September 2011 - Page 4 of 12 - C6Performance Journal

September 23, 2011

[VIDEO] Corvette Racing Tech Transfer: Headlights

Following last week’s Tech Transfer segment from Monterey that showed the flush mount headlights as a “technological” leap from track to street for Corvette, some people joked about it on twitter. Headlights are a technological transfer? Absolutely and we’ll tell you why.

But first, check out the latest Tech Transfer segment from Doug Fehan and Corvette Racing that aired during the 2011 ModSpace American Le Mans Series Monterey.

From 1963 to 2004, Corvettes were equipped with rollover/popup lights, a design that ran counter to aerodynamics. Corvette Racing knew this to be true and had the C5-Rs outfitted with custom flush mount headlights.

Fehan and company knew having the pop-up lights were a drag on how the Corvettes cut through the air when traveling at a high rate of speed, especially on the Mulsanne straight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Other factors for ditching the pop-up lights in favor of the flush mount lights were the savings in weight and less complexity, therefore, less likely to break at a crucial time.

In 2005, the new C6 Corvettes became the first Corvette model since 1962 to have the integrated headlamps and you can thank Corvette Racing for making it happen!

Sponsored By:

Bondurant School of High Performance Driving

September 23, 2011

GM’s Welburn talks C7 Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette has a long and storied past, but the car’s future remains on somewhat uncertain ground.

September 23, 2011

C7 Corvette Speculation

We have repeatedly stated our desire to keep everyone up to date on C7 Corvette speculation, as we encounter it. And, if you have an insight or rumor, please feel free to let us know.

Today, Chris Weiss, in this Motor Authority post, summarizes where we are at this point, and highlights the difficulties GM Styling has had in getting this awesome product ready for us. I quote:

"In a few years’ worth of rumors, the Chevy C7 Corvette has been a lot of things.

"It’s been a mid-engined coupe. It’s been a Stingray revival. It’s been an all-wheel drive. It’s been a turbo. If you could make a case that a given change or upgrade would make the Corvette slightly better, there’s probably been a rumor about it.

"For GM, the 2014 Corvette has been something different — a bit of a headache. GM Global Design chief Ed Welburn may never say it quite like that, but he did admit to Automotive News that redesigning a Corvette is a careful balancing act.

"Welburn said: ‘Everyone wants to design a Corvette, but it is hard work. You want it to be a new design, but it needs to be recognizable as a Corvette….You don’t want to be the guy who screwed it up.’

"Those comments, plus the fact that Welburn expressed some concern with the Vette‘s sagging sales, suggest that Chevy is ready to make a marked departure from the current Corvette. The company needs the model to have broader appeal to help the iconic muscle car rebound from its 12,624 sales last year–the lowest since the ’60s. It hopes to draw some younger buyers into Corvette seats, and perhaps add a little global appeal to the all-American sports car.

"Welburn’s past comments about a split-window rear and other styling cues reminiscent of the 1963 Stingray provide a piece of the puzzle. From there we know that the car will be ‘completely different,’ as described by GM North American boss Mark Reuss. It’s also believed Chevy will build a new platform for the C7 and make the sports car more inviting by upgrading the cabin with a better layout and materials.

"The latest reports nix past rumors of a mid-engine layout, stating that Corvette will retain a front-engine/RWD configuration. As to what powers the new car, some reports point to a traditional naturally aspirated engine and some point to a shrunken twin-turbo powerplant. (There are) still too many rumors to know for sure."

September 22, 2011

1969 BFG Stars & Stripes ZL1/L88 Racer Finds New Home at Proteam Corvette

Remember John Greenwood’s 1969 BF Goodrich Stars and Stripes ZL1/L88 racer that sold at RM’s Monterey auction for $638,000? Purchased by Terry Michaelis of Proteam Corvette, the ’69 BFG Corvette recently made its way home to the company’s Napoleon, Ohio facility. The former Le Mans race car will be the centerpiece of Proteam’s L88 collection which now numbers seven special production L88′s of the 216 produced between 1967-1969.

The BF Goodrich L88/ZL1 Greenwood race car may just be the most significant and storied of all the L88s that came from General Motors in those three years and its accomplishments in both racing and show awards are indisputable.

The #49 Stars and Stripes Corvette participated at 24 Hours of Le Mans setting a GT speed record of 215 mph on the Mulsanne straight during qualifying and ran the Daytona 24 Hour and 12 Hours of Sebring.

