Category: C3 Corvettes

John Greenwood Spirit Of Sebring 75 Corvette Racer To Cross Mecum Block

Published on by Scott

The 1974 C3 Corvette IMSA ‘Spirit Of Sebring’ Racer To Cross Block at Mecum Monterey Auction.

Mecum greenwood

Editor’s Note: The Mecum Monterey Auction at the Hyatt Regency Montery, CA Hotel is August 13-15, 2015, Lot #R436

by Sean Szymkowski as republished from GM Authority.com

Dateline: 7.19.15 There are plenty of historic, and iconic, Corvettes roaming the lands, but when it comes to endurance racing, the 1974 C3 Corvette Spirit of Sebring race car is one of the most iconic Corvettes there is.

The 1974 C3 Corvette sees a unique wide body kit applied for aero duties, and is powered by the legendary L88 big-block V8 engine. But the engine wasn’t the only legendary piece to this vehicle. The 1974 Corvette IMSA racer was driver John Greenwood’s personal favorite, and was the only Greenwood vehicle to be raced under the team name. Continue reading “

John Greenwood Spirit Of Sebring 75 Corvette Racer To Cross Mecum Block” →

John Greenwood Art Prints Special Offer!!!

Published on by Scott

SPECIAL OFFER For John Greenwood Fans

For a limited time, we are offering 12, 11-inches by 17-inches art prints of the late John Greenwood’s racecars, as seen in my “Illustrated Corvette Series,” Vette Magazine monthly column.

12-Greenwood-Prints-72Dateline: 7-19-15 The Illustrated Corvette series has been in every issue of Vette Magazine since the spring of 1997, with over 220 installments. In the 18 years the column has been running, I have written and illustrated stories about John and Burt Greenwood’s cars five times. We offer two print versions of each story: one with the story copy and one without. Then I created two single image layouts for a total of 12 prints. Continue reading “

John Greenwood Art Prints Special Offer!!!” →

Corvette Racing Legend, John Greenwood Passes

Published on by Scott

 

A Brief Tribute to Corvette Racing Legend, John Greenwood
Dateline: 7.13.15 (There are four videos at the end of this post)

1-Greenwood-Graphic-Car

The Corvette community lost another legend last week. On July 7, 2015 John Greenwood died. During the 1970s John and his brother Burt arguably made more of an impact of Corvette racing than anyone in their time.

Their most stunning legacy was the development of the Corvette wide-body, also known as the “Batmobile.” The wide-body kit was the last of what was unofficially known as “Duntov’s Racer Kit” series of Chevrolet engineered parts for road racing Corvettes.

By 1974 racing tires had almost quadrupled in width from those of the early 60s and were beyond the L88 fender flares that had been out since 1968. Racers were also learning about and making better use of air downforce. Chevrolet designed the wide-body kit and Greenwood developed and marketed the parts into a huge aftermarket enterprise, along with building all-out racing Corvettes for customers. The Greenwood brothers engineered suspension parts and setups and made them available to customers.

greenwood-4

The wide-body look was so popular that complete street versions were offered by Greenwood and privateers could build their own street versions by purchasing the body kits. John and Burt also made body kits for C4 Corvettes, but the term “Greenwood body” will forever be linked to what it undeniably the wildest Corvette look ever

Below is a tribute to John Greenwood written by Registry of Corvette Race Cars and Vette Vues contributing writer/photographer, Wayne Ellwood that was published on July 13, 2015. Many thanks to Wayne Elwood for his brief overview of John Greenwood’s racing career. Condolences to the Greenwood family. – Scott

John Greenwood, Innovator and Influencer
Died on July 7, 2015 age 71
Greenwood held sway in Corvette racing for a decade

By Wayne Ellwood
greenwood-1
The son of a GM executive, John Greenwood began drag racing as a teenager on Detroit’s famed Woodward Ave strip. A few years later, he caught the road-racing bug after entering his new 1968 Corvette in a parking lot solo event. That was enough. When he took his big block Corvette to Waterford Hills it marked the start of a remarkable career in SCCA and IMSA, a full-blown race shop, a sponsorship program with the BF Goodrich Tire Company, a thriving cars and parts business, and three trips to the 24 hour race at Le Mans, France. Continue reading “

