September 2013 - Page 19 of 21 - C6Performance Journal

September 5, 2013

Last Produced L88 Coupe Rolls to Auction

Up for auction through Mecum is a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette – but this isn’t any beautiful old ’69.

September 5, 2013

[PIC] Throwback Thursday: Motor Trend Tests the 1958 Corvette

It’s time for Throwback Thursday where we feature vintage photos of Corvettes. In 1958, Chevrolet rolled out a major update on its now five year old sports car and like the 2014 Corvette Stingray, the press was eager to get their hands on it to see what it could do.

Motor Trend was lucky to score three 1958 Corvettes which are shown here at Buttonwillow Raceway with the MT crew getting ready to put the car through its paces.

The introduction of the 1958 was met with mixed reviews from the press and public. The clean, simple lines of the previous year model, 1957, were completely changed. It was a sign of the times when chrome was the styling trend of the day. Some people loved the “glitz” while others complained the Corvette body styling was a disaster.

Performance was excellent with the 290 hp Corvette turning the Â¼ mile in 15.6 seconds, and the 0-60 mph was completed in 6.9 seconds. Top speed was reported to be in excess of 120 mph. The Corvette performance was compared to the Jaguar, Porsche and Ferrari (so what’s new?!), which were selling in the $10,000 range, approximately three times that of the Corvette. Magazine test results were excellent, as was the performance record on the racecar circuit.

Click here to see a larger version of Motor Trend testing the 1958 Corvette at Buttonwillow Raceway.

Do you have any vintage Corvette pictures to share? Let us know!

Source:
CorvetteBlogger @ Pinterest.com

September 5, 2013

[ACCIDENT] Stolen C4 Corvette Goes Airborne and Hits a House in Miami

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… Corvette?

Thatâ€™s one way to describe a high-speed chase involving a stolen C4 Corvette that left the ground before slamming into the wall of a house in Miami, Fla., late Tuesday night.

Richard Campbell said his home was already being foreclosed on, and now heâ€™s not sure if itâ€™s worth anything after being hit by the Corvette. He plans to move into an apartment with his dog, just glad to be alive.

“I was very fortunate because I do believe in the supernatural spirit and he allowed me to go back there and watch a movie instead of being in the kitchen,” Campbell said.

At first, after hearing the noise of the impact, Campbell was afraid the house was being swallowed by a sinkhole but soon realized a car had rammed into his house instead. In fact, a reporter for Miamiâ€™s NBC6 South Florida pointed out car parts still littering the ground outside the home, and his camera showed a headlight resting on the floor inside. Campbell said he saw someone in the car after the crash, but miraculously whoever was inside apparently survived and remains on the loose.

The pursuit started in Opa-locka when undercover officers spotted the stolen car near Northwest 15th Avenue and 62nd Street. Eventually, the Corvette bounced its way over railroad tracks and went airborne before striking the house near Northwest 17th Avenue and 74th Street.

“This vehicle became airborne as it went over a little hill, the railroad tracks, and once it became airborne, coming back on to the ground, it lost total control and started spinning out of control,” Miami Police spokesman Det. Willie Moreno said.

“This is amazing that the occupants inside this vehicle were able to flee on foot, and apparently didn’t receive any serious injuries,” Moreno said.

Police are looking for the occupant or occupants of the car and are asking anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

Click here to watch the video from NBC Miami of cops on the scene following the crash as well as an interview with the homeowner.

Source:
NBC Miami

September 5, 2013

[PICS] A Closer Look at the Interior of the 2014 Corvette Stingray

When we think about all the reviews we’ve seen about the new C7′s interior, we find the main focus is usually the seats or the configurable display that gets the most attention. But what about some of the more mundane features (if you can refer to anything on the Stingray as ‘mundane’) like the inside of the center console or where you plug in your cell phone?

Paul Pearson, is a Corvette Forum member (Talon90) who also works with the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. He recently posted these close up photos of the interior on the Corvette Forum which detail some of the creature comforts of the C7 including the various ways you can “plug” into the car for charging and or media.

Paul writes the following on the forum about these photos:

I haven’t seen a lot posted along these lines so I thought I’d share a few photos of the cup holder, the aux. power adapter, the hidden storage compartment and the center console and media slots. I have my iPhone in a couple of the photos as a frame of reference for size. This is an iPhone 5 in an Otterbox case. A few photos at the bottom of the other controls on the dash and a few of the rear compartment, the sub enclosure and the aux. plug for a trickle charger.