Show awards for the Greenwood racer include Best in Class at the Quail Motorsport â€™08 event, center display for the Corvette Racing Legends event at the Petersen Museum in â€™08, the Amelia Island Concours dâ€™Elegance, part of the Bloomington Gold Special Collection Grand Finale in â€™09, NCRS American Heritage Award in â€™09, center display at the National Corvette Museum for the Corvette Hall of Fame in â€™09, and most recently invited to celebrate Corvetteâ€™s first Lemans win at the Laguna ALMS race in â€™10.

Like any new Corvette would do, Terry took some pictures with the #49 BFG Stars and Stripes Corvette as soon as he got it home and even uploaded this video to Youtube so you can hear how good open headers sound from the ZL1 V8.

of the 216 L88 Corvettes produced during the three-year time frame, seven can be found in Proteam’s special L88 Collection. The Stars and Stripes racer will be joining other former L88 racers like the 1 of 1 1969 L88 COPO Corvette and Tony De Lorenzo’s 1967 L88 Convertible, the first L88 ever produced.

You can see the Corvettes in Terry’s special personal reserve collection at Proteam Corvette.

Source:
Proteam Corvette

September 22, 2011

Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas 2011: Corvette Auction Preview

Barrett-Jackson 2011: Corvette Auction Preview

Article contributed by Steve Burns

The Barrett-Jackson crew sets up shop in Sin City this weekend for their 4th annual Las Vegas sale. Nearly 50 Corvettes are set to cross the auction block between Thursday September 22nd and Saturday the 24th at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino as their 40th Anniversary tour winds down. Once again, SPEED will be providing 19.5 hours of live coverage. You can take a peek at a few of our favorites that will be changing hands this weekend after the break.

Continue reading “Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas 2011: Corvette Auction Preview”

September 22, 2011

Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas 2011: Corvette Auction Schedule

Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas: Corvette Auction Schedule

Barrett-Jackson returns to Mandalay Bay and Casino starting today for the 4th Annual Las Vegas Collector Car Auction. To make sure you don’t miss any of the action, we went through the car list and pulled out the schedule all the Corvettes that are slated to appear over the three day event.

We counted 46 Corvettes on the auction docket for this year’s Las Vegas event with 16 from the C3 generation, 12 C1s, 8 C2s, 6 C4s and 5 C5s. When the auction begins today, you’ll find just C3s and C5s going across the block with the C1-C2s and C5 Corvettes coming on Friday and Saturday.

SPEED will be covering all the action starting this weekend starting at 4:00 PM Eastern today and running through 11pm Eastern. Friday’s broadcast schedule is the same while Saturday gets underway at 5:30 PM Eastern and concludes at 11:00 PM Eastern.

Download the
2011 Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Corvette Schedule (PDF)

PREVIEW

LOT

YEAR

MODEL

STYLE

DATE

1976

CORVETTE

CUSTOM COUPE

SEPT 22

25.2

1994

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 22

1986

CORVETTE

COUPE

SEPT 22

39.1

1974

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 22

41.1

1996

CORVETTE

COLLECTOR’S EDITION COUPE

SEPT 22

71.2

1973

CORVETTE

CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 22

72.2

1996

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 22

1990

CORVETTE

ZR1 2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 22

87.2

2000

CORVETTE

CUSTOM COUPE

SEPT 22

103.1

1977

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 22

320

1979

CORVETTE

2 DOOR CUSTOM COUPE

SEPT 23

342

1972

CORVETTE

CUSTOM 2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 23

353.1

1968

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 23

355.2

1964

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 23

358

1969

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 23

364.1

1964

CORVETTE

COUPE

SEPT 23

366

1963

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 23

371.1

1971

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 23

372.1

1972

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 23

374

1954

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 23

376

1962

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 23

378.2

1969

CORVETTE

ZL1 RE-CREATION

SEPT 23

380.1

1969

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 23

404.1

1996

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 23

407.1

1968

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 23

620.1

1990

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 24

635.2

1961

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

651.1

1966

CORVETTE

2 DOOR CUSTOM COUPE

SEPT 24

651.2

1998

CORVETTE

50TH COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

SEPT 24

652

1961

CORVETTE

CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

656.2

1962

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

657

1957

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

658

1958

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

660.1

1970

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

660.2

1960

CORVETTE

CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

661.1

1957

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

664.1

1965

CORVETTE

ROADSTER

SEPT 24

667.1

1967

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

668.2

1957

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

671.1

2004

CORVETTE

CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

673.1

1962

CORVETTE

CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

673.2

1967

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

674

1968

CORVETTE

CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

677

1967

CORVETTE

CUSTOM COUPE

SEPT 24

693.2

1954

CORVETTE

CONVERTIBLE

SEPT 24

707

1972

CORVETTE

2 DOOR COUPE

SEPT 24

SPEED TV will be providing live gavel coverage beginning
Thursday, September 22nd. Here is the broadcast schedule:

Thursday, Sept 22	4:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Friday, Sept 23	4:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Saturday, Sept 24	5:30 pm – 11:00 pm

All Times are Eastern (EST).

