Tag: burt greenwood

Bench Racing with John Greenwood, Free PDF Booklet & Video

Published on by Scott

Inside the Mind of John Greenwood

Dateline: 10.8.21  To download the free PDF, CLICK HERE. NOTE: When your PDF Reader opens, change the “View” setting to 100% to more easily read the article pages. 

John Greenwood is a legend in the world of Corvettes. Through the ’70s, while production Corvettes struggled to maintain as much performance as possible, John and his brother Burt built a series of stunning C3 Corvette race cars. Arguably, the most famous of the Greenwood Brothers Corvettes was their famous “Batmobile” very wide-body Corvette that was more aerodynamic and produced lots of down-force on the car’s huge racing slicks. Greenwood needed as much traction as he could get to better work his ZL-1 427 engines, rumored to be making upwards of 700-hp, perhaps more. Continue reading “Bench Racing with John Greenwood, Free PDF Booklet & Video” →

CONGRATULATIONS Burt & John Greenwood, Tom Wallace, and Mike Yager on Your Induction Into the 2018 National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame – Videos

Published on by Scott

Tom Wallace, Burt & John Greenwood, and Mike Yager Inducted into the 2018 National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame!

Photo: www.CorvetteBlogger.com

Every year the National Corvette Museum inducts three members of the Corvette community into their Hall of Fame’s three categories; GM / Chevrolet, Corvette Racing, and Corvette Enthusiast.

In the GM / Chevrolet category, Tom Wallace, Corvette’s fourth Chief Engineer was inducted.

In the Corvette Racing category two men were inducted, Burt Greenwood & John Greenwood. Continue reading “CONGRATULATIONS Burt & John Greenwood, Tom Wallace, and Mike Yager on Your Induction Into the 2018 National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame – Videos” →

John Greenwood’s 235-MPH Sebring ’75 Corvette Racer – NO SALE – VIDEO

Published on by Scott

The first wide-body Corvette race car went on the Mecom Monterey 2015  block!

Mecum greenwood

Timeline: 8-15-15- Car auctions have never been more fun ever since they went LIVE online. Below is the video of the auction! Bidding stalled out at $300,000 and was a NO SALE!

It was anticipated that the car would fetch between $550,000 and $700,000, so stalling out at a measly $300,000 is incredible! According to the Mecum description of the car, $250,000 was put into the car’s restoration.

What’s mind-boggling is that earlier in the evening a 1969 L88 Roadster sold for $750,000 – CLICK HERE for details. So, if you’re itching to own a major piece of Corvette racing history, the Greenwood Sebring ’75 Corvette will no doubt be back on the block.

Here are the car’s details from the Mecum info page. 

This is the worlds fastest racing  Corvette and set a Top Speed Record of 236 MPH at Daytona in 1975!

In the history of endurance racing, some entries have notably stood out in sheer importance, and the car being made available here will satisfy the most discerning criteria. We are proud to present to you the 1974 Greenwood Corvette chassis number 002, the ‘Spirit of Sebring ’75,’ the first and most famous of only six Greenwood wide-body race machines ever built. Continue reading “

John Greenwood’s 235-MPH Sebring ’75 Corvette Racer – NO SALE – VIDEO” →

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” →

CorvetteReport.com’s Top 10 Corvette Stories for 2011

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 12.30.11

A look back at a VERY BUSY year for the Corvette Community

The other day I was telling my wife, Karen, that the Corvette topic is virtually endless. With nearly 60 years of production, 21 special editions, race cars, tuner cars, experimentals, prototypes, events, auctions, car shows, history, plus the personalities associated with Corvettes, IT’S HUGE! An army of bloggers couldn’t cover it all, but I’ll do my best! As we ease into the last two days and the last weekend of 2011, I thought it would be fun to look back at what I think were the Top 10 Corvette Stories of 2011. So, in no particular order or importance, let’s take a cruise through the 2011 world of Corvettes.

1. Chevrolet’s 100th Birthday – The early days of the automobile industry were indeed wild. Companies were formed, bought out, merged, or went out of business – often very quickly! The truly wild part of the Chevrolet story has to do with the company’s namesake, Louis Chevrolet. It seemed that Louis and his partner Billy Durant didn’t see eye-to-eye and after a few short years, Louis cashed out and went on his merry way building race cars. But in what has to be the ultimate irony of the automotive world, after numerous businesses failed and the Great Depression caught up with Louis, the man “needed a job!” And where did he find employment? At Chevrolet, as an assembly line mechanic! For more of the story, CLICK HERE.

2. The 100 millionth Small-Block Chevy Engine – Last August GM announced that Chevrolet would be building its 100 millionth small-block Chevy engine later in the year and it would be installed into a ‘12 Corvette. Pretty damn cool, considering that the car’s survival was very iffy well into the ‘60s. Regardless, it’s great to see how Chevrolet has honored the small-block Chevy engine AND the Corvette by officially making what is currently the most powerful production engine ever built in Detroit, the ZR1’s 638-horsepower LS9 engine, the “100,000,000th Small-Block Chevy Engine.” BRAVO Chevrolet. Last November CorvetteBlogger.com did a very nice post covering this once-in-a-lifetime Corvette/Chevrolet event. To read the story, CLICK HERE.

