Month: September 2012

Car and Driver Technical Editor Michael Austin recently put Chevrolet’s best Corvettes – the ZR1 and the Z06 – against one another, giving us what he loves about the Corvette but at the same time telling us what it needs to do to remain relevant as it enters its seventh generation.

He recently pushed the two flagship Corvettes to their limits at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway in Desert Center, California and came away impressed but at the same disappointed.

“The ZR1 has always been kind of a showpiece,” Austin says. “It’s the car you want for Woodward Avenue or any stoplight races, and yeah, it’s quicker and faster than the Z06. But it’s just kind of a little bit of flaunting, like you know you’ve got this clear lens on the hood that shows plastic and the top of the intercooler which is really showing nothing really. It’s a lot like wearing transparent pants. When you’re packing this much power, you don’t need transparent pants – people are gonna know.”

Austin actually prefers the less expensive Z06. “It’s a little bit lighter,” he says. “The engine feels more responsive. Some of that’s just the noise it makes; it revs higher and it seems like when you put your foot down, the throttle is a lot more meaty.”

In fact, he says, “that’s what makes the Z06 my favorite Corvette, because it just has this noise all the time. It makes you always want to floor it and let off real quick and hear that cackle from the exhaust.”

Austin believes the Z06 is a better value than the ZR1. “Its base price is $76,575, which is not really a number you associate with value, but it’s a lot less than the ZR1,” he says.

However, by the time you check all the option boxes on a Z06, get ready for sticker shock, according to Austin. “It’s got the ZR1-style carbon body kit, has the carbon ceramic brakes, it has the magnetic ride performance management, all told it’s like $24,000 worth of options. Hmmmm, a $100,000 Z06 is a little iffy.”

Austin believes the exterior of the highly anticipated next generation of the Corvette won’t be radically different, but he’s hoping the interior is.

“The Corvette always gets benchmarked against cars like the Porsche Carrera and the Nissan GT-R, which are way more expensive, but still you can’t help but make the comparison,” Austin says. “And that’s one place the Corvette has always fallen short.”

And at least one more time before the C7 comes out, a magazine writer has to complain about the Corvette’s seats, calling them “really, really terrible.” Austin also hates the “relic” of a radio in the C6.

Besides “newer, better” seats in the C7 and an improved entertainment system, Austin predicts “a lot more room” in the center tunnel and “maybe even a little more” storage in the center console.

Austin even believes this may be the last of the mighty ZR1s. “We’re not even sure if it’s gonna come back, and I’m gonna make the most of the time I have left in the ZR1, doing mostly stupid stuff.”

Source:
Car and Driver on YouTube

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Vicari Auction Company announced that they will offer over 400 collector cars at their 16th annual Biloxi event October 12th and 13th 2012 held during the week-long Cruisin’ the Coast car show. About a dozen Corvettes will cross the block including a 1969 Coupe with an M Code engine block. What’s an M Code Corvette you ask? Give an electronic fist bump to the Read More button below to find out.

We weren’t really sure what this “M Code” actually was so we did some quick internet sleuthing to find out more. We stumbled across a couple of interesting discussion threads relative to these unique engine blocks that are populated with all sorts of useful nuggets of information. One thread was found on the Corvette Forum and the other was on the NCRS Technical Discussion board.

According to documents presented in the NCRS discussion thread, M Coded blocks were those made after process changes had been made in the casting tools and/or process. They were inspected after molding and either rejected or accepted. Acceptable blocks headed off to the Corvette assembly plant as part of normal production.

In a letter penned by Roger Wilson from the Saginaw Metal Casting Operations he states that the “M” tags could be used for several reasons including:

• Tooling changes (cope, drag, etc.)
• Use of a new core box as they wore over the course of production and had to be replaced
• Changes in the molding process (temperatures, pressures, sand changes, etc.)
• Engineering changes

So basically the M Code designates that this Corvette’s engine block was produced shortly after some sort of change to the engine block, block forming process, or block tooling.

