Category: Baldwin-Motion Corvettes

CorvetteReport.com Exclusive Interview: A Chat With Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.14.11

For real, authorized Baldwin Motion Supercars are BACK! We go bench racing with the original “Mr. Motion.”

Note: Joel Rosen is the proud owner of the very first of the NEW Baldwin Motion Camaros. Be sure to check out the slide show of Mr. Motion’s new ride!)

The original Mr. Motion and the new Mr. Motion. Rosen takes delivery of the very first "new" Baldwin Motion Camaro from Haward Tanner.

Little did Joel Rosen know in 1960 when he bought Neclan Service Station in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, that over 50 years later, people would be writing about him and going to car shows featuring his creations. Motion Performance was officially born in 1963 and Rosen had a string of successful drag cars of his own, plus many cars that he super tuned. He relocated the shop from Brooklyn to the community of Baldwin on Long Island, on Sunrise Highway in 1966. The following year, Chevrolet unleashed their answer to Ford’s red hot Mustang – the Camaro.

Rosen pitched to Baldwin Chevrolet’s Ed Simonin a new way for buyers to get a brand new, turn key “super” muscle car, with a proven, reliable setup – ready to rock! By 1968 the full “Fantastic Five” lineup of cars was established, featuring Phase III SS-427 versions of the Chevy Biscayne, Nova, Chevelle, Camaro, and Corvette. For just $3,495 you could buy the ultimate street sleeper, the SS-427 Biscayne. Or, if your POCKETS were really deep, for $6,995.85 (an enormous amount of cash beck then) you could get the Phase III SS-427 Corvette. Each car was custom made to order, so every car was slightly different. What’a heady time to be into the high performance street scene.

Here's Mr. Motion, circa 1971. Groovy, Man!

As “they” say, the rest is history, and since you wouldn’t be here if you already weren’t familiar with the Baldwin Motion story, we don’t need to retell the entire story. Mr. Motion is now semi-retired and living the good life in warm, sunny Florida. With the Baldwin Motion brand back in action and in very good hands, thanks to his relationship with Howard Tanner, Redline Motorsports in Schenectady, and DeNooyer Chevrolet, Albany, New York.

I thought the Baldwin Motion fans would enjoy hearing from the original Mr. Motion, Joel Rosen. So, one evening in early July 2011, Joel and I had an interesting conversation. Here goes…

Scott – How did the new Baldwin Motion deal come about?

Joel – Well, it was a little bit of a bumpy start, but we turned it into a very positive deal. DeNooyer Chevrolet and Howard Tanner had been marketing Howard’s “HTR” Camaros and Corvettes for a while. It was kind of like what I was doing with Baldwin Chevrolet back in the day. DeNooyer and Tanner were building new Chevy supercars, ala the Phase III cars. A friend of ours contacted us letting us know that these guys in upstate New York that were using modified versions one of Marty Schorr’s old Baldwin Motion ads – WANTED! – in their advertising.

I didn’t know who they were but when I learned what they were doing, we worked out a deal for DeNooyer and Tanner to work with me and build and market Baldwin-Motion Gen V 427 & 454 Camaros. They even painted up the front showroom windows the same way we did at the Baldwin Chevrolet dealership. Just like that famous photo with “Fantastic Five” on the windows. It was pretty cool. And part of the deal was that I would be able to order Phase III 427-SC Camaro #01.

I did a lot of research on Howard and DeNooyer and must say that they have my full respect. Howard can do anything with modern performance cars, knows the electronics such that he can build the engines to specific horsepower levels, then adjust the electronics to get the car‘s emissions right. We couldn’t do any of that back in our day. They didn’t even have computers controlling fuel and spark. We were just told that we couldn’t remove ANY emissions devices. A lot’s changed. Continue reading “CorvetteReport.com Exclusive Interview: A Chat With Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen” →

Vette Videos: SUPER RARE, One-of-a-Kind 1972 Motion Moray Eel Corvette

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.15.11
 The last of Joel Rosen’s Shark Corvettes – The Moray Eel

As cool as the Mako Shark-styled production 1968 Corvette was, there were a few that were… disappointed. Why, you wonder? Because the ‘68 Corvette WASN’T the ‘65-’66 Mako Shark II show car. Making a show car is one thing, designing a car to be mass produced is another. While the Mako Shark II show car looked large on the stage, it was actually about 7/8s the size of the production Corvette. In other words, a VERY tight little package that could not directly translate into a production car.

