Month: August 2012

Sometimes it’s tough being young.

For example, just ask the players on the prestigious Manchester United soccer squad in Great Britain who are younger than 23. They won’t be able to take full advantage of a very generous offer by the team’s newest sponsor, Chevrolet, to give them the Chevy of their choice, even a shiny new Corvette.

Seems their coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, doesn’t feel that they are mature enough to climb behind the wheel of the flashy sports car and has ordered that those youngsters can’t get a free Corvette. In fact, he says he’ll have to approve whichever car these “babies” want.

The players affected by Sir Alex’s decision include Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, and Rafael.

If you happen to be more mature, at least in years, then you can take your pick, including a Corvette. That includes players like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Javier Hernadez, and Robin van Persie.

It’s no secret that the coach believes respect comes with age, apparently including the use of a Corvette. We’d like to think if they are disciplined enough to be professional soccer players on the world’s most valuable sports franchise (according to 2012 Forbes rankings), then they are disciplined enough to drive a Corvette responsibly.

We guess if they are not mature enough to wear colored soccer cleats (as the coach reportedly ruled against earlier), then maybe they shouldn’t be driving a high-horsepower sports car either.

Source:
NY Daily News

Related:
NY Giant’s Eli Manning Wins Super Bowl, MVP Title and a 2012 Corvette Grand Sport Centennial Edition
[VIDEO] Cardinal’s World Series MVP David Freese Awarded Keys to 2012 Corvette Grand Sport
Corvette, Orioles Give Ripken Sendoff to Hall of Fame

 

Members of General Motor’s Corvette Team once again came to Carlisle, PA for the annual Corvettes at Carlisle Show and gave their annual “What’s New with Corvette” seminar.

Corvette’s Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter started off with the walk-around before turning it over to Dave Tatman, the Corvette Assembly Plant Manager. Also talking 2013 Corvettes were Harlan Charles, Corvette’s Product Marketing Manager and Kirk Bennion, Corvette’s Exterior Design Engineer. The Seminar took just a little more than 20 minutes to cover the latest and final Corvette models of the C6 era but it was well worth it and very informative to all those that were there.

There were two examples of the 2013 Corvette on display while the Corvette Team talked. To the right of the stage was the new 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible with the 60th Anniversary package and on the left was a 2013 Night Race Blue Corvette ZR1 with a full body stripe and other goodies available through the Genuine Corvette Accessories (GCA) catalog.

The Corvette Team has been giving the latest model walk-around seminar at Carlisle for the last nine years running. Tadge joked with the crowd that this will be the last time they discuss the C6 Corvette here at Carlisle.

Corvette Plant Manager Dave Tatman was attending his 3rd Corvettes at Carlisle show and remarked about how his first appearance (or indoctrination) occurred when he was on the job for only two weeks. Tatman thanked everyone on behalf of the men and women at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant, where he says “we build dreams”. He said that all assembly plant tours will come to an end on September 14th as the factory is in full changeover mode to install and setup all the tooling and track needed for the C7 Corvette. Tadge reminded the audience that although the plant is closed to tours, they will still be producing the 2013 Corvettes for quite some time.

When Harlan Charles took over, he spent the first few minutes talking about the new model for 2013, the 427 Convertible. He pointed out that the 427 Convertible gets 24 mpg on the highway with no gas guzzler tax and 505 horsepower. Tadge remarked that he drove that car to Carlisle and he averaged 27 mpg. Harlan went through all the available options and colors and packages that can be ordered on all the 2013 Corvettes and the various combinations that the 427 Convertible can be ordered.

Harlan also made a point to mention the 427 Convertible and its power to weight ratio and how that compares to some of the competition’s models. The short answer is there is no comparison!

Corvette Exterior Designer had the opportunity to talk about the 2013 Corvette ZR1 which he says will officially be the last year of the ZR1. Kirk brought the 2013 Night Race Blue Corvette ZR1 we saw back on Woodward which had a new blue full-body racing stripe across it. The car featured gloss black wheels which is a new option this year and this Corvette ZR1 had a black on black interior and the “Elwood” version of Jake wheel center caps.