Here are some of the features to remember when looking at these photos:

The cup holder center divider is removable and it turns the two cup holders into one long slot perfect for sunglasses.
Inside the center console is where you can put an SD card filled with mp3s. There are also two USB plugs there as well as an auxiliary power plug.
Paul shows the hidden storage compartment with his iPhone 5 as a size reference.
The button next to the “open hatch” button is for arming and disarming the Intrusion and Inclination
alarm sensors.
The rear hatch shows an auxiliary power plug which is where you would plug in the CTEK battery tender.

As Paul says in his forum post, “Just something new to look at while we wait for our cars to be built.”

We’ve also got a video from Paul coming up shortly of the seminar he gave last week at the National Corvette Museum’s Anniversary Celebration. Paul demonstrated the Corvette’s Infotainment system which includes the award-winning Chevy MyLink system. Look for that seminar shortly.

Source:
Corvette Forum

September 5, 2013

Can the New 2014 Corvette Stingray Win Over Younger Drivers?

With the utmost respect to all Corvette enthusiasts young and old â€“ and without an ounce of malice â€“ I feel obligated to say that the current Chevy Corvette has an image problem…it is borderline irrelevant to younger buyers (designated as those under 40).

While the Corvette is generally understood to be a fast and capable sports car, there’s a variety of data to show that the Vette’ isn’t appealing to the younger generation. AutoWeek’s Andrew Stoy shared a variety of statistics on this fact earlier this year, and while I don’t agree with his conclusion, the data he’s cited is sound.

Can the new 2014 Stingray reverse the demographic trends? I believe it can. Here’s why.

Are Young Buyers Really Important?

When the Corvette’s demographics are discussed, enthusiasts are quick to point out that the supposedly “bad” demographics of Corvette buyers aren’t so different from those of Porsche buyers, at least anecdotally. If you drive down the street and spot a new 911 Turbo, odds are good the driver will be a man over 55. Many Vette’ loyalists cite this as proof that the Corvette’s youth problem is over-stated â€“ and that this discussion is less about the Vette’ and more about unjust media bias.

While I wholeheartedly agree that the mainstream automotive media has a bit of a problem with the Vette’ (after all, most automotive journalists are rewarded handsomely for piling praise onto European supercars, vehicles that the Corvette regularly outperforms), the notion that Porsche has the same demographic make-up as the Corvette is incorrect.

If you compare the 911 to the Corvette, the age difference is seemingly small â€“ the average 911 buyer is 53, the average Corvette buyer is 58. Yet the 911 isn’t the only product in Porscheâ€™s portfolio. If you look at the similarly priced (base model to base model) Porsche Boxster and Cayman, the age discrepancy is much larger. FlatSixes.com and USA Today report Boxster and Cayman buyers are in their mid-40′s (47 and 45, respectively) â€“ that’s a 12-14 year difference.

Comparing a base-model Corvette to a Cayman or Boxster in terms of performance, the vehicles aren’t in the same ballpark. The Vette’ offers more power, faster 0-60 and quarter mile times, and arguably better driving dynamics…and that’s the problem. Younger buyers are choosing to buy cars that offer inferior performance over the Corvette. That’s a flashing red indication of an image problem.

Image problems with younger buyers can be devastating, unfortunately, as demonstrated the incredible decline of Oldsmobile. While the Corvette is no Oldsmobile, the danger of an increasingly aging demographic is no small thing…which is precisely why GM has made appealing to younger buyers a priority.

Does the New Stingray Have What Younger Buyers Want?

Most people in the auto industry seem to agree that the “slacker generation” (of which I am a part) wants the following features in whatever car they buy:

Decadent interiors that look like they belong in a ultra-premium luxury car (like a Bentley)
Aggressive styling cues that demand attention
Advanced technology
Fuel efficiency
Powerful and advanced infotainment systems that make it easy for owners to “stay connected”

The new Stingray does a fantastic job of hitting all these notes. The new Stingray will feature the MyLink 2 system, which CNet.com named “Best of Show” at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The new Stingray’s aggressive exterior styling and beautiful interior have been well-received by most critics. Toss in the awesome new 6.2L V8 (a technological marvel) and an incredible 29mpg highway fuel economy rating, and you’ve got a winner, right?

While I agree that the features listed above are all desired by those under 40, I don’t think building a car with great features is enough. When anyone buys a sports car, they’re looking for sex appeal and fun. Sports car owners want to turn some heads, enjoy the confidence of driving a beast of a car, impress their friends, etc. These are the reasons sports cars exist in the first place.

Thus, the real key to the success of the new Stingray isn’t features and content so much as it is marketing. GM needs to put the Stingray in front of the younger generation and make them fall in love. Considering GM’s success marketing the Camaro â€“ a star of the Transformers movie series â€“ there’s every reason to believe the Stingray will catch on with “the kids.”

