Month: November 2011

Apparently this video went viral while I was incommunicado over the Thanksgiving holiday. Two Silver Corvettes, a C6 and C5, were lined up at a stop light in the Houston neighborhood of The Woodlands. The motorist behind the duo gets a bad feeling about what is going to happen when the lights go green and starts filming. Sure enough, the race ends badly for both drivers and cars and now police have issued warrants for their arrest.

These two drivers were irresponsible as hell to race on the busy public streets especially when the video shows kids on bikes crossing in front of them just prior to the light going green.

Police were called to the scene and we have a follow up thanks to Jalopnik who reports that one of the responding officers posted comments about the aftermath on LS1GTO. Here’s a few of those comments:

They both tried to tell me they weren’t racing. The C5 claimed to be pushing 600rwhp… He claimed he dumped the clutch and thats why he lost control. Lol.

[…]

Well, the driver on the left was 23 and called his parents immediately. As soon as we placed him in cuffs his mom started screaming to go to the hospital. So we sent him to the hospital and decided to cut the other guy loose due to the kid not going to jail. Warrants are being issued for both of their arrests now.

[…]

We recieved [sic] a 911 call (from a witness) saying that a major accident just accused and the other corvette was attempting to leave the scene. And the other vette wasn’t drivable. Due to it being a major accident, we have to investigate.

So even though Mommy got the kid off the hook at the scene, it looks like he will have to face the police for his recklessness. As for the C6 driver, threads at LS1TECH indicate he is a known parts scammer. So for him, what comes around, goes around.

We’re just glad no innocent bystanders were hurt and again point out the lessons learned from others mistakes: Don’t street race your Corvettes!

Source:
Jalopnik

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One of the marquee events of the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals was the Class of 1971 invitational display. This gathering celebrates muscle cars that turned 40 years old this year. Included among the Hemi ‘Cuda’s, Mustangs, and Chevelles were a batch of rare LS6 powered Corvettes. Check out all 2,125 horsepower in our exclusive photo gallery.

Chevrolet dropped the mighty 454ci LS6 engine on the automotive world for just one Corvette model year. For an additional $1,221 buyers got the thumping big block twisting out 475 ft-lbs of torque and 425 horsepower through its aluminum intake and cylinder heads. That’s just 5 less ponies and 51 more ft-lbs of torque than a 2011 base Corvette. The compression ratio was a relatively low 9:1 thanks to increasing attention on exhaust emissions and rising insurance premiums.

Just 188 total LS6 optioned Corvettes were born in 1971. That’s less than 1% of total production that year. The makes them more rare than the prized L88 Corvettes which had a 3 year production run. In the June 1971 issue of Car and Driver a LS6 Corvette with a M22 4 speed transmission and 3.36 rear gear cranked out a 0-60mph time of 5.3 seconds. After 12.7 seconds the speedometer was clicking past 100mph. It thundered through the quarter mile in 13.8 seconds at 104mph.

Only a handful of LS6 Corvettes show up at shows and auctions each year. At this year’s MCACN we were lucky enough to see 5 of them parked together in the Class of 1971 display. The collection was made up of 3 convertibles and 2 coupes covering 5 of the 10 colors available in 1971. They broke down as follows:

• Mille Miglia Red Convertible
• Nevada Silver convertible (Proteam Corvette)
• Classic White convertible
• Sunflower Yellow coupe
• Steel Cities Gray coupe

Seeing this many LS6’s in one spot was quite the experience. Check out of photo gallery below.

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MCACN 2011: Mid America’s Prototype C5 Corvettes
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It’s not very often that we get to take an up close and personal look at a prototype Corvette. Most all of them are either crushed or destroyed during development by GM although a few of them have slipped out the door in the past. Mid America Motorworks brought three rare C5 prototypes to the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals last weekend in Chicago. We poured over them a couple of times throughout the weekend and you can too after the jump.

Nestled among the gleaming show cars of MCACN, Mid America had their C5 prototypes still wearing the battle scars of their pasts. Representing the C5’s development were the CERV-IVb, an Alpha phase mule, and a Beta phase Mule. The CERV is the oldest of the trio and the most interesting. More on that one a little later. The Alpha and Beta cars are much more familiar to us as they more closely represent what ended up going into production.