Here is the full 2013 Corvette Walk-around Seminar from Corvettes at Carlisle:

Related:
[VIDEO] 1972 Corvette Wins the 2012 Corvettes at Carlisle Burnout Contest
[PICS] The #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette Revealed at Corvettes at Carlisle
C6 Corvette Delivery Programs Coming to an End

 

Zip Corvette Parts unveiled their new C6 Corvette Performance Parts and Accessories catalog at Corvettes at Carlisle last weekend. The good news is that you can now view the new catalog online or request your own copy to be mailed.

You can check out all new C6 Corvette Performance and Accessories Catalog or any of the other five generations of Corvettes at Zip-Corvette.com.

If you prefer to have a catalog mailed to you, Click here to visit Zip’s Catalog request page.

The guys at Zip were great to talk with at Carlisle and they really know their stuff when it comes to the world of Corvettes. Check out these photos we grabbed of their home away from home at the 2012 Corvettes at Carlisle show.

Related:
Zip Corvette: Modifying a New Corvette Grand Sport
Zip Corvette’s Focus on Customers, Technology Fuels World-Wide Growth
[VIDEO] 1972 Corvette Wins the 2012 Corvettes at Carlisle Burnout Contest

 

After working this weekend to ensure that Corvettes at Carlisle, one of the largest Corvette shows in the country, went off successfully without a hitch, Carlisle Event’s co-owner Lance Miller is now responding to Dan Mathis Jr’s claims that his family is the owner of the #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvette that ran at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Miller emailed CorvetteBlogger.com a copy of the letter he sent to New York Times writer Jerry Garrett who has covered the saga of the former race car’s ownership dispute on his Garrett on the Road blog from the beginning.

Here is the full letter sent to Jerry Garrett at the New York Times:

Jerry Garrett
The New York Times
620 Eight Avenue
New York, NY 10018

Dear Mr. Garrett:

I have read your August 25, 2012, blog post regarding the 1960 No. 1 Le Mans Corvette. I must first tell you that I was quite shocked that you would print any story on this matter without first making some effort to ascertain the facts. I find it somewhat disturbing that you not do some preliminary investigation prior to writing an article with your name it which was so one sided and without regard to what has actually transpired.

With that being said, I am willing to respond to you with the hope that any future articles will be factually accurate and not portray the situation as you have carelessly done so up to this point. As you know, I recently purchased the car in Tampa, Florida. Based on a commitment my father made to a friend before he died, I transferred ownership of the car to that person, who wishes to remain anonymous for now. I will respect that wish until the buyer agrees to be named or I am ordered to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction. I transferred the car to the new owner for the exact same price I paid for it, based on my late father’s promise. I have no pecuniary gain in the transfer as that was never my intent or the intent of my late father. I was solely honoring a promise he made if the car was ever found and I was fortunate enough to purchase it.

What your blog post does not go into is the extensive due diligence I conducted before I purchased the Corvette from the Carr family in Tampa on July 20, 2012. I was told by Mrs. Carr (Richard’s wife) that she was present when the car was sold to her husband via a bill of sale. It was represented to me that he paid consideration for it and they were never aware of any police report claiming it was stolen. Also prior to my purchase, a fifty (50) state stolen vehicle search was conducted by a third party investigator which did not come back with any evidence that the car had been reported stolen.

The car had already been sold by me when the allegations of theft were made by Mr. Dan Mathis Jr. and Mr. Domenico Idoni. Contrary to what you wrote in your article, I was never advised that Mr. Mathis or Mr. Idoni requested a meeting with me or any of my family.

However, on Friday afternoon, August 24, 2012, the first day of our Corvettes at Carlisle show, I was contacted by an attorney in Tampa, Florida, purporting to represent a general partnership of Domenico Idoni and Dan Mathis Jr., who were asserting ownership of the car based on a Florida title. Given my schedule, I requested that my attorney contact him to seek further information about Mr. Idoni and Mr. Mathis’ claims. While the Florida attorney, Mr. Keith D. Skorewicz, Esquire, did not have much information other than what we heard through the grapevine, he did send our counsel the front page of a recent title dated August 17, 2012, well after the date of my purchase. My counsel requested a copy of the back page of the title and a copy of the police report indicating the vehicle had been stolen (as alleged by Mr. Skorewicz); as if this date we have received neither.