But it was fiberglass man, John Silva that took it upon himself to make his own Mako Shark. “Kit cars” were all the rage in the mid-to-late ‘60s. Meanwhile, on Long Island, New York, Joel Rosen was building ground-pounding big-block Phase III Chevys and was looking for something really exotic to offer his Corvette customers. Rosen bought two complete Silva Maco cars and got permission from Silva to make molds off of the Silva parts to make his Motion Maco kits. The Maco kits were kind of a “love it, or hate it” thing. It wasn’t quite as svelte as the Mako Shark, but for many, it was close enough.

For creative types, such as Rosen, the mind never stops. In the early ‘70s Joel was on a roll with his “shark-thing.” His Motion Maco Shark burst on the street scene in ‘71, quickly followed by two interesting variations. The Manta Ray featured the front end of the Phase III GT with its distinctive tunneled headlights and Continue reading “Vette Videos: SUPER RARE, One-of-a-Kind 1972 Motion Moray Eel Corvette” →

ULTRA RARE! 1977 Motion Performance “Phase III” Turbo Corvette

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.12.11
From the archives of Chevy Action Magazine, a turbocharged 350 Phase III Swedish export Corvette!

Perhaps if Car Craft Magazine hadn’t splashed the story, “King Kong Is Alive and Living On Long Island” in the January 1974 issue, Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen would have had a few more years to build Baldwin Motion Phase III Supercars. It seemed that the federal government thought Motion had a huge enterprise that was cranking out thousands of pollution belching, tire burning , fire breathing social menaces. The DOT had some very stiff, crushing fines they wanted to levy against Rosen for EVERY emissions control device that was removed from every car he built. Talk about heavy-handed and over reaching.

In the end, after seeing that Motion Performance was a very small operation, the Feds backed off, fined Rosen $500, and issued a “cease and desist” order that precluded him from selling modified cars for street use. If cars were sold within the USA, a disclaimer went along with the car that read, “This vehicle does not comply with DOT and EPA regulations and is for off-road use only.” The disclaimer had to be signed by Rosen and the owner.

That pretty much put the kabash on the Baldwin Motion Phase III Supercars. However, if you bought a new Chevy or had a Chevy that you wanted “Motionized,” it was up to you as to getting your car inspected. If you were going to buy the car and take it outside the United States, no problem. Through the last half of the ‘70s and well into the ‘80s Mr. Motion built and sold lots of “export” supercars. Continue reading “ULTRA RARE! 1977 Motion Performance “Phase III” Turbo Corvette” →

Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 2

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.1.11
An intimate conversation with Marty Schorr – Baldwin Motion, VETTE Quarterly, and other adventures…

(Our conversation picks up with an enterprise that’s still being talked about! You can catch Pt. 1 of this interview, HERE.)

Prototype 1968 Baldwin Motion Phase III SS-427 Corvette

ST – That’s a great segue Marty, let’s talk about the Baldwin-Motion experience.

MS – Baldwin Chevrolet was an old, local, mom & pop Chevy dealership. Joel was friends with John Mahler, the parts manager, and it all started out as a sponsorship with a strippo, red, big-block Camaro that they dropped an L-88 427 into and went drag racing. It was an advertising / promotion thing. The car ran great and we put our heads together and pitched a program to the Baldwin Chevrolet owners for a full line of supercars called, “The Fantastic Five” that included a Camaro, Chevelle, Nova, Impala, and of course, a Corvette.

