Month: August 2012

I didn’t have the opportunity to catch the last few minutes of the American Le Mans Series at Road America on Saturday as we were in Detroit for the Woodward Dream Cruise. But I knew something significant had happened to the Corvettes when my twitter feed for Corvette Racing blew up with folks asking what the heck happened at the very end. Well, we did some digging and here is what went down during those final minutes at Road America.

Our friends at BadBoyVettes.com have put together this recap that shows what the postions of the GT cars were when everything went to hell:

At the time of the Corvette/BMW incident the #56 BMW was in P4 and #4 Corvette was P5. The #45 Porsche and #3 Corvette had already gone by the #56 BMW. The #01 Ferrari was battling with the #4 Corvette in P5 at the time. (The order before the incidents: #55, #45, #3, #56, #4, #01)

After the incident the #01 Ferrari got past both the #56 BMW and #4 Corvette and got up to P4 (after #55, #45, #3, #01, #4, #48) then took out the #3 Corvette in P3 on the final corner (finish #55, #45, #01, #4, #48, #3).

All of that happened on the last lap.

Following the race, there were some questions if any of GT competitors would be penalized for the shenanigans in the final minutes of racing. However, the ALMS has officially finalized the results so they must have determined that both incidents were caused by racing and left it at that.

None of this made the live broadcast, but after the race, this replay was shown:

Oliver Gavin summed up the race on his website:

“Racing in a multi-class environment you’re always aware of other battles going on, and I make a big effort not to get in the way of faster cars coming through. Getting in the way of those battles can seriously affect the outcome of someone’s race result and, when there’s a five-car train such as we had in GT, every second counts. The last ten laps were a bit crazy and, to top it off, I had some unintentional contact with the No.56 BMW. We talked it through and shook hands on it after the race but you always prefer to have a clean race from start to finish. The ALMS doesn’t always deliver that though as it’s so tight at the front. Great for the fans though, and ultimately good for us in the points battle.”

And speaking of points, with the #4 Corvette C6.R finishing 4th in class at Road America, Gavin/Milner are still in the lead for the Drivers Championships and Corvette still leads the Manufacturer Championship:

Drivers Championship Rankings (points in parenthesis):

1. Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner (105)
2. Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia (88)
3. Dirk Muller (84)
4. Joey Hand (81)
5. Scott Sharp/Johannes Van Overbeek (80)
6. Jorg Muller/Bill Auberlen (75)
7. Patrick Long/Jorg Bergmeister (73)

Team Championship Rankings:

1. Corvette Racing (126)
2. BMW Team RLL (111)
3. Flying Lizard Motorsports (84)

Manufacturer Championship Rankings:

1. Chevrolet (126)
2. BMW (116)
3. Porsche (103)
4. Ferrari (100)

Tire Manufacturer Championship Rankings:

1. Michelin (140)
2. Dunlop (128)

Corvette Racing will be back in action on Saturday, September 1st for the 9th Round of the American Le Mans Series at the Baltimore Grand Prix.

Source:
BadBoyVettes.com

Related:
Corvettes Fourth and Sixth in Wild Finish at Road America
Corvettes Qualify Third and Fifth in Record-Smashing Qualifying Session
A Lap of Road America with Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner
Corvette Racing at Road America: A Celebration of Speed

 

If you were at the Woodward Dream Cruise over the weekend, you may have seen the 1958 Regal Turquoise Corvette that’s going on the auction block soon to help breathe new life into Detroit.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson had his 1958 Corvette on display at the Dream Cruise after earlier announcing that he’ll donate proceeds from the sale to Habitat for Humanity Detroit, which is trying to bring the Morningside Commons neighborhood on the city’s lower east side back to life.

No word yet on when the auction will be held, but you can get more details at www.facebook.com/corvette.

“A strong America is built on strong communities, and building those communities starts with one hammer, one nail and one person – and from there it’s contagious,” Akerson said. “My wife, Karin, and I want to see this effort to rebuild our headquarters city catch on, spread out and draw scores more volunteers and millions more in contributions.”

Already, he and his wife have donated $1 million to kick off “Leaders to Rebuild Detroit,” a three-year, $25 million plan to help at least 500 families in the neighborhood with house construction, rehabilitation, critical repairs and energy-efficiency upgrades.

Here are a few details about Akerson’s 1958 Corvette, which featured dual headlights for the first time along with new body panels, instrumental panel, and interior. Only 510 of the 9,168 Corvettes built that year were painted Regal Turquoise.

“The 1958 Corvette is a great example of American passion and ingenuity, and my hope is that the auction will help bring attention and resources to Habitat’s efforts to revitalize a historic Detroit neighborhood,” said Akerson. “I love this Corvette, and if putting it on the block can help rebuild the heart and soul of a neighborhood, I am all for it.”

Source:
General Motors

Related:
[PICS] The Corvette Timeline at the 2012 Woodward Dream Cruise
[PICS] 2012 Corvettes on Woodward Food Drive
[PICS] GM Design Team’s Personal Car Show on Woodward
2012 Corvettes on Woodward is Set for August 15-17

 

As presenting sponsor of the 2012 Woodward Dream Cruise, Chevrolet celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Corvette by showcasing a special timeline featuring milestone models of America’s Sports throughout its storied history.