Corvette Racing Legend, John Greenwood Passes” →

The 1978 Chevrolet Corvette Brought the Return of the Fastback

Published on by Scott

1978-corvette-illustration-front-quarter

by Scott Teeters as republished from Vette Magazine’s online SuperChevy.com

The late ’70s were indeed “strange dayz” for the Corvette. The Founding Fathers had all been put out to pasture. Harley Earl was long gone, Ed Cole made his exit in September 1974, Duntov was gone from GM in January 1975, and Bill Mitchell took “exit, stage left” in July 1977. Without angels in the boardroom, what would become of the Corvette? Continue reading “The 1978 Chevrolet Corvette Brought the Return of the Fastback” →

Car Club USA: Corvette Homecoming – Video

Published on by Scott

Here’s What Corvettes Mean To People

CorvetteHomecoming-600

The other day Joe Pruitt, the Event Coordinator/Owner of the National Corvette Homecoming event contacted me to tell me about their new event video by Efran Films that covered the National Corvette Homecoming 2014 event. This is a very touching video that captures what Corvettes mean to people. As we know, they’re not just “car” they’re something else. Actually, the people in the video say it perfectly. This video has heart! Enjoy! – Scott

www.corvettehomecoming.com
www.twitter.com/bgcorvette
www.facebook.com/bgcorvette

Roger Judski Buys One of Two Official 1969 ZL-1 Corvettes

Published on by Scott


Roger Judski’s SUPER RARE 1969 ZL-1 Corvette

 

Dateline: 10.11.14 – Twenty-three years ago today, October 11, 1991, at of all places, The Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Roger Judski, owner of Judski’s Corvette Center in Maitland, Florida became the owner of what is arguably the rarest of all high performance Corvettes, a 1969 ZL-1 Corvette. When this car was announced to the world in the fall of 1968 as an option on the ’69 Corvette, it became an instant legend for numerous reasons. Judski paid what was then considered a stunningly HUGE amount of money for the ZL-1, $300,000! Roger had been trying to buy the ZL-1 for 12 years. Continue reading “Roger Judski Buys One of Two Official 1969 ZL-1 Corvettes” →

Chevy Debuts the New 1978 Corvette

Published on by Scott

1978-Corvette-Ad-1

The 1978 Corvette Gets a Well-Deserved Major Refresh


Thirty-six years ago today Chevrolet released the new 1978 Corvette. Chevy’s sports car was selling well considering the times. Muscle cars were all but dead, gas prices were up to around 75-cents-a-gallon (GOSH!), and the economy was in a slump. However, the Corvette was getting a little stale-looking, so when the ’78 model was released, it was a “WOW!”

The new bubble fastback roof was sweet indeed. One of the shortcomings of the ’68 to ’77 Corvette coupes was a serious lack of rear stowage area. Unlike the ’63-to-’67 Sting Ray Coupe that had a fairly good size space behind the seats (for a sports car), the C3 coupes up to ’77 had a narrow slot tall enough for a suit case and not much more.The new roof design not only yielded more room in the back, it helped brighten up the refreshed interior and eliminate a serious rear-view blind spot. Continue reading “Chevy Debuts the New 1978 Corvette” →

10-5-65 The Running Mako Shark II Was Shown To The Automotive Press – WOW!

Published on by Scott

October 5, 1966, the Running Mako Shark-II Debuts at the Paris Auto Show

Mako-Shark-II-1Forty-Nine years ago today, October 5, 1965, the automotive press got to see the first, running Mako Shark-II show car at the Paris Auto Show in France. The non-running full-size model of the Mako Shark-II had been shown in April ’65 at the New York Auto Show and was a knock-out. The response was so overwhelming, Chevrolet brass quickly decided to build a running prototype for the next phase of development.

As V.P. of Design, Bill Mitchell laid out what he wanted the next Corvette to be. See if you can follow this.

He wanted the following; “a narrow, slim, center section and coupe body, a tapered tail, an all-of-a-piece blending of the upper and lower portions of the body through the center (avoiding the look of a roof added to a body), and prominent wheels with their protective fenders distinctly separate from the main body, yet grafted organically to it.” Continue reading “10-5-65 The Running Mako Shark II Was Shown To The Automotive Press – WOW!” →

Corvette History:10-4-73 – The 4-Rotor Experimental Corvette Debuts In Paris!

Published on by Scott

The 4-Rotor Experimental Corvette Makes It’s Grand Debut 41 Years Ago In Paris!