We would start off with the biggest optioned engine and heavy-duty suspension and drive train, then we would drop in a 427 with a lot of hot rod parts. Because we were starting off with the toughest stuff available from the factory, the cars were amazingly durable, and still under warranty. We added aftermarket wheels, custom stripes, and badges that created a complete brand. The cars put Baldwin Chevrolet on the map and everyone made money. I did all the branding, catalogs, and ads, we had a shop do the custom stripping, and Joel did the conversions and final tests. Every car was guaranteed to run 12.5 in the quarter-mile with a professional driver. For a time we were the biggest specialty car maker under Shelby. When we got into the V-8 Vegas, Baldwin Chevrolet really didn’t want to have them branded as “Baldwin-Motion” cars because they were front heavy and didn’t handle very well. So if you ever see any of the Vega cars we did, you notice that they are “Motion Performance” car and not “Baldwin-Motion” cars.

Marty discovered that if he ran a hot Corvette on the cover of a magazine, news stand sales would improve. That's called "Corvette power."

 

ST – I was a teenager when you were splashing those incredible Baldwin-Motion and muscle car road tests in CARS. You assembled a group of writers that made the magazine something to look forward to every month. How did that all come together?

MS – When it comes out right, you’re a hero, otherwise, you’re a bum. The perception was that East Coast magazines only sold to East Coast guys. Remember that back then, because Hot Rod and Car Craft owned the newsstands, it looked like nothing was happening on the East Coast. The image was that the West Coast shops were these giant sophisticated shops – palaces – at least, that’s the way they looked in print. The first time I went to the West Coast I was shocked to see the Bill Thomas’ shop was just a little place. Dana Chevrolet only did their high-performance cars for about 1-1/2 years. Baldwin-Motion made cars for six years. The East Coast places like TASCA, SRD, Stahl, Baldwin-Motion, and Grumpy hardly got any attention at all. (Grumpy became one of drag racing’s rock stars after Pro Stock exploded in ‘70 – ST) And the editors of the West Coast books were all treated like heroes and you had to get an appointment just to talk to them. We had a lot to work with on the East.

Joe Oldham was a street racer kid that used to deliver flowers in my neighborhood and then one day he came into the CARS office to sell a Pontiac-go-fast article. It turned out that Joe used to deliver flowers in my neighborhood and knew my red Bonneville Coupe with the eight-lug wheels. Joe is now the editor of Popular Mechanics and for a long time was my road test driver and a columnist.

Roger Huntington was an engineer that used to write tech features for us. Not many readers knew that Roger had been wheelchair-bound all his life, but he wrote good tech features.

One of our early guys, Fred Mackerodt, started with CARS in ‘64 and today he’s a PR guy with a GM account. Fred was a very good editor even though he never graduated from high school. He was a good humorist writer to and used to do stories under the pen name of “Dilbert Farb.” (His trash truck road test had me in stitches when I was a kid. – ST) Cliff Gromer was another one of our regular guys, along with Alan Root, Alex Walordy, Stewart Yale, Fred Cohen, Joel Rosen, and others. Continue reading “Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 2” →

Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 1

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.31.11
An intimate conversation with good-guy, car-guy – Marty Schorr

Go to the magazine stand and the number of car magazines is amazing. But way back in the ‘60s, most of the car magazines were west coast publications. CARS Magazine was one of the only east coast car magazines that included road tests, feature cars, and race event coverage. When muscle cars party were hot in the late ‘60s, CARS editor, Marty Schorr was right on top of the east coast muscle car and specialty car scene – especially the Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars of Joel Rosen. Talk about muscle cars with attitude! Every Phase III Chevy was carefully built under Rosen’s supervision and was guaranteed to run 12.5 in the quarter mile.

By ‘71 the muscle car party was over and we all adjusted to somewhat bland cars. The only “performance” cars that survived were the Z-28, the Trans-Am, and the Corvette. By ‘76 I had been into Corvettes for 12 years and regularly scoured the magazine stands for special “Corvette editions” magazines. One day I saw “VETTE Quarterly.” Finally, a Corvette-only magazine! Marty Schorr from CARS was the editor, so I knew this was going to be a fun publication. The magazine was so cool I wrote a letter with some article ideas, along with some samples of my art, and sent it off to Marty. A week later, I was on board with VETTE.