On Saturday, I was shocked when the Carlisle Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police showed up at our Corvette show demanding to search the Fairgrounds for the “stolen” Corvette, based on an alleged stolen vehicle report from Florida and a recently issued Florida title. At no time was a stolen police report ever produced. Upon further investigation, the local police determined this was not a criminal matter, but purely a civil one as to a dispute in the chain of title to the car. While many of the facts are not known or are in dispute, it is very clear that the car was has been in the possession of the Carr family for the last 35 years with the VIN numbers clearly attached. To my knowledge, no stolen vehicle report has ever been filed, even as of this date. If Mr. Jim Mathis Jr. or Mr. Domenico Idoni intends to file one, the matter may then turn criminal as opposed to civil if they do so without some more evidence.

As a purchaser in good faith of the vehicle, the answer to the “great question” posed to Mr. Dan Mathis Jr. or Mr. Domenico Idoni in your August 26th posting regarding how the Corvette passed from the possession of the Mathis family to the (Carr family) is easy – it was sold. I urge you to speak with the Carr family directly on this matter before making additional posts regarding the Corvette’s ownership history so that your articles portray the facts, not baseless allegations.

The ownership of the Corvette, in my mind, is not in dispute. Should Mr. Dan Mathis Jr. and Mr. Domenico Idoni continue to assert their claim of ownership, the matter should be settled in a court of law with all the facts presented. I will certainly cooperate with the appropriate authorities and the court system however possible, but I have sincere reservations about the validity of the title held by Mr. Mathis and his partner, Mr. Idoni, and the circumstances surrounding it.

Sincerely,

Lance Miller

Rick Carr, who says his father bought the Corvette on a Bill of Sale and stored the former Le Mans racer in a St. Petersburg, Florida warehouse, has also responded to Mr Mathis’s ownership claims though Jerry Garrett as well. We don’t have the full correspondence but this is what was shared on the Garrett on the Road blog earlier today:

“The wild allegations by Mr. Mathis presented by you in this article as fact, are wholly untrue”

“I did not sell the car to Mr. Miller. A member of my family sold the car to Mr. Miller. I merely facilitated the sale.”

My father was not forced to retire from the bench. He simply did not seek reelection. He had no intentions of running for the position since he was fully vested and past retirement age at the time and had recently had open-heart surgery. My father was indeed reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court for improper action in his courtroom, but his “slur” had more to do with gaining control of an unruly courtroom, rather than some form of racial putdown. His politically incorrect comment was made to a Italian man out of control in his courtroom. It should be noted that my late father’s widow is of Italian heritage and he used to joke with her and her family using the same language. It was a stupid mistake that blemished an otherwise great career, but it had nothing to do with African Americans as Mr. Mathis has since claimed. It should also be noted that my father continued to serve Pinellas County and the State of Florida as a distinguished Senior Judge for many years after his retirement.

By choosing not to juxtaposition Mr. Mathis’ story against comments by either Lance Miller or me, you created the appearance that what Mathis is telling you is the undisputed truth, rather than the myth that it is.

Here are some facts:

My father purchased the above-mentioned Corvette as a beat-up, rolling chassis with no motor, transmission or interior. He bought it from a gentleman in Tampa over 30 years ago. My father did not receive a title, but he did get a bill of sale. We are currently in contact with the Florida DMV and will produce all documents for investigators to determine if Mr. Mathis has participated in title fraud. It should be noted that “Bill of Sale” purchases are completely legal in Florida. This is common practice for parts cars, very old vehicles or for race vehicles that will never be driven on the street.

T
he car was never reported stolen. There is no paperwork to substantiate this most important claim. We have documentation proving my father contacted the Florida DMV as late as 1982 to apply for a title to this automobile. He used the correct VIN number to do so. Had the car been reported stolen, it would have been found by the DMV at that time.