The Corvette timeline was segmented by the six generations of Corvettes and the board behind the cars listed the significant developments that occurred during those years. Most of the Corvettes featured in the timeline came from the GM Heritage Center but there were also a lot of 2013 Corvettes on display as well.

Here are the Corvettes that were included in the 2012 Woodward Dream Cruise Corvette timeline:

• 1953 Convertible
• 1960 Convertible
• 1973 Coupe (Bill Mitchell Style Car)
• 1989 ZR-1
• 2006 Indy 500 Pace Car
• 2013 427 Convertible

• 1958 Convertible (GM CEO Akerson’s Corvette)
• 1963 Split-window Coupe
• 1967 Coupe w/ 427 V8
• 1969 Coupe
• 1984 Coupe
• 1997 Coupe (Serial #1)
• 2011 Grand Sport Brick Yard 500 Pace Car

Flanking the Corvette timeline were many examples of the 2013 Corvette lineup – Grand Sports, Z06s, 427s and ZR1′s were all around.

Click here to download a PDF of the Corvette Timeline.

Several members of the Corvette Team were on hand throughout the day as well as representatives from Chevrolet. Harlan Charles, Corvette’s Product Marketing Manager did interviews throughout the morning and we saw Exterior Design Engineer Kirk Bennion and Barbara Armbruster on site as well.

Here’s our photo gallery of the Corvette Timeline at the 2012 Woodward Dream Cruise:

Related:
[PICS] 2012 Corvettes on Woodward Food Drive
2012 Corvettes on Woodward is Set for August 15-17
[PICS] GM Design Team’s Personal Car Show on Woodward

 

Last week we told you about the annual Corvettes on Woodward food drive and all the support events that take place each year during the week preceding the Woodward Dream Cruise. With all the 2012 festivities now in the rearview mirror it’s time share some photos from Corvettes on Woodward’s biggest event, the 500+ Corvette cruise down world famous Woodward Avenue in metro Detroit to the Open Hands Food Pantry.

If you lined up all those Corvettes end-to-end that would equate into a line of cars nearly 3 miles long.

The annual Corvette cruise is held each year on the Wednesday night prior to the Woodward Dream Cruise. The event began with 75 cars in its first year and has blossomed into the event you can see in our gallery below. Numerous satellite events have been added in recent years including tours of local automotive landmarks like the GM Heritage Center, Katech Performance, the Ligenfelter Collection, and the GM Wixom Performance Build Center.

While wandering the staging parking lot for the Corvette cruise, we saw cars from all over the United States, Canada, and even Sweden. Yes, Sweden. The owner of fantastic silver 1968 restomod shipped both his C3 and himself over to participate in this year’s event. We saw license plates from Ohio, Texas, Florida, California, and several other states. Even the senior CorvetteBlogger himself, Keith Cornett, stopped in briefly for a special guest appearance.

The lot opened up for staging about noon last Wednesday. We rolled in about 5pm to find a parking lot that was already about ½ full. By the time the Bloomfield Hills Police arrived to assist in our departure, the lot was bursting at the seams with Corvettes ranging from C1′s to C6′s. Within minutes, 500 Corvettes were lined up 2-by-2 running down Michigan’s M-1.

By all accounts the 2012 Corvettes on Woodward food drive was another resounding success. A tip of the CorvetteBlogger hat goes out to organizer Larry Courtney and all of the owners that participated in this year’s food drive.

It’s never too early so start making your plans now to attend the 2013 version of Corvettes on Woodward. Meanwhile checkout our gallery below and keep an eye out for more of our coverage from the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Related:
2012 Corvettes on Woodward is Set for August 15-17
CorvetteBlogger.com Visits the GM Performance Build Center
CorvetteBlogger.com Visits the Lingenfelteer Collection

 

Could all the talk about the upcoming C7 Corvette be affecting prices of the C6 already?

That could be one interpretation of the latest information from cars.com, which is reporting that used late-model Corvettes depreciated the most of any car from July to August 2012.

Corvettes from the 2009 to 2011 model years dipped an average of 6 percent from July 1 to August 1, according to the website.

The average asking price for the Corvette was $55,608 on August 1, down a whopping $3,700 from just a month earlier.

Overall, prices for late-model used cars dropped nearly 1 percent from July to August, or an average of almost $200. However, 2012 continues to show a strong market for used cars, with the average price of $22,177 for 2009-2011 models on Aug. 1 up by $381 over the average on Jan. 1.

The Corvette wasn’t alone in its misery, though. Joining the Chevy with 6 percent price drops were the Ford E250 van, Pontiac G8 sedan, BMW 335i, Porsche Cayenne, and BMW 128i. The Cayenne dipped $3,299 for the month, and the 335i continues to plummet – dropping $2,232 this month after a $3,446 fall the month before.

The news wasn’t bad for all vehicles, however.

The Mercedes S-class and Jeep Grand Cherokee led all vehicles with a 7 percent increase from July to August, followed by a 5 percent increase for the GMC Yukon XL and 4 percent hikes for the Mini Cooper S and Chrysler Town & Country.

Source:
Kicking Tires

Related:
Corvette ZR1 Named One of the Top 5 Most Collectible Cars of the Future
July 2012 Corvette Sales
KBB Ranks the 2011 Corvette as Top Holiday Car Deal