To that end, GM has worked to get the Stingray a starring role in the latest Transformers flick. They’ve also done a great job schmoozing the automotive media (so far), worked to place a digital version of the car in popular video games, made overtures to potential female buyers, and â€“ for better or worse â€“ worked to portray the new Vette’ as a luxury vehicle. They’re pulling out all the stops to market the Corvette, and that will be the key to the car’s success.

By any measure, the 2014 Corvette is worthy of envy and respect. If GM markets the new Stingray correctly, the image problem will be fixed.

Author Jason Lancaster is a life-long Corvette enthusiast who has been fortunate enough to spend a few exhilarating minutes behind the wheel of a Z06. Jason works with GMPartsOnline.net, a website that sells OEM Chevrolet parts online.

September 5, 2013

Driving Seven Generations of Corvette in One Day

It was a Corvette moment. Here we were on Carmel Valley Road, just over the hill from the Monterey Motorsports Reunion and the Pebble Beach concours, and Chevrolet had not only put all seven generations of the Corvette in front of us but also invited us to drive each one.

September 5, 2013

[VIDEO] The All New 2014 Corvette Stingray Driven by Johnny Oâ€™Connell

Via CorvetteVideos.TV

The all new 2014 Corvette Stingray driven by Corvette Hall of Fame racer Johnny Oâ€™Connell at Laguna Seca Raceway. Enjoy the ride!

Visit CorvetteVideos.TV for the best selection of hand-picked Corvette videos.

September 4, 2013

Stolen 1962 Corvette Back Home With Owner

Pat Monahan is no stranger to hard work, especially after restoring a 1962 red Corvette over the past 20 years.

That’s why it is no surprise that after his prized ’62 Corvette was stolen last month during the Monterey Peninsula’s Classic Car Week, Monahan decided to go to work the best way he knew and began plastering the Internet with information about the missing car.

The efforts paid off last week when he got a call from a San Jose man who had noticed a classic red Corvette parked near his house for about a week. The man’s nephew told him it looked like a stolen car he had seen on the Internet and urged him to call Monahan.

“I couldn’t believe it when I viewed the picture,” Monahan said. “I knew (immediately), that it was our car! I was stunned!!! I never thought we would see the car again. The power of the Internet, and specifically this Corvette Forum, has proven to be the ticket for the return of our car.”

He believes the cyber heat proved to be too much for the thieves.

“This car was posted everywhere!” he said. “Several newspapers as well as the Cruisin News of which Mr. John Sweeney graciously placed a half-page ad to assist for the search of our Corvette!”

Monahan expressed thanks to the man and his nephew for helping him get the car back. The uncle said he only wanted to drive the Corvette around the block as a reward, but Monahan plans to go further, letting both of the men drive the car. “Then at the very least I want to treat you guys and your family members to a dinner of your choice at Original Joe’s!” he said in a post.

Monahan also thanked all who helped with posting and re-posting his threads throughout the Internet world. “Of course, none of this would be possible without the assistance of friends, and more specifically Les and Kathy Nunes for spending a vast amount of their time forwarding emails, contacting and conferring with several different agencies,” he said.

Monahan’s car was stolen Aug. 17 outside a bed and breakfast where he and his wife, Terry, were staying. Two hours after he got the uplifting call from the uncle Friday night, Monahan was on his way to San Jose with a trailer and picked up his ‘Vette at 2 a.m. Saturday after getting the OK from local police.

Unfortunately, the car is not in the pristine shape it was when the thieves first took it.

“It’s actually in pretty rough shape,” Monahan says. “The thieves must have decided to use it as an off road vehicle. There are several scrapes and damage under the vehicle itself. The car also has several visible scratches and scrapes around the entire body of the vehicle.”

The custom hardtop is missing, and the ignition is punched out. Some kind of liquid was poured all over the car inside and out.

But, “bottom line is that it’s great to have our Corvette back,” Monahan says. “There’s nothing that can’t be repaired on the vehicle. They did take our hardtop, so I’ll be watching for that on the Craig’s List site, as well as Ebay.”

In summary, “just as I used to say as a fire captain, independently we are nothing, collectively we become a force that can overcome most all challenges!” Monahan says. “It’s due to the collective efforts of all here (friends and strangers alike), we were able to overcome what I thought was the impossible!”

Source:
Monterey Herald and The Corvette Forum

September 4, 2013

Corvette Auction Preview: Mecum Offers Museum Quality Corvettes in Dallas

Right on the heels of his successful Monterey event which generated over $31M in sales, Dana Mecum is headed to the Lone Star state to host another auction extravaganza, September 4th through the 7th.

September 4, 2013

GM reports sales increase in August

Detroit-based General Motors Co. sold 275,847 vehicles in the United States in August, up 15 percent compared with a year ago.