Month: October 2012

This 1973 red Corvette doesn’t really seem like the kind of car that Kelsey Grammer would drive.

But then again, Grammer was just portraying that snob Fraiser Crane on Cheers all those years.

According to an ad on eBay trying to sell this Corvette, the owner bought it from Grammer in 2003 and has stored it in a temperature controlled garage at his Woodland Hills, California home, ever since.

The owner doesn’t provide much more information, though he does claim to start the car once a week and drive it once a month. He says the Corvette is in “mint” condition and that it has traveled just 9,000 miles since a restoration.

Photos on the ad site do indeed appear to show a very nice C3 Corvette. The ad also says that the car has a 350 motor and a manual transmission.

Unlike the Cheers bar, we’re not sure if everyone would know your name if you bought this Corvette, but you might enjoy 15 minutes of fame in your neighborhood as you motor around, stopping long enough to brag that Frasier used to own it.

By the way, the bidding had climbed to $14,000 as of Wednesday morning, Oct. 30, with two days left. If you’re an impatient soul, you can buy the car now for $20,000.

Source:
eBay via Jalopnik

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Chevrolet Team Reigns in 2012 American Le Mans Series GT

DETROIT, Oct. 29, 2012 – As Chevrolet celebrated the 60th year of Corvette production, Chevrolet’s Corvette Racing team reigned in the production-based GT class in the 2012 American Le Mans Series. In 10 ALMS races, the twin Compuware Corvette C6.Rs posted four victories, six runner-up finishes, 12 podium appearances, two poles, and five fastest race laps.

That performance propelled Corvette Racing to a sweep of the GT class championships. Corvette Racing won the team title and Chevrolet captured the manufacturer championship. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won the GT drivers championship in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R, while Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia finished third in the driver standings in the No. 3 Corvette C6.R. Magnussen and Garcia won the Michelin Green X Challenge four times, securing the Green X GT manufacturer championship for Chevrolet. Corvette Racing also won the ALMS From the Fans award in popular voting.

The 2012 season saw Corvette Racing return to the championship-winning form that previously produced eight consecutive team and manufacturer titles and seven straight driver championships in the GT1 class. After a mid-season move to the fiercely competitive GT (formerly GT2) category in 2009, the team scored single ALMS victories in each of the following seasons. The introduction of new wide-body Corvette C6.R race cars and a realignment of the driver roster produced a dramatic turnaround in 2012.

“There may have been some in the sports car racing community who had questions about the capability and resolve of Corvette Racing after our initial struggles in GT,” said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing program manager. “I think 2012 answered those questions conclusively as Corvette Racing once again demonstrated its passion, its dedication, and its execution, thereby reaffirming Corvette’s standing as a championship-winning, world-class sports car.”

Many of the updates in the 2012 Corvette C6.R race cars were the result of changes in the GT class rules. The new Corvettes were two inches wider than the preceding version, with corresponding revisions in the bodywork and suspension to accommodate the increased track width. The rear wing was raised and the Corvettes’ 5.5-liter engines were outfitted with larger intake air restrictors in accordance with the GT regulations.

“The rule change that allowed wider bodywork and increased track width was a significant gain for us,” said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. “That was really what the car needed. Michelin developed tires specifically for the C6.R that worked well with the changes to the chassis. We spent considerable time in the wind tunnel and doing CFD simulations that improved the aerodynamics. The first time the drivers tested the new package, they were very happy.”

Corvette Racing’s revised driver lineup delivered a winning combination of youth and experience this season. Jan Magnussen and Tommy Milner traded seats, with Magnussen returning to the No. 3 Corvette C6.R alongside Antonio Garcia, who became a full-season driver after three years as third driver in endurance events. Corvette Racing’s “youth movement” accelerated with the addition of 21-year-old Jordan Taylor as third driver in the No. 3 Corvette for Sebring, Le Mans, and Road Atlanta. Milner joined Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R, with Richard Westbrook continuing his role as third driver in the three long-distance races.

