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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Supercars , Chevrolet , GM , Toyota , Rendered Speculation It's usually fun to speculate on what the future might hold, but this is one case where we're not so enthused. First of all, nobody in their right mind really wants to see GM fold (at least they shouldn't), regardless of the fact that it has been mismanaged for a good portion of its 100-year run. There have been some seriously cool machines that have rolled out of GM's various divisions, not the least of which is the iconic American sportscar, the Corvette. The 'Vette has succeeded where others have failed in providing a relatively inexpensive way for Americans to enjoy world class performance, and things have recently taken a turn for the better with the Z06 and ZR1 models. But, what would happen to the American classic if the General were to go bankrupt and couldn't recover? Would the Corvette cease to exist? This exact question is currently being contemplated by forum members...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Sports/GTs , Chevrolet , Rendered Speculation Click above for high-res gallery of C3R renderings While it can be argued that the current Corvette is the best ever built, there are those who would say the C6 is, well, homogenized. Safe. Boring, even, at least in the looks department. Christian Cyrulewski would be among those who are visually disinterested in the current Corvette. But instead of grousing about it over a beer or six with the local Corvette club, he's taken matters into his own hands and come up with the C3R . In his words, that stands for "third-generation retro Corvette based on the sixth-generation (C6) platform." Christian's website is short on details but rife with renderings of a curvaceous custom Corvette based on the latest platform out of Bowling Green. Top Speed says Christian plans to cruise the Woodward Dream Cruise next year in a C3R prototype, and if there's enough interest, could offer a kit version of the car...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Cadillac , Chevrolet , GM The Nürburgring record-setting Cadillac CTS-V Over the past two decades, John Heinricy has probably done more to enhance the performance image of General Motors than any other single individual. From the perspective of a petrol-head, Heinricy has for many years held what is probably the coolest job at GM as the director of the Performance division and top-dog test driver. We found out today that Heinricy is retiring after 38 years as an engineer and test driver for GM. In his off time, Heinricy has raced a wide variety of cars at many different levels and captured 11 SCCA national titles. Much of his best known work has been at the wheel of the last several generations of Corvettes along with the Cadillac CTS, but this year he got the most attention for his exploits in the new CTS-V . Specifically, he became the first driver to record a sub-eight minute lap time at the Nurburgring in a production four-door sedan with...
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Filed under: SEMA , Sports/GTs , Chevrolet Click above for high-res gallery of the Corvette C6R replica At SEMA last year we spotted a very real looking Corvette C6R replica whose owner had made lots of effort to duplicate the race car down to the last sticker. Since that time he has updated the car to reflect the 2008 paint scheme along with the new black wheels. The Corvette now looks even more like the real thing, and we didn't realize it was a street car until we saw the interior. We can't imagine how cool it would be to drive this thing on the street, and we applaud the owner for how much effort must have gone into sourcing the parts and building the car correctly, let alone having the guts to build it in the first place. You can view all the details of this very exact C6R replica in the high-res gallery below. Gallery: SEMA 2008: Chevrolet Corvette C6R Replica Photos copyright (C)2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc. SEMA 2008: Corvette C6R replica returns with 2008 livery originally...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Chevrolet Hemmings reader Joel says when he first heard about the 1954 Corvette sitting in a pine grove for 45 years, he figured he'd find a fiberglass shell sitting atop the rusted remnants of a frame. He thought the early Vette might at least make a nice street rod. But when he finally saw the car way up in the Colorado Smokies, he was stunned. Not only did the car still have its original hardtop, but the frame was rust free and the "original painted frame stamp from the factory is still on the frame and very much legible," Joel tells Hemmings Auto Blogs. The story is that the car's second owner drove the Corvette to a friend's house in 1963 to have the seats re-covered. He replaced the driver's seat with a wooden Pepsi box and drove home where he parked it beneath the pine trees until Joel pulled it out. Now Joel has a conundrum. After getting the car running again, he's totally ruled out street rod, but doesn't know what to...