Corvette Museum to Start Removing Corvettes from Sinkhole Next Week

Corvette Museum to Start Removing Corvettes from Sinkhole Next Week

The National Corvette Museum issued another update regarding the Sinkhole in the Sky Dome yesterday and the good news is that we may see the first three Corvettes extracted from the hole as early as next week.

Providing the latest update is Mike Murphy with Scott, Murphy and Daniel, the construction management company that was hired to help with the extraction and repairs of the structure.

This week the company finished borings into the sky dome floor to insure there was no immediate danger of another collapse as well to study the ability of the remaining floor to be able to hold some of the heavy equipment needed to extract the Corvettes. Since all the date returned positive readings, the first crane was guided into the Sky Dome through a hole in the side of the building yesterday.

Mike refers to the extraction of the Corvettes as “Operation Corvette Plus” with the plus signifying the altitude the corvettes will be going
as they are lifted out of the hole.

If all goes as planned, the extraction of the first three Corvettes will begin on Monday with the goal to recover all three cars by Wednesday. The 2009 Corvette Blue Devil ZR1 will be the first car to be extracted followed by the Black 1962 Corvette roadster and then the 40th Anniversary Corvette.

According to Mike Murphy, although the 1962 Corvette looks to be an easy get based on its upright position, because that 5-ton slap of concrete is resting against the front the car, they will be lifting both the car and the slab of concrete simultaneously.

The NCM will be allowing selected media to document the extraction process and we’ll be following all the action on the live Sky Dome webcam.

Here’s video of the first crane entering the Sky Dome:

Source:
National Corvette Museum

Related:
Donate Now to the National Corvette Museum
Corvette Museum Making the Best of the Sinkhole Situation
Work Begins to Repair the Sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum
These are the Eight Corvettes that Fell into the Corvette Museum’s Sinkhole
A Sinkhole Under the National Corvette Museum Opens and Swallows 8 Corvettes

 

Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance

Sometimes you just can’t see the forest for the trees.

That was certainly the case for Ken Heckert, owner of a restoration shop, and Chip Miller, founder of what is now known as Carlisle Events.

Both those gentlemen were very familiar with Corvettes, but back in 1974 at an event called Post War ’74 (now Fall Carlisle), they discovered what they thought was just a regular old Corvette race car that they could bang around in. Little did they know…

Eventually the two men moved on to other toys and the “regular old Corvette race car” was pulled off to the side of Heckert’s warehouse, where it was covered with a sheet and became the bottom of a table used for work space.

Fast forward a few years later, and Miller decided to see if he could find a cool Corvette race car he had heard about from the 1950s that became known as the Purple People Eater, driven by Florida-based driver Jim Jeffords, who singlehandedly ended the West Coast’s domination of Corvette racing late in that decade.

Jeffords and his purple Nickey Chevrolet had proven nearly unbeatable during the 1958/1959 racing seasons, earning the nickname of Purple People Eater.

Miller decided that he wanted to find and restore this important part of Corvette history. After consulting with enthusiasts and other Corvette experts, though, he decided he already owned the car – the one that was serving as the bottom of a work space!

Thus began a restoration project that brought the historic Corvette back to its glory days – complete with the purple paint job with white coves, a white circle on each side and hood with black numbers, as well as original graphics and designs.

You’ll have the opportunity to see this truly one-of-a-kind Corvette during the entire weekend at the annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance event, set for March 7-9 at the Ritz-Carlton and Golf Club of Amelia Island, Fla. Even better, Miller’s son, Lance, co-owner of Carlisle Events, will be onsite with the car.

Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance
Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance
Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance
Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance
Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Vintage Purple People Eater Corvette Racer to be Displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance

Source:
Carlisle Events

Related:
Corvettes on eBay: 1958 Corvette SVRA Vintage Racecar
[PIC] Throwback Thursday: 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer with the 1956 Corvette SS
1967 Corvette Le Mans Racer Serves as Inspiration for Monterey Reunion Poster

 

[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage

[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage

Last week and into the early part of this week, we had the unique opportunity to host a seven day test drive of the 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible. One of the benefits of living in Florida is the beautiful weather we have this time of year and so we put the Lime Rock Green Convertible’s top down and never looked back.

Our test car was a nearly loaded Z51 Convertible with all the fun options checked. On the outside the Corvette rocked the Lime Rock Green metallic paint and it was complimented by a Kalahari convertible top. On the inside we had a 3LT Kalahari interior with the suede microfiber upper trim package and suede inserts on the standard GT seats. About the only thing missing on this car was the FAY Carbon Fiber dash trim as our test car came with the black surround.

As far as performance options go, this baby had them all. The Z51 Package brings the Performance Suspension with the Dry Sump oil system, Electronic Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) and the larger brakes and 19″/20″ wheels. Optional equipment included the Magnetic Selective Ride Control ($1,795), a 6-speed Automatic Transmission with paddle shifters ($1,350) and the Multi-Mode Performance Exhaust ($1,195).