Source:
Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction

September 22, 2011

Celebrity Choice Awards at Corvette Funfest

I had written previously that CorvetteBlog was going to the recent Corvette Funfest in Effingham, Illinois, so today I tell my story about being one of the Celebrity Choice Judges. I was honored with the cap (shown at the right) for my efforts.

On each of the main days of the event (Friday and Saturday), I was asked to peruse the thousands of Corvettes sitting before me to select a vehicle that "spoke" to me. How do you pick one among the thousands? So many roses…..

On Friday, I picked a gorgeous Crystal Red Metallic 2011 Callaway Grand Sport 4LT Convertible. Carol Gronemeier of East Alton, Illinois is the owner, and she and her husband, Fred, have done a great job of personalizing their Callaway. Callaways, of course, already have a lot of personality (with their 606 horsepower and other charms), but this one has additional nice touches under the hood, in the trunk, and throughout the car. See photo of Carol, host Mike Yager of Mid-America Motorworks, and me after the jump. Also pictured (at Carol’s left) is emcee Keith Martin, of the invaluable resource, Corvette Market Magazine.

On Saturday, I selected a Vette that had just driven many hard hours (through four rainstorms!) from the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. Ron Ledingham of Mannford is the owner of this Black 2009 Z06 with a contrasting Crystal Red Metallic stripe. Many of the members of Ron’s Corvette Club, the Tulsa Vette Set, have chrome-base CB whip antennas (from Mid-America Motorworks) on their cars, and a surround of chrome at the rear, highlighting the line between the rubber and the composite material. It makes a great look! Ron was really surprised (and pleased) that I had walked nearly to the back of the expansive fields to find his beauty. (Frankly, it was a long walk! Maybe Mike can have them parked closer together next year :). Photos below.

Carol above. Ron below.

Another look at Carols’ Callaway:

And another photo of Ron, with wife Patti, that shows off the stripe:

September 21, 2011

Ed Welburn: Donâ€™t Screw Up the Corvetteâ€™s Redesign

Ed Welburn: Don't Screw Up the Corvette's Redesign

General Motor’s Vice President of Global Design Ed Welburn recently spoke with Automotive News while he was in Frankfurt and the subject of the Corvette’s redesign came up. Specifically, Welburn talked about the difficulty in designing a new Corvette, which has 58 years of history and a very loyal fan base.

“Everyone wants to design a Corvette, but it is hard work,” Welburn said. “Finding that right balance” is a challenge, he added. “You want it to be a new design, but it needs to be recognizable as a Corvette.”

Welburn spoke with Automotive News while in Frankfurt for the 64th Annual IAA, better known as the Frankfurt Motor Show.

GM’s design chief said that the new Corvette must have a wider appeal while noting today’s Corvette was “nice” but “sales are very weak.” The redesigned Corvette will make “a bit of a shift to appeal to younger customers.” Welburn didn’t comment on what that appeal needed to be.

The next generation Corvette is expected to be ready in 2013 as a 2014 model year. As that date looms, there is an overriding thought in the back of Welburn’s mind:

“You don’t want to be the guy who screwed it up.”

You can see the entire article from Rick Kranz at Automotive News.

Source:
Automotive News

September 21, 2011

transition to transformation

While 2010 was a successful year of transition, 2011 has been a real opportunity for transformation for the new GM.

September 21, 2011

[VIDEO] Corvette Racing Series Episode 9: Corvette World Tribute

Welcome to the Corvette World Tribute, where Chevrolet’s supercar is celebrated by owners and drivers of all models, both on and off the track. In the ninth episode of Corvette Racingâ€™s Track to Street series, enthusiasts and racers of today and yesterday come together to celebrate their common passion – the Corvette.

Sponsored By:

Bondurant School of High Performance Driving

Source:
Corvette Racing