VETTE Quarterly went bi-monthly in ‘78, was retitled, “VETTE” and eventually became a monthly magazine in 1980. When CSK Publishing bought the title, Schorr stepped out of the editor’s chair and was for many years a contributing editor. Marty started his own automotive PR company, PMPR, Inc. and I went on to become a commercial artist, toy designer, and artist/writer for VETTE and many other car magazines.

In ‘07 I reconnected with Marty when I was researching the Astoria-Chas L-88 ‘67 Corvette drag car. We kept in touch and I thought that it was time to get Marty’s story out to today’s VETTE readers. Last December, we talked for three hours about Marty’s career in the automotive publication business, and yes, Corvettes. – Scott

ST – Marty, it sounds like a cliché, but, how did you get started in this crazy business?

MS – I was just a kid in Yonkers, New York in the mid-’50s when I joined a local hot rod club, the “Dragon Wheels.” I wasn’t a mechanic or mechanically inclined, but it was a lot of fun to be around. We had all kinds of homemade hot rods. One guy had a fuel dragster and another had a fuel coupe. There weren’t any race tracks around, so we used to race the cars on a section of the Bronx River Parkway late at night. A lot of the guys got nailed by the cops with early versions of radar. Back then, if you ran away, the cops would shoot at you! It wasn’t uncommon to see club cars with bullet holes in the back of the car! I wasn’t much of a mechanic, but I could write pretty well and soon became the club’s PR director. I had a little 620 Browie camera and got my first article published in ‘57 about our club’s Cadillac-powered dragster in a small digest-size magazine. I got paid $25 and said to myself, “I LIKE this!” I kept practicing my photography and writing skills, eventually landing a job as an editor for $100 a week.

ST – Marty, most publications these days require an editor to have a degree in English or journalism. What kind of formal education did you have?

MS – I didn’t have the means to go to school full-time, so I took night classes for about five years in English, advertising, and public relations. I didn’t finish college and never got a degree because my freelance career really took off. My career paralleled a guy from my school that graduated two years before me, Ralph Loren. We didn’t know one another or travel in the same circles.

ST – And what kinds of cars were you driving back then Marty?

MS – Let’s see, I had a ‘51 Pontiac, a ‘40 Mercury, and a ‘32 Chevy Cabriolet. My hot ride was a little MGTA with a flathead Ford V8 and a four-speed trans. It had been converted to left-hand drive and had the big 19-inch wire wheels, no side windows or top, and I drove it all year around while I was freelancing. It was quick, but it handled terribly, had awful brakes, and the wire wheels had to constantly be realigned. I was always taking the car to a Rolls Royce dealer because they had mechanics that knew how to fix wire wheels. (I’ll be they loved having that car in for service. ST)

ST – Back in those days Marty, all young men had to do military service, unless you got a deferment or were classified 4F. What did you do for Uncle Sam?

MS – I was actually in the Army two times. I enlisted for six months of active duty, plus 100 years of reserve. After boot camp I was in the transportation corps as a non-officer and eventually got into the photography lab and did a lot of documentation photography. It was great experience that I applied to my freelance journalist work for small car magazines. After my six month stint I got called back because of the ‘61 Berlin crisis. I didn’t get to do anything interesting, but while stationed in Virginia, my wife and I were renting a place and one of our neighbors was astronaut Alan Shepherd. So I worked my Army job during the week and was shooting cars and doing stories on the weekends. Continue reading “Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 1” →

From the Archives of CARS Magazine: In Memory of Astoria-Chas 1967 427 L88 Corvette Roadster

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.16.11
“Astoria-Chas” Snyder – The Buddy Holly of Corvette Racing


Glen Spielberg photo.

