Month: December 2012

A new, North Carolina-based tour company is offering a novel way to see Route 66 – by renting a classic car for the 2,400-mile trip.

If James Bond moved to America, he could have found a car worthy of his reputation at Cars of Dreams.

Saturday was a good day to own a late 1950s Cadillac. No less than three of them sold for more than $200,000 at RM’s no-reserve John Staluppi sale, led by a 1956 Cadillac Series 62 convertible that hammered for a whopping $299,750. If a 1956 Cadillac were ever to sell for that amount, one would expect it to be an Eldorado Biarritz or come with some … (more)

Witness this 1968 Chevrolet Corvette that has been transformed into a rolling monument to what some refer to as “The World’s Great Rock and Roll Band.” The Corvette and its matching caravan features caricatures of the band’s faces, as well as some of their famous album art and a slick drawing of Keith Richards banging away at his guitar.

Consumer Reports has released its annual Owner-Satisfaction survey, and for the second year in a row, top honors went to the Chevrolet Volt.

Chevrolet has announced some exciting additions to the MyLink Infotainment systems in upcoming models including a number of firsts for the company, voice recognition, and industry firsts like bringing an intelligent assistant that helps get things done just by asking.

Some of us are dreaming of a white Christmas. Others are dreaming of what the soon-to-be-unveiled C-7 will look like and how it will handle.

In this the most dreamiest time of the year and at the dawn of a new generation of Corvette designs, we cruise down memory lane with a variety of guest bloggers and their Corvette dreams.

These ‘Vette aficionados are not unlike Ralphie in “A Christmas Story,” who dreamed of owning an “Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!” Our “Red Ryder” is really a “red (or black, silver, yellow, you name it) rider.”

The following post features special guest blogger Clayton Mackey of Clarkston, MI. He  shares Part II of his series of three posts (read Part I here).

“In the early 1990s I moved to Michigan to work for a supplier for the auto industry. I learned that every January, Detroit hosts one of the industry’s premier auto shows — the North American International Auto Show (this year it runs Jan. 19-27).  I attended my first show in 1993. Cars gleamed, displays showcased exotic designs and the atmosphere was truly exciting.

As I walked to the Chevrolet display, something caught my eye. There was no hoopla surrounding it, nor a large platform to showcase it, but sure enough there was the most gorgeous black-on-black beauty I had ever seen — a ZR1. I sat in it and felt that it fit me like a glove. I remember thinking how I would like to drive that home. Then I got a look at the window sticker. Maybe I need to go back to dreaming about a base Corvette, I told myself.  

At about the same time, I was working on a transmitter design and was involved in testing our system for the new Corvette C5. I was able to see some of the development cars at  the General Motors proving grounds in Milford where we had access to a 1995 yellow coupe which we were using as a test vehicle for the new system. I had the chance to drive it occasionally. All of this certainly heightened my desire to purchase a Corvette. Sure I wanted a new C5, but my heart was set on that 40th anniversary coupe, plus I felt a used car would be more affordable.

By the fall of 1995, I started to look for a 40th anniversary coupe. I found one at a dealership. It was not as good as I had hoped for, and definitely needed tires.

1996 Collector Edition Coupe

Meanwhile, the dealership had the most gorgeous Collector Edition car in the showroom. I had to look at it, of course. It had the LT4 with 6 speeds and a light-gray interior. It had almost every option available and it was probably just what I would have ordered if I could have. At the time, my wife worked for a company that was partially owned by GM, so we qualified for employee pricing. We looked at leasing it for two years and that turned out to be more affordable than a used car,  so we jumped on it.

My dream had finally come true — I finally owned my first Corvette — a 1996 silver Collector Edition Coupe! It was early November … wouldn’t you know it, it snowed the day we brought it home. In a couple of days, after the snow disappeared, we took it out to take some pictures. After that it went into the garage — my garage — until spring.”

So Clayton’s dream came true. But how long does a ‘Vette fan keep his first ‘Vette and what’s he driving now? Check out Clayton’s third blog post next week.