 4-Rotor-Corvette-Photo Oui! Oui! Thanks to Zora Arkus-Duntov, Corvette fans were treated to a series of mid-engine Corvette through the ‘60s and ‘70s. But XP-882 was no “ordinary” experimental mid-engine Corvette. Behind the driver was a honk’n 390 cubic-inch Wankel rotary engine. Ed Cole was President of General Motors at the time and was hot on the smooth-running rotary engine design. So what better a hallo car to present the then-exotic engine that under a stunning Corvette.

Although VP of Design Bill Mitchell was the official “designer” of the body shape, Chuck Jordan supervised the project. The car had wrap-around glass and hidden A-pillars. The doors weren’t just gull-wing, they were bi-fold gull wings. The look was fresh, edgy, exciting, and definitely CORVETTE. Continue reading “Corvette History:10-4-73 – The 4-Rotor Experimental Corvette Debuts In Paris!” →

NEW!!! Corvette License Plates Art Prints Series

Published on by Scott

61X18sWf0gL

Corvette “License Plate” Art Prints 1953 to Present. A Limted Series of these new prints are now available from artist. K. Scott Teeters Continue reading “NEW!!! Corvette License Plates Art Prints Series” →

Dr. Rollings’ 1971 Phase III GT Corvette “The Most Expensive of All the Motion Corvettes”

Published on by Scott

Baldwin Motion Phase III GT Corvette Survivor!!!

ICS_II_No-204-1971-Rollings-Phase-III-GT-TNDate: 5.2.14 – Time has been kind to the Baldwin Motion Supercars. Today, complete and restored Motion cars are very valuable. Yenko cars have the pedigree of being COPO cars, but unlike the Phase III cars, they could not be personalized. Enter Joel Rosen, Marty Schorr, and the Baldwin Motion experience.

Rosen was the owner of Motion Performance in Baldwin, New York and Schorr was the editor of CARS Magazine (and founder of VETTE). The young men conceived of offering custom-built supercars through local dealer, Baldwin Chevrolet. Rosen knew how to build a Chevy muscle car into a dependable, supercar, with performance over-and-above the factory level. Joel spun the wrenches and Marty spun the spin. Schorr kept the sizzle hot with CARS Magazine “special road tests,” in-your-face ads, special features, and catalogs. A Motion supercar was guaranteed to run the quarter-mile in 11.5-seconds with a qualified driver. When a customer took delivery of their Phase III supercar, they were driving a custom-made supercar. It was all very heady stuff.

Rosen’s higher vision was to offer an American GT machine based on the big-block Corvette. Joel started with his basic 500-plus horsepower Phase III Corvette and added custom bodywork that included a fastback rear window that opened up the rear cargo area of the C3 Corvette. The car was christened the “Phase III GT.” A “regular” Phase III Corvette was already a beast, but if you wanted the next level, the Phase III GT offered all the performance hardware, plus unique, head-turning custom bodywork. The Phase III GT Corvette was Rosen’s vision of the ultimate Motion car for customers with deep pockets. Rosen expected to produce 10-to-12 Phase III GT Corvettes a year, but only made 12 cars from ‘69 to ‘71. Continue reading “Dr. Rollings’ 1971 Phase III GT Corvette “The Most Expensive of All the Motion Corvettes”” →

Corvette C1-C7 in Review…The Most Successful Car in Detroit History?

Published on by Scott

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 200 1953 – 2014 Corvette

“DETROIT’S ULTIMATE SUCCESS STORY?” by K Scott Teeters as originally published in Vette magazine

In the February 2014 issue of VETTE Magazine, I celebrated my 200th installment of The Illustrated Corvette Series with a look back at the entire history of the Corvette. The title of the column is, “DETROIT’S ULTIMATE SUCCESS STORY?” The Corvette has come a very long way from being a car that many inside GM wanted to kill off to becoming General Motors’ flagship halo car.

While the article in VETTE only shows one Corvette from all seven generations of Corvettes, I wanted to do something extra special. So, I created the 1’ x 3’, “Seven Generations of Corvettes 1953-2014 Corvettes” art print, available through our Fine Art America store, HERE.

 The print is available in a variety of sizes and can be custom framed right from the site.

3x1-1953-2014-Corvettes-72

 

Here is the story……..

2013 may be remembered as the most extraordinary year in Corvette history. Not only was 2013 the last year of the sixth generation Corvette, it was also the 60th anniversary of the first Corvette. The only way it could have been better was if the C7 have been released as a ‘13 model. Arguably, the C7 was the most anticipated Corvette ever seen. Continue reading “Corvette C1-C7 in Review…The Most Successful Car in Detroit History?” →