The Anglo-American alliance of Gavin and Milner produced immediate results. After a third-place finish in the ALMS GT class at the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the pair scored back-to-back wins in Long Beach and Laguna Seca. A third at Lime Rock after the Le Mans break was followed in short order by another win at Mid-Ohio, a fourth at Road America, and a runner-up finish in Baltimore. The pair clinched the GT championship with a decisive victory at Virginia International Raceway in Gavin’s 100th career ALMS start. Even when things went wrong – a gearbox problem at Mosport, a broken steering rack at Road Atlanta – the No. 4 Corvette fought back and was running at the finish.

“This year has been the toughest and hardest championship in all of my years with Corvette Racing,” Gavin said. “The level of competition, whether it’s coming from Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, or our own teammates, has been phenomenal. We rose to the challenge, and a lot of that comes down to the fantastic crew working on the car. Tommy has been a great teammate and performed brilliantly, and that’s one of the reasons we won this championship.”

“This year has been special,” Milner said. “In 2011 we won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but we struggled a bit in ALMS. Then I got my first ALMS win at Long Beach, and that felt really good. This year we had the whole package, and it came down to being consistent and not making mistakes. It’s been great to be a part of the competition in the GT class, and I’m looking forward to more.”

It was boom-or-bust for the No. 3 Corvette in 2012. Magnussen, Garcia, and Taylor racked up the first of five runner-up finishes at the Sebring season-opener. Second-place finishes at Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, and Mosport kept Magnussen and Garcia in contention for second place in the driver standings going into the final round at Road Atlanta. First-lap incidents in Long Beach, Baltimore, and VIR, combined with late-race contact at Mid-Ohio and Road America, cost the Danish/Spanish pairing valuable points. The Petit Le Mans season finale was another heartbreaker, as the ESM Ferrari pulled off a risky fuel strategy to win the race over the fast-closing Corvette, leaving Magnussen and Garcia second at the checkered flag and third in the championship.

“All in all, it’s been a fantastic year, and we were very competitive at every race,” Magnussen said. “We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, most of the time. We were in with a shot at winning every race, but it was just one of those years. Corvette Racing has done a fantastic job on both cars, and I can’t wait for next year.”

“I learned a lot this year, and I appreciate all that the team did for me,” said Garcia after his first full season with Corvette Racing. “I’m proud that I have become part of Corvette Racing and the team knows they can rely on me. We will continue to learn and come back stronger next year.”

The Michelin Green X Challenge is a “race within a race” at every ALMS event that recognizes clean, fast and efficient performance to accelerate the development of new technologies and energy sources. Corvette Racing won the inaugural Michelin Green X Challenge at Road Atlanta in 2008. This year the No. 3 Corvette C6.R scored a quartet of Green X Challenge victories at Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Mosport, and Road America to capture the Green X Challenge GT team championship and secure the Green X GT manufacturer championship for Chevrolet.

Engine manager Dave Henninger and the GM Powertrain team developed the 5.5-liter Chevy small-block V-8 engines that proved to be powerful, reliable, and efficient through a long season without a single engine-related issue. Technical partners Mobil 1 and Michelin provided proprietary technology that minimized friction and rolling resistance, thereby improving overall performance in the Green X Challenge.

“In the sports car world, we are trying to deliver power, efficiency, and durability,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The Michelin Green X Challenge award addresses that area of efficiency. That’s important not only at the race track, but also with the production car today and tomorrow.”

ALMS fans showed their appreciation for the team’s performance on and off the track by casting their votes for Corvette Racing as having made the biggest contribution to sports car racing during the past year. Corvette Racing won the From the Fans award, the sixth time that the award has been given to the Chevrolet team or its members.

