Month: July 2011

Fans can vote for their favorite Chevy of all times Local Centennial events and activities to engage owners and fans worldwide DETROIT – Chevrolet will celebrate the countdown to its 100th birthday on November 3 by encouraging its customers and fans to tell their Chevy stories, vote for their favorite Chevrolet cars and trucks, and take the …

We all know Corvettes are named after a “speedy ship” and we also know they make pretty lousy boats. Just ask Mark Weiss who watched helplessly Thursday evening as his classic 1962 Corvette rolled down an embankment and submerged in Mead Pond in New Canaan, CT.

According to Weiss, he was out for a drive when the car started experience problems with the battery. He had parked the white ‘62 Corvette near a wall boardering the pond and was speaking with a friend when he noticed his car beginning a slow roll down the embankment and into the water. Weiss states that he must have left the car in neutral or bumped it out of gear for it to get away from him.

The local fire department was called to the scene and divers attached tow truck hook to the car and were able to retrieve it from the pond.

Source:
NCAdvertiser.com and TheDailyNewCanaan.com

Related:
[ACCIDENTS] C4 Corvette Hits Patch of Ice, Lands in Pool
Stolen C5 Corvette Sent to Watery Grave
Rented Corvette Gets Driven into the Pacific Ocean

 

All right Corvette fans, time to set your DVRs. Top Gear USA just kicked off its second season last week and in Sunday’s episode, Tanner and Adam get to drive two automotive legends: A Corvette ZR1 and a Ferrari 458. The duo decides to have a race to establish supremacy and the Stig shows up in dramatic fashion as Round Two is decided on the Top Gear test track.

Top Gear USA airs on the History Channel on Sunday at 10 pm Eastern. Past episodes can be viewed at History.com.

Here is the episode description from History:

In episode two, airing this Sunday, the boys set out to see who had the best first car– by purchasing the same jalopies they drove in high school. If you’re looking for proof that conditioning during adolescence determines adult predilections, look no further than their first cars: Adam drove a Dodge Aries K, beginning his lifelong love affair with vehicles American and often mediocre; Tanner a sporty and foreign Honda CRX; Rutledge poked around in a rare, slow and predictably quirky VW Rabbit diesel pickup. The producers set them a series of challenges employing cock trophies, mini-mes and utter mayhem to somehow test important first-car traits like build quality, drivability and crashworthiness.

Later, Adam and Tanner jump behind the wheels of the automotive legends they dreamed of driving at 16 years old: A Corvette and a Ferrari. Adam takes large gulps of the ZR1′s 638 supercharged horsepower while Tanner meditates about all that is right with the Ferrari 458 – everything – before the two decide that like all schoolyard rivalries, a race is required to establish supremacy. To make things fair, round two is decided on the Top Gear test track by none other than a dramatically-arriving Stig.

Austin “Chumlee” Russell and Rick Harrison from History’s hit TV show Pawn Stars sit down with Rutledge to discuss the machinery that has wheeled through their shop and lives in Las Vegas. Next we see whether their fast talking translates to fast driving when they hit the Top Gear track for what the ‘Mericans like to call Big Star, Small Car, featuring the modest talents of a Suzuki SX4.

Source:
History.com

Related:
DVR Alert: SPEED’s My Classic Car to Feature 2 Corvettes
C3 Corvettes to be Featured on SPEED’s CAR WARRIORS

 

One of the most exciting upcoming production cars is Chevrolet’s ZL1 Camaro. Named after the previous “most powerful” Camaro, built in 1969, it seeks to compete with the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.

Article and photos contributed by Steve Burns

As part of the NCRS national convention last week we were able to participate in a tour of GM’s Performance Build Center. The facility is located about an hour northwest of Detroit in Wixom, MI. The low-volume plant hand assembles all of the dry sump motors for Corvettes. Previously, they also made the powerplants for the Cadillac STS-V and XLR-V. You can learn more about this unique facility and take a photo tour with us after the break.

The GM Performance Build Center (PBC) is a 100,000 square foot facility that houses 26 employees. During development its setup was benchmarked against Mercedes’ AMG tuner brand and NASCAR’s Hendrick motorsports. Before entering the build floor, visitors are greeted by an early pilot Z06 (with an EX VIN) and the first “series 2 VIN #1” ZR1 built in 2009. (We’re stilled confused by what that actually means) The 2 cars are front and center in the glass-front main lobby which is also adorned by the motors which are built there. In between the main lobby and the plant itself is a small glass walled atrium. During our visit the LeMans winning motor out of the #3 C6R Corvette was on display in this room. If you follow us on Twitter you got a peek at this motor last week. Our tour guide mentioned that all of the other LeMans motors had already been torn down.