As a lad growing up during the muscle car era in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, CARS Magazine was my favorite car mag. The publication had a definite East Coast flavor and the magazine slightly favored Chevys, which was perfectly fine with me at the time. One of my favorite cars of the day was the 1967 427 L88 drag racer, “In Memory of Astoria-Chas” 427 L-88 Corvette roadster. The story has all the elements of legend; brutally fast, quick car, great looking, owned and driven to national prominence by a young fellow, not much older than myself and my Chevy pals.

Fortunately, the car is still around and looks the way it did when it set the AHRA Nation Record of 11.04 @ 129 mph. Later, the car ran a best-ever 10.47 et. While the L88 still runs, the current owner, Glen Spielberg, does not “run” the car on the strip, as he has given his word to the Snyder family that he would not restore or race the car. Besides, the car still has its original, 40-year old tires! A stock ‘67 L71 427/435 Corvettes were solid high 13-second cars. A Mid-10-second version was MIND BLOWING back then!

Since the Astoria-Chas Corvette was a Motion performance prepared car, it got lots of ink in CARS Magazine. Below is one of many CARS articles on the car. Unfortunately, I do not have the end of the story on page 74. However, I did cover the car as Illustrated Corvette Series No. 129 back in early ‘08. The story copy is below the CARS article scans.

Also, at the bottom of this post are links to some other interesting Astoria-Chas material. CARS editor, Marty Schorr often took his little daughter, Collier to the drags to see the KO-Motion Corvette. Collier had an art show in ‘07 featuring her drawings and recollections of Chas Snyder. I’ve included links to two articles that covered Collier’s show. Continue reading “From the Archives of CARS Magazine: In Memory of Astoria-Chas 1967 427 L88 Corvette Roadster” →

From K. Scott Teeters Magazine Archives: Muscle Car Classics – The History of Muscle Cars Series

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.14.11
Lost & Found – Some Corvette material from one of my old magazine series.

Click the image for a MUCH larger image.

I have been fortunate enough to have had my automotive art published in various car magazines since 1975. My current series in VETTE Magazine, “The Illustrated Corvette Series” is now into its 15th year. But ICS is not the first “series” I have had. Actually, ICS is my 8th series. My previous series were:

“Imagineering” for VW & Porsche Magazine

“Blueprint Series” for Guide To Muscle Cars Continue reading “From K. Scott Teeters Magazine Archives: Muscle Car Classics – The History of Muscle Cars Series” →

Vintage 1969 Baldwin/Motion Performance Group Catalog

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.11.11
Wanna Drive With the Exotics in 1969? Bring a Boatload of Cash!

I stumbled upon the Baldwin Motion experience almost at the beginning. Actually, I couldn’t miss it! While the particular issue of CARS Magazine is long gone from my collection, I remember it well. A screaming yellow ‘68 Phase III SS-427 Corvette with deep-dish Cragar mags, ‘65-’67 Corvette factory side pipes, a ‘67 427 Corvette hood scoop parted on top of the ‘68 427 hood dome, and a Pontiac hood-mounted tach! WOW!!!

A car such as this had never been in my face before! I bought the magazine and my best friend, Steve Grasso and I POURED over every detail of the cover story for weeks. I took my week’s allowance and sent away for my Baldwin/Motion performance Group catalog and Motion sticker. Two buck, with postage! Worth all 200 pennies, AND, unlike that issue of CARS Magazine, I still have the catalog.

What I didn’t know was that I had been initiated into the high performance world of Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen and Marty “Mr. VETTE Magazine” Schorr. Joel went on to build dozens and dozens of hyper- performance Chevys, and CARS Magazine editor Marty Schorr would not only produce those wonderful “in your face” Motion ads and catalogs, but he would later found VETTE Magazine.

                   
Click the above images to see the BIG versions

In June 2011 we launched www.BaldwinMotionReport.com and the first thing I posted was Continue reading “Vintage 1969 Baldwin/Motion Performance Group Catalog” →

The Baldwin-Motion Phase-III GT Corvette – Version 2.0

Published on by Scott

The Phase III GT was only a few months old, and Joel Rosen rolled out an even WILDER version of his ultimate Corvette GT.