Corvette Racing drivers also enjoyed success in other venues in 2012. Westbrook scored three wins in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series driving a Corvette Daytona Prototype, two of them with Garcia as co-driver. Taylor tallied a win in the Grand-Am Rolex GT driving a Camaro, and Magnussen won the Danish Touring Car championship in a Camaro.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway on Saturday, March 16, 2013.

Corvette Racing 2012 ALMS Season Summary

• GT Manufacturer Champion: Chevrolet
• GT Team Champion: Corvette
• GT Driver Champions: Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner
• Michelin Green X Challenge GT Manufacturer Champion: Chevrolet
• Michelin Green X Challenge GT Team Champion: No. 3 Corvette C6.R, Jan Magnussen/ Antonio Garcia

No 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, Gavin/Milner/Westbrook

• 4 wins: Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, VIR
• 1 second: Baltimore
• 2 thirds: Sebring, Lime Rock
• 1 pole: Baltimore (Gavin)
• 3 fastest laps: Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Baltimore (Gavin)

No. 3 Corvette C6.R, Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor

• 5 seconds: Sebring, Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Mosport, Road Atlanta
• 1 pole: Mosport (Magnussen)
• 2 fastest laps: Road America (Magnussen), VIR (Garcia)

Source:
Corvette Racing
Photo Credits: ALMS.com

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No matter how you drive your Corvette, Corvette Specialties has the parts to make it look like new again.

The good folks up in Mounds View, Minnesota have been in business for more than 30 years, and they definitely know how to promote their store – with a rockin’ and rollin’ C3 cutaway Corvette that bares its soul to show off many of the parts they stock.

On this video, Corvette Specialties turns a driver loose in the parking lot at their business, and we have to say it was just loads of fun watching the car do donut after donut, so many in fact that even Dunkin probably would be a little jealous.

Corvette Specialties has a long and humble history in the Corvette parts business. Like so many others, the founder, a guy named Bob, operated out of his garage for a while before opening up a small storefront in an out-of-the-way industrial area, financing the move by selling his 1961 Corvette.

Since he had a reputation for knowing Corvettes and Corvette parts, he had enough business to keep him going. Here’s the part we like. In those early years, Bob even lived in the store to hold down overhead. Customers soon found out they could knock on his door and get Corvette parts any time of the night or day! A pretty impressive business plan, if we do say so.

The business continued to grow, prompting a couple of expansions, and finally Bob was successful enough to retire in 1998, handing it off to the current owners in early 1999.

Of course, some folks just don’t know a good time when they see it. The video says the business next door was getting ready to call the police just before they got through with all the fun.

Source:
Corvette Online

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The new Corvette will mean more than just an exciting new car for enthusiasts.

In Tonawanda, in the western part of New York, it will mean the creation of hundreds of jobs at the town’s General Motors engine assembly plant.

Officials announced this week that the Tonawanda plant will be the site where the C7 Corvette’s state-of-the-art LT1 V8 engine will be built starting early in 2013.

“We have done pretty much bread and butter engines for a while,” said Mary Ann Brown, plant communications manager. “We haven’t done a Corvette engine in a long, long time. We are very excited.”

The new Corvette engine will be anything but bread and butter. Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter says the powerplant will be the most powerful standard motor ever in a Corvette – with at least 450-hp.

The stage was actually set back in 2010 to build the LT1 engine, which is GM’s Generation 5 of small-block engines, when the company announced a $400 million expansion at the Tonawanda plant for renovations. That work included removal of old equipment and adding new technology along with laying down new concrete on the floor of the factory.

Building the engines will mean more than 710 jobs for Tonawanda.

“And we brought back 130 people from layoffs when the program started up,” Brown said. “No one is currently laid off.”

The engine will not only be very powerful with 0-60 times of 4 seconds, but it will also get more than 26 miles per gallon, with exact figures still pending.

Ironically, the Tonawanda plant built the first small-block Corvette engine in 1955. Five years later, V-8 power helped the Corvette secure its first racing victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Source:
Tonawanda-News.com/

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