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Supercars , Chevrolet Click above for our high-res ZR-1 burnout gallery Back at the Nürburgring, the hot Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 has just ripped four seconds off its claimed 7:26 lap . The new time, with Jan Magnussen at the wheel, is a claimed 7:22.4 for the full 12.93-mile loop. While the number is pretty bloody fast, it is still .3 seconds off the time earned by the Dodge Viper ACR (ouch, those three tenths really have to hurt!). We take these lap times with a grain of salt, as we've yet to see everyone on the 73-turn course under the same conditions, and with officially certified timing equipment. Again, so you don't have to Google the competition's best-claimed Ring times yourself, here they are: Porsche GT2 - 7:32, Nissan GT-R - 7:29, Corvette ZR1 - 7:22.4 and the Dodge Viper ACR - 7:22.1. Thanks for the tip, Xeyad! Gallery: Covette ZR1 burnouts [Source: Motor Gears ] Corvette ZR-1 knocks four seconds off 'Ring time originally...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Sports/GTs , Chevrolet click for a high-res gallery from the 2008 Detroit Sports Car Challenge 2009 will be a transition year for the American Le Mans Series as the GT1 class all but disappears after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Corvette Racing team announced a few weeks ago that it will switch from GT1 to the GT2 class. In an ALMS conference call, program manager Dough Fehan revealed that the engineering work on the new car is done and assembly of the first car will start in the next 7-10 days. Visually, the new car will be almost indistinguishable from the GT1 racer, with the biggest difference being a smaller rear wing. Underneath the skin, the carbon brakes will have to go as they aren't allowed in GT2 so steel rotors will have to dissipate the kinetic energy. Creating kinetic energy will be a new, smaller, 6.0L version of the engine currently used. The GT2 engine will continue to run on cellulosic E85. The GT2 cars will likely make their competition debut...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Supercars , Chevrolet Click above for our high-res ZR1 burnout gallery! Car and Driver recently strapped its test gear to the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and, as expected, recorded some impressive numbers. All eyes have been on the supercar Vette as it enters the boxing ring to duke it out with the heavy-hitting Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR , Nissan GT-R and Porsche GT2 (among others), and it looks like the latest Corvette will more than hold its own. According to C&D's trusty electronic gear, the supercharged 638-hp beast knocked off a 0-60 mph time of just 3.4 seconds as it continued towards a blistering 7.6 second 0-100 mph run. The quarter mile was cracked in 11.5 seconds @ 128 mph (Chevrolet claims 11.3 seconds, but the guys at C&D didn't believe in "...that sort of drivetrain abuse" to get lower numbers). The top speed also remains unverified as the team "ran out of room" before they could hit the claimed 205 mph. Under...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Supercars , Chevrolet , GM , Rumormill With GM facing well-publicized challenges -- along with just about everyone else who needs a little thing called money -- certain high-profile and expensive programs are crowding up on the back burner. Even America's sports car, the Corvette, is not exempt, with CAFE regulations clouding the view inside the 'Vette Nation's crystal ball. Motor Trend , commenting on the C7 Corvette's delayed arrival , has said that the new coupe won't appear until the 2014 model year at the earliest. The mid-engined route has also been scrapped, since it would simply cost too much to re-engineer the entire car for the purpose of easier integration of fuel saving tech like cylinder deactivation. That means a six-cylinder is still being talked about -- by GM outsiders only, at this point -- as an option for the C7. If we take the Camaro as an example, that 2014 introduction date could mean late 2012, but that still...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Coupes , Sports/GTs , Euro , Supercars , Chevrolet , UK Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 The car that Top Gear liked to drive , if not exactly to look at, has a price they definitely won't want to pay. At an on-the-road price of £109,000, the ZR1 costs nearly £48,000 pounds more than a Z06 in the UK. As if that weren't problematic enough, that price puts the left-hand-drive-only ZR1 £8,000 past the 911 Turbo and a colossal £55,000 beyond the GT-R Premium Edition . True, that's still the base GT-R, but Nissan has a whole lot of room to play with when it prices the V-Spec. True as well, the price of the ZR1 also includes a driver training course and a 3-year / 60,000-mile warranty, which should count for something. Perhaps not £55,000, though. Luckily for Chevrolet UK, it will only have to sell two of them this year, and single digits in the years to come. You can read the full press release after...
