rocket ship!”

Also included on this Epic Drives episode, besides some of the best scenery in the world, are a trip through Italy’s Stelvio Pass, built in 1820 up and over the Alps and into the heart of Italy, with 48 hairpin turns in less than 10 miles, and a dance with a brand new Ferrari 458 Italia picked up direct from the factory.

Don’t miss this video if you want to experience 200 mph in a Corvette! It will leave you “all tingly” as Justin proclaims.

Click here for the full article and photo gallery from Motor Trend.

Source:
Epic Drives on Youtube.com

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