The evolution in design is readily apparent between each of the models. Each car is covered with various labels identifying the cars and giving different warnings to would-be pilots. Gaps are uneven and many of the parts are crudely put together. The CERV is basically a modified C4. The Alpha car is rough and clearly a first attempt at a C5. The Beta car is much more evolved but still an obvious pre-production model. The Alpha and Beta cars both still wear their camouflage over the production bodywork. Hookups for data acquisition systems still reside under the hood and at other locations around each car.

We found ourselves most intrigued by the CERV-IVb. From a distance it looks pretty much like a regular C4 that’s led a long life. Once you get closer to it you notice several things that make it much more than a 4th generation Corvette. Thanks to the black paint and our low buck camera (we’ve asked Santa to bring us a new one), it may be hard to pick some of the C5 items on the C4. First, there’s the trunk door in the rear deck. When looking at the car from the rear you’ll notice that the haunches are wider, resembling those of a ZR-1. Look low on the rear end and you’ll see that the traditional C4 exhaust
cutouts are filled in and the exhaust now exits in the center of the car. There’s also the driver’s side mounted gas filler. Those with a keen eye will notice the lengthened wheelbase. Take a look at the distance between the rear of the doors and the rear wheel. It’s a good 4 or so inches longer than the standard C4. Upfront there’s the big open mouth below front bumper. Inside, the interior is a handmade cabin meant to propose what was to be next for Corvette. The gauge cluster looks to be from a late 90’s Camaro. Again the wounds from development and testing are evident all over the CERV-IVb.

All 3 cars are a fantastic glimpse into Corvette history. These are usually the cars we only see photos of and hear GM engineers tell is about. The trio now lives in the MY Garage collection at Mid America Motorworks. If you get the chance to see them in person take some time to study the nuances and see how much you recognize from the production C5’s in these prototypes.

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Article and Pictures contributed by Jason Giacchina / Corvette Forum

When it comes to the Corvette, custom looks can range from subtly menacing to downright gaudy. Fortunately companies like SS Vette fall firmly in the former category. As a result, even in this topsy-turvy economy, the company remains strong with an ever-expanding catalog of Vette parts and a presence at this year’s SEMA show.

We had an opportunity to talk with Don Claus of SS Vette to gain some insight on what it takes to not just survive these rough economic times, but to literally flourish in them. The formula begins with 20-years of experience in the automotive body construction business, and parts that are engineered to fit like GM’s OEM pieces.

Don says the SS Vette legacy started in September 2007 and unofficially began nearly a year earlier when he ordered a single 2007 Yellow Z06 (back in October of 2006). Don had been designing ram air hoods with APM Automotive and decided to break away to start a company that would focus entirely on body enhancements for the C6 platform.

What manifested were two extreme kits; one with a 3″ over rear and a 1.5″ over OEM spec. The goal was to maintain the uniquely “Corvette” look of the car while appealing to the more aggressive physically nature typically associated with high-end exotics. Don saw an immediate need for such a market; claiming that there were no shortage of performance companies popping up to focus on the C6 but very few body kit builders who weren’t overdoing it. The balance he sought would be closer to the OEM side of the fence with just enough custom appeal to command respect.

Opting to make conversions himself, Don initially posted his services on eBay and limited his marketing to friends and their forum posts. The tactic gained attention as before long a forum company offered to trade a kit for a campaign. Don obliged, realizing that search-engine-optimized forum posts showing off some of the extreme Corvettes he had built would be key to getting noticed. And noticed he was as vendors and shops began inquiring on stocking SS Vette’s kits.

Once the kits were distributed, Don decided the time had come to elevate the firm’s marketing strategy. With over $200,000 and 4-years invested in the business, Don has decided to become a part of the family here at Corvetteforum.com and while it’s too early to confirm just yet, there may even be a custom built C6 based on the Corvette Forum logo in SS Vette’s near future!

Source:
CorvetteForum.com

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