Mr. Mathis only attempted to title this vehicle more than two weeks AFTER its discovery was announced on the Internet, some 30-plus years after my father purchased the car.

It appears that someone attempted to wedge a big block engine into the chassis at one time (cut motor mounts, disconnected steering column, etc.) but the workmanship was sloppy and incomplete. It is highly unlikely this car was ever driven on a drag strip, as Mr. Mathis claims. If so, it would have been extremely dangerous.

Mr. Mathis’ father did not paint the car its current color as he claims. There were major repairs made to the body and it was painted after my father purchased the car. This can be easily documented. Photographs were taken as it was being stripped and as the body was repaired and painted. The car was a completely different color when my father purchased it and brought it back to his warehouse. Therefore Mr. Mathis’ memories of the “cherry chocolate color” Corvette was simply a fabrication he concocted after seeing pictures of the car posted on the Internet.

It also occurs to me (and should have to you as well), if this car is stolen, why then does it retain the very VIN plate that has helped identify its history. Were it stolen, wouldn’t that be the first thing a thief would remove?

Your carelessness in posting unsubstantiated facts has caused my family great distress, as I’m sure it has for Lance Miller, his family and associates. Like Chip Miller, my father spent a lifetime building his reputation. It is unfortunate that neither of these great men is here today to defend themselves against these libelous statements.

So with the release of these emails from Lance Miller and Rick Carr, we now have the other side of the story. Neither side looks to be backing down and so we’ll unfortunately be along for the ride as the #1 1960 Corvette looks to be heading out pit lane for a lap around the U.S. legal system.

If you’re just joining us in progress and want to know the background, Check out the previous stories of the disputed ownership claims surrounding the No.1 Le Mans Corvette by Jerry Garrett on his Garrett on the Road website as well as these two documents circulated on behalf of Mr. Mathis Jr.: Mathis Document #1 and
Mathis Document #2

Source:
Garrett on the Road

Related:
Florida Man Claims Ownership of the 1960 No.1 Briggs Cunningham Corvette
Public Reveal for the #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvette Canceled Due to Undisclosed Security Concerns
[PICS] The #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette Revealed at Corvettes at Carlisle

 

One of the highlights of the annual Corvettes at Carlisle show is the burnout contest held on Friday afternoon. After a long day at looking at beautiful Corvettes parked across the Corvette America FunField, it seems owners love to have a seat in the grandstands and watch someone absolutely thrash their car in a brutal test of man and machine.

Stepping up to the plate and winning the King of Hill contest was John Marshall and his highly modified 1972 Corvette Coupe. When a man thanks his “crew chief”, you know he’s a serious contender.

We spoke to Marshall about his Corvette and he said the car was his dream car after building a model of it when he was 14 years old. Now his motivation is only to please the crowd and maybe win a plaque and a t-shirt, as well as buying a new set of tires he’ll need after the contest.

Pulling in to pit, the announcer commented to John that he had a nice car. John replied “It’s my mothers!” Everyone in the grandstands laughed and John added “She’s from Pasadena!”. As Marshall readied his Corvette inside the confines of the burnout area, the DJ put on the Beach Boy’s “Little Old Lady from Pasadena”. The audience only heard the first line of the song and then the exhaust opened up on that huge supercharged V8 and it was quite possibly the loudest sound we ever heard.

It took two tries and on his second attempt, the line lock kicked in and John was able to generate some serious smoke from his BF Goodrich Radial T/As. Combine that smoke with the loudest V8 we ever heard and you have a winning burnout that seemed to last an eternity.

So without further ado, here is John Marshall and his monster 1972 Corvette at the Corvettes at Carlisle burnout contest:

Leaving the grounds about an hour after the contest, I just happened to be in the car in front of John as we were slowly making our way to the exits. All along the road, people were stopping to congratulate him and his Blue ’72.

Mission accomplished, John!

Related:
[VIDEO] C5 Z06 Driver Goes Off-Course While Attempting a Burnout at Dallas Cars and Coffee
[PICS] The #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette Revealed at Corvettes at Carlisle
[VIDEO] C4 Corvette Owner Tires of Winter, Does Burnouts in Garage