According to the auction listing there are 12 known Corvettes with an M Code engine block. This white on blue coupe is 1 of 2 known 1969 M Code cars. The M39 coded engine is a matching numbers 350/350 mated to a 4-speed transmission. Other optional content includes power windows and brakes, air conditioning, and the tilt and telescoping steering wheel.

These documents were posted on the NCRS Technical Forum help explain the the M code. They are not related to this specific car other than for explaining the M Code.

So is this Corvette worth more due to its M Code engine block? We’re not really sure that it is, but we’ll let the bidders make that call next month in Biloxi. It is definitely unique and certainly makes for a cool story about the car. And odds are that your neighbor’s 1969 Corvette doesn’t have a M Coded engine block between the front fenders.

The Vicari Biloxi auction takes place October 12th and 13th 2012, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center in Biloxi, Miss. General admission to the auction is $12.50 each day.

Source:
Vicari
NCRS

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A torrential rain storm in Sullivan County New York last week sent a flash flood down Cattail Creek in the area known as Livingston Manor. In addition to taking out several bridges and causing residents to scramble for higher ground, the flood waters cut a new path under the garage of Ted Baer, sending his pristine 1991 Corvette down the creek.

As the waters began receding the next day, the Corvette was spotted about 500 yards downstream laying upside down with just its front tire protruding from the creek. Prestige Towing of Monticello was dispatched to pull the Corvette from its watery grave and the extraction caused a small group of residents to gather as they watched the tow truck operator fight the water and felled trees to bring the Corvette onto the bank.

“The car was in mint condition. He [Baer] washed it every week and he named her Cleo,” Baer’s next-door neighbor David Misner told the Sullivan County Democrat.

The Corvette looks to be a total loss and Baer also lost his garage to the flood as well. Fortunately, there no injuries reported following last week’s storm. That’s good news considering the area has a history of flooding after torrential rains. In 2006, a 15 year old girl died when her house was washed away.

Source:
Sullivan County Democrat and Youtube.com

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The first hearing in a battle to determine who owns one of three 1960 Corvette race cars will be held today in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, Pa.

Two of the classic race cars have already been restored and are estimated to be worth at least a million dollars each. But the No.1 Corvette, which was driven by Briggs Cunningham in the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, had been missing for nearly 30 years.

It resurfaced this year when Pamela Carr of Florida sold it for $75,000 to Lance Miller, co-owner of Carlisle Events in Carlisle, Pa. Miller promptly sold the car for the same price to renowned Corvette restorer Kevin Mackay.

However, a Florida man named Dan Mathis Jr. came forward at Carlisle, holding a title to the car issued in Florida on Aug. 17, 2012, and claiming that the Corvette had been stolen from his father in the 1970s.

In Thursday’s hearing, Mathis is asking that the car be returned to him while questions over its ownership are answered. Named as defendants in his lawsuit, filed Sept. 7, are Miller, his mother, his business partners, Mackay, Carlisle Events, and the Borough of Carlisle.

Ten days earlier, Miller and Mackay had also filed suit – against Mathis and two other men, seeking to have Mackay declared owner of the car and monetary damages for disparagement, defamation, and interference with business.

The car had been stored in a warehouse along with other items collected by Carr’s husband, retired Florida judge Richard Carr, who died in 2010. It was shown at a private event at Corvettes at Carlisle in August, but a planned public unveiling there was canceled by Miller at the last minute.

Mackay’s efforts to find the Corvette racers dates back to the early 1990s when he hired a private investigator to search for them. He was able to get the VINs and actually found car No. 3 and restored it for Lance Miller’s father, Chip, whose efforts to find and restore car No. 3 were turned into a movie called The Quest. Chip passed away in 2004, but his dying wish was for Mackay to get car No. 1 if it ever surfaced.

Source:
Autoweek.com

Related:
Miller and Carr Respond to Ownership Dispute Surrounding the No. 1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvette
Florida Man Claims Ownership of the 1960 No.1 Briggs Cunningham Corvette
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[PICS] The #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette Revealed at Corvettes at Carlisle