A few months after Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr rocked the house at the ‘69 New York Auto Show with the Baldwin Motion Phase III Corvette, plus, got the official blessing from Corvette chief engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov, the next version of the GT was shown on the September ‘70 issue of High-Performance CARS Magazine. The fixed-headlight was a real polarizer, but it was definitely unique. It’s too bad that federal regulations did not allow for the clear lexan headlight covers, because the covers were available for “show” or “off road” use only, and looked great.

From 1969 to 1971 only 12 Phase III GT Corvettes were built. Due to the extensive custom body work on top of the performance enhancements, the Phase III GT Corvettes were THE most expensive of all of the Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars. Continue reading “The Baldwin-Motion Phase-III GT Corvette – Version 2.0” →

CARS Magazine Archive: The First Phase III GT Corvette

Published on by Scott

Here’s how Rosen’s Sharks got started. MORE TO COME!

As if the Phase III SS-427 wasn’t enough, Joel Rosen unleashed his version of what he thought a GT, or “Grand Touring” Corvette should be at the New York International Auto Show in April 1969. The European GT concept was based on a car with a strong chassis, big engine, heavy duty breaks, room for two, plus space for luggage. Rosen ascertained that the only American car that would fit that bill would be a 427 Corvette. While I didn’t get to see the car at the show, I could NOT miss the August 1969 issue of CARS Magazine with what looked like a stunning, blazing red, ‘68 Corvette with some very interesting body work. Actually, the car was Monaco Orange, but it sure looked RED in print.

The standard Baldwin Motion performance enhancements were applied to the already heavy duty Corvette as a starting point. The new big feature was the fastback rear window that opened up the interior space behind the seats, providing more storage space that a C2 Sting Ray Coupe. Continue reading “CARS Magazine Archive: The First Phase III GT Corvette” →

NEW BaldwinMotionReport.com Website!!!

Published on by Scott1 Comment

After many years, we FINALLY made it happen!

I’ve been a big fan of Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr’s, Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars since 1968. While they were not the only tuners that were offering packaged supercars, they were the only ones to offer a money back guarantee that their car would run 11.50 in the quarter-mile, or YOUR MONEY BACK! Plus, Rosen and Schorr came up with a signature look for their cars that has been imitated by many.

In all the years that Phase III supercars were built and sold, not a single customer ever asked for a refund because their Phase III car didn’t perform!

I’ll be covering all the RED HOT Baldwin-Motion Phase III muscle cars – the Phase III Corvettes, Phase III Camaros, Phase III Novas, Phase III Chevelles, and the ultimate sleeper machine, the Phase III Biscayne. Continue reading “NEW BaldwinMotionReport.com Website!!!” →

Vote For Your Favorite Baldwin-Motion Corvette

Published on by Scott

Which Baldwin-Motion Corvette is YOUR FAVORITE?

(scroll down to cast your vote)

From 1967 to 1978 Joel Rosen, Marty Schorr, and the crew produced an astonishing array of Chevy supercars. “The Fantastic Five” included the Biscayne, the Nova, the Chevelle, the Camaro, and Corvette. If you wanted a true sleeper supercar, the Biscayne was the way to deliver one heck of a surprise. While the big 427 and 454 monster cars got most of the attention, Mr. Motion would build you whatever you wanted. So, there were also a few Motion cars powered with enhanced 350 small-blocks, and a few Corvettes that received turbochargers!

All of the Baldwin-Motion cars were special and unique, but let’s face it, the Corvettes were the halo cars. Since every Motion supercar was custom-built according to the customer’s wants and checkbook, every car is slightly different. The only thing standard was Joel’s selection of heavy-duty after market parts needed to keep the machine relatively bulletproof.

From ‘68 to ‘78, there were six distinctive Baldwin-Motion Corvettes. Let’s have a look-see… Continue reading “Vote For Your Favorite Baldwin-Motion Corvette” →