Currently they are working 4-10 hour shifts Monday through Thursday each week. The plant utilizes 3 assembly lines to produce Corvette engines. One line is dedicated to the Z06’s LS7 and the ZR1’s LS9. The 2nd line also produces LS7’s as well as the LS3’s that go into the 6 speed Grand Sport coupes. The third line is reserved for the Corvette Engine Build Experience. As of today the PBC has hosted a total of 16 owners who wanted to build there own engines. Each of the owner-builders has their photos placed on a wall near the entrance to the production floor.

The assembly process takes about 3-4 hours per motor and 1 person builds the engine from start to finish. Our guide mentioned that most of the builders have 30-40 years experience at GM and that absenteeism is a non-issue at the PBC. Each builder’s name goes on the engine so owners can see who built the heart of their Corvette. During our tour owners of PBC-built motors were also able to meet the person who assembled their LS3, LS7, or LS9.

After each motor is built it goes through a series of tests to makes sure it’s ready to go to Bowling Green. If there’s an issue found the engine gets repaired as needed, retested, and then it’s off on its way to Kentucky.

The Performance Build Center is truly a unique low volume build facility. If you or your club is ever in the area you can contact them for a tour. It’s something you’ll definitely want to check out. In the meantime you can check some photos from our tour below or peruse the GM Performance Build Center website.

Related:
[VIDEO] Hotlap with Jim Mero in a Corvette ZR1 at GM’s Milford Proving Ground
2011 NCRS National Convention Invades the Motor City
GM To Allow Owners To Build Their Own Corvette Engine

 

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A 2011 Corvette Grand Sport Coupe will serve as the Pace Car for Sunday’s Brickyard 400. This is the 18th consecutive year that Chevy will be pacing the event and it’s at least the sixth straight year that the pace car was a Corvette. The Supersonic Blue Corvette Grand Sport Coupe was unveiled Friday morning in front of a throng of fans visiting the Indianapolis motor speedway for Chevy Day.

Chevy drivers Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray had the honors of pulling back the cover to reveal the Supersonic Blue Grand Sport Coupe. A winner of a local radio station contest also participated in the unveiling.

The Corvette Grand Sport appears to be Supersonic Blue with a White or Silver hood stripe and red Grand Sport hash marks. A Chevy bowtie is affixed to the roof just in front of the Pace Car’s light bar.

Although official (ie staged) photos have yet to be made available that really shows off the Corvette Grand Sport pace car, we do have these from Friday’s unveiling:

Update: New Pics Added

“The fans are the most important reason why we do things like this, so unveiling the 2011 Brickyard 400 pace car at our fan display at the track simply made sense,” said Jeff Chew, Chevy Racing Marketing Manager. “The fans were the very first to see the 2011 Corvette Grand Sport that will bring the field to the green flag on Sunday.”

Driving the Pace Car on Sunday will be Hope Solo, goalie for the U.S. Women’s soccer team. Hope becomes just the third woman to pilot a pace car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and is the first woman to do so for the Brickyard 400.

The green flag for the 18th Brickyard 400 is Sunday at 1pm Eastern. The race covers 400 miles, 160 laps on the famous 2.5-mile oval. It attracts among the largest crowds of any Sprint Cup Series event.

Source:
Brickyard 400

Related:
Corvette Grand Sport to Pace the Brickyard 400
GM Goes Green with Brickyard 400 Corvette Pace Car
Corvette Z06 Pace Car Leads the Pack at NASCAR’s Allstate 400
Official Photos of the Allstate 400 Corvette Z06 Pace Car
Update: Official Photos of the Allstate 400 Corvette Z06 Pace Car
Z06 Corvette to Pace Brickyard 400

 

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme announces today’s launch of its Million Dollar Raffle fundraiser.

Called the Green Zone, this initiative aims to provide Chevrole t dealers with “added flexibility when it comes to charging their vehicles, while also reinforcing GM’s commitment to renewable energy projects,” says Chris Perry, vice-president of global Chevrolet marketing and strategy.

High-horsepower performance in a convertible? John Smeelen’s ’06 C6 has it. For Corvette lovers wanting to seriously upgrade their ride’s performance, a coupe is usually the only way to go.