All together, the total vehicle price as displayed on the test car’s window sticker came to $73,525 which includes the $995 destination charge.

Despite our previous drives of the Corvette Stingray, it still took us a good day or so to master the controls and the display. Because this was a test car, someone else had customized the settings and it was driving us nuts as changing the Drive Mode Selector on the console wasn’t changing the display from the Sport mode with the large circular tachometer, even when the car was in Track or Touring mode. Finally we found the settings for the linking the display to the drive mode selector and after that we were set.

Driving the 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible is an absolute dream. The car is very responsive and reacts well both on city streets and the highway. As the driver, you are completely wrapped in the cockpit of the car. The comfort level is extremely high, even on longer road trips. One of my favorite “driver comfort” features of the Stingray is the standard seat cooling fans. You put these on while driving and you no longer get out of the car with the back of your shirt being sweaty and wet.

One of the conveniences I really enjoyed was the ability to use voice commands. With my iPhone hooked up to the car via bluetooth I could make and receive calls just from hitting the Voice button on the steering wheel. The Navigation system also responds to voice commands so while you are driving you can input a destination by saying the address.

There’s a ton of cool technology in the car too and some you’ll use more than others. One feature we just started to play with before turning in the car was the built in timer. By default, its set for 0-60 mph and from a dead stop it will tell you how long it took to go 60 mph. Those numbers can be changed so if you’re at the track, you can set it for 0-100 MPH or whatever arbitrary number you want.

In our seven day test, we managed to get in over 1,000 miles of driving on the car (with an average 22.7 mpg fuel economy), which explains why we haven’t been posting blogs with our normal frequency. In addition to road trip to Savannah, we also took the car to the racetrack for some quarter mile runs. We’ll have more on those two experiences coming up next week. In the meantime, check out some of the photos we took of this beautiful Lime Rock Green Metallic Corvette Stingray under the Florida sun:

[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage
[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage
[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage
[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage
[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage
[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage
[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage
[PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage [PICS] 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 Convertible in the CorvetteBlogger Garage

Related:
CorvetteBlogger Drives the 2014 Corvette Stingray
CorvetteBlogger Drives the 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible
GM Announces New Premiere Edition with Lime Rock Green Corvette Stingray Convertible

 

The Evolution of the New Bright Toys Corvette Stingray

The Evolution of the New Bright Toys Corvette Stingray

New Bright Toys has always been known for its highly detailed cars. Over the years, the designs have gotten more and more thorough. An example of this is how the Corvette Stingray has evolved from the 1963 model to the 2014 model. In 1986, New Bright Toys released the 1963 Corvette Stingray.

The 1986 version of the 1963 Corvette Stingray was connected to the remote and took C batteries. This car included flip-up headlights, a switch on the controller that turns on the lights, and forward/reverse functionality. The body was very detailed and the interior looked very lifelike compared to the original vehicle.

The Evolution of the New Bright Toys Corvette Stingray

As the years go on, technology evolves and so does the car industry. The new 2014 Corvette Stingray not only has a wireless controller that takes double A batteries, but features a detailed interior, LED working lights for both the interior and exterior, and lifelike sounds. With its authentic presence, the New Bright Corvette Stingray has come a long way from its time in 1986.

Only time will tell what features and upgrades New Bright Toys will make to the Corvette brand toy, so you better keep an eye out for what comes next!

Learn more about New Bright Toys at www.newbright.com or follow on Facebook and Twitter.

This article was contributed by Ed Koury on behalf of New Bright Toys.

Related:
New Bright’s 1:8 Scale Radio Controlled 2014 Corvette Stingray
The 2014 Corvette Stingray Becomes a Monopoly Game Token
Corvette Memorabilia Collector Goes for Guinness World Record

 

[PIC] Throwback Thursday: NCCC Visits the Corvette Assembly Plant in St. Louis

[PIC] Throwback Thursday: NCCC Visits the Corvette Assembly Plant in St. Louis

It’s time for Throwback Thursday where we feature vintage photos of Corvettes. Today’s selection is group shot featuring the National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC) visiting the Corvette assembly plant in St. Louis on June 24, 1961.

The National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC) was founded in 1959 to promote interest in Corvette ownership, operation and knowledge about Corvettes across the country. Today, they are one of the largest national groups which represents over 270 individual Corvette clubs and thousands of active members across the country.

Our Throwback Thursday picture shows one of the ways that Corvette owners back in the early sixties learned more about how America’s favorite sports car was made – by traveling to the Corvette Assembly Plant in St. Louis to watch the production of Corvettes on the factory line.

Sort of like the clubs of today that make the trek to the Bowling Green Assembly Plant to see how the new 2014 Corvette Stingrays are built.

Click here to see a larger version of the NCCC visiting the Corvette Assembly Plant in St. Louis.

Source:
Corvettes @ Pinterest.com

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[PIC] Throwback Thursday: 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer with the 1956 Corvette SS
[PIC] Throwback Thursday: One Man’s Trashed Corvette is Another Man’s Treasure