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Filed under: Aftermarket , Tuners , Sports/GTs , Chevrolet Click above for high-res gallery of the Katech Corvette Z06 ClubSport We loved the look and concept of Katech's Corvette Z06 ClubSport that we showed you last month, as did many of our readers. The emphasis on light weight components and track-ready components make it suitable for both street and racing duties, plus it's one of the most beautiful renditions of the Corvette we've seen to date. Our only complaint was that Katech provided just one photo to drool over. Fortunately, they remedied the situation by sending us a set of beautiful high-resolution photos, which we've added to the gallery below. You can also view more info on the car in the press release after the jump in case you missed it the first time around. Gallery: Katech Corvette Z06 ClubSport [Source: Katech ] Continue reading Pics Aplenty: Katech Corvette Z06 ClubSport Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Euro , Supercars , Chevrolet , UK Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 Let's not beat around any shrubbery with this: Top Gear magazine has reviewed the Corvette ZR1 , and the quotes you need to know are, "The dynamics are better than an Aston DBS...," and "...[M]ake no mistake. What we have here is one of the truly great supercars." Of course, there are caveats: it looks like a Corvette, the interior doesn't match those of its supercar rivals and the steering could use more feel. The latter quip is why you get other critiques like "...you don't get the precision of a 599." To have a UK magazine critique a Corvette against a 599 is probably the opposite of the insult it might appear to be on the surface. But don't take our word for it, follow the link and read for yourself how the ZR1 has "the performance and the chassis to match an SLR 722." It's not a bad way to start the...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Plants/Manufacturing , Chevrolet Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Corvette Z06 It's been more than a decade since the "recession-proof" Chevrolet Corvette had to endure a production cut due to excess dealer inventory, but that's apparently the case once again. Citing slow sales related to the ongoing automotive recession, GM will turn off the Corvette's factory lights during the week of October 6th. When Vette assembly resumes the following week, production will be scaled back to 15 cars per hour (normal speed is 18.5 cars per hour). Unfortunately, GM says layoffs will accompany the new schedule at the Bowling Green facility, with up to 75 workers losing their jobs. While surprising, the news isn't entirely unexpected. Corvette sales were down 8.5 percent for the year through August of 2008. They only rebounded after GM included the model in the employee pricing sale... and we all know a shot in...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Euro , Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet Click above to watch video after the jump We recently brought you video of the Corvette ZR1 being manhandled around General Motors' Milford Proving Grounds by our own Sam Abuelsamid. House rules that day made the car a 4-on-the-floor, since invitees weren't allowed to explore any gear beyond fourth. Car junkies over in Europe, however, recently got a chance to ride in the first pre-production ZR1 on The Continent while it was shaken down and then flogged on the Autobahn before heading to Nardo. If you believe the speedometer, the yellow scorcher runs to 315 kph (195.73 mph) before it ran out of clear highway, not out of speed. Looks like we'll have to change the phrase from "blue" to "Fast as yellow blazes..." Follow the jump to check out the full video. Thanks for the tip, Thomas! Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1 [Source: Autoblog Netherlands (no relation)] Continue reading...
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Filed under: SEMA , Time Warp , Sports/GTs , Chevrolet Click on the image to enlarge and view another angle of the Rossi 66 There is a trend in the works that takes a modern Corvette chassis, jettisons the stock fiberglass bodywork and adds a new shell that mimics the look of an older, classic 'Vette. We have seen Classic Reflection Coachworks' take on the '62 'vert with C5 underpinnings, and now a company by the name of Blue Fusion has tackled the iconic split window. One problem: their press release continually refers to the 1966 split window, which doesn't exist as the only year the two-piece rear glass was produced was '63. But, let's not let silly little things like facts get in the way. The resultant Rossi 66 cribs the workings of a modern C6 Corvette and adds a unique Sting Ray look. Blue Fusion plans to debut its Rossi 66 at the upcoming SEMA event in November, assuming that the company is able to find the funding it needs to actually produce its first...
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