 

3. Jalopnik’s MAJOR C7 Sneak Peek – Thanks to the internet and the blogosphere, there has NEVER before been this much anticipation for a new generation Corvette. When new scraps of C7 red meat hit the floor, us Corvette doggies go wild! Last November Jalopnik.com dropped a major slice on the Corvette community. At first they claimed they had photos. Then the next day they released three, very well done, computer-generated illustrations they claim are based on an unnamed insider that swears on a stack of Bibles piled up on his mother’s grave that this IS the new C7 Corvette! And not “just” the 2014 C7 Corvette, but the 2015 ZR1 Corvette. Of course, Chevrolet says Jalopnik got it all wrong, to which Jalopnik followed up with a post saying, “GM issues weak-ass denial of our 2014 Corvette exclusive.” Come on kids, PLAY NICE! You can catch out post HERE.

4. Another Le Mans Win For The Corvette Racing Team – It’s no secret that the Corvette Racing team didn’t have a spectacular year. Which goes to show us all that there’s no resting on your laurels. Just because the team won 100% of their races in 2004, 90% of their races in 2002 and 2005, and Le Mans six times before, doesn’t mean that a hundred things can’t go wrong out on a race track. Of the 10 races in the season, the team won two and came in 2nd place two times. Le Mans and Mosport were the team’s two first place victories and Long Beach and Mid-Ohio were the team’s second place wins. While a 20% win rate isn’t “spectacular” Le Mans IS the big prize. CorvetteBlogger.com did a very nice post on the Le Mans victory that you can read HERE. And you can keep up with the latest from the Corvette Racing Team at their official www.CorvetteRacing.com site. Continue reading “CorvetteReport.com’s Top 10 Corvette Stories for 2011” →

The John & Burt Greenwood BF Goodrich Trifecta at Corvette Repair

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 12.19.11

Mega Horsepower! Racing on Street Tires! And Blazing Stars & Stripes!

(Check out the slide show at the bottom of this post.)

Here’s a sweet little bench racing, Corvette day dream for ya! Imagine if you have a Corvette restoration shop and you had ALL THREE Greenwood  BF Goodrich Corvette race cars in for restoration work. Yes, I know – open headered, old-school, hard-ass Corvette racing machines. Could you stand it? Well, Kevin Mackay and the Corvette Repair team could and it was no bench racing fantasy.

Mackay’s Valley Stream, New York shop has been doing top level C1, C2, and C3 Corvette restoration work on production Corvettes for over 25 years and has developed a nitch for Corvette race car restoration work. Kevin and his team of craftsmen have brought back to life some of the most famous early model Corvette race cars and Chevrolet Engineering experimentals to ever wear a set of Corvette cross flags. It’s not uncommon for race cars to be thoroughly beat when a team decides to unload a machine. Once gone, most teams rarely if ever keep track of the car’s new owners. So, part of what makes Corvette Repair’s work so interesting is the car’s back story of what happened after a high-profile team sold the old war horse off. Some are well maintained and enjoyed on the track. Some are even converted BACK to street cars, such as the Cunningham Le Mans class-winning 1960 Corvette. And others aren’t so fortunate and are pretty much are one hoof away from the glue factory. Continue reading “The John & Burt Greenwood BF Goodrich Trifecta at Corvette Repair” →

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175 – Greenwood Stars & Strips Goes On The Block!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.30.11
Here’s the latest installment from the Illustrated Corvette Series VETTE Magazine Column

(Check out the Greenwood video at the bottom of this post!)

It was early last July that Kevin Mackay of Corvette Repair sent me a link to the RM Auctions online version of their Monterey Auction Catalog. Kevin and I have had many conversations about early Corvette race cars, so he knows that I’m a big fan. Any time a Greenwood Corvette goes on the block it’s big news, so I posted a story about the auction right away. For the next 6 weeks or so, the car magazine and Corvette blogs were on fire in anticipation of the auction. RM Auctions broadcasts their auctions online, so I stayed up and watched the coverage and sale of the Greenwood ZL-1. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. Here’s the post of the auction coverage.

Since the car has so much historical importance, I decided to cover the car in my VETTE Magazine monthly column, “The Illustrated Corvette Series.” The January 2012 issue of VETTE just came out, so I’m sharing the story and art with you below. Enjoy! – Scott

Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175: #49 Greenwood ‘69 427 ZL-1 Racer
“Stars and Stripes On The Block!”

Expectations were high when it was announced that the No. 49 Greenwood BF Goodrich “Stars and Stripes” Corvette was going on the block at the 2011 RM Auction Monterey event. Some estimated that the car would sell for $750,000 to $950,000. In ‘09 the Gulf One ‘63 Z06 Corvette racer went for an astonishing $1.113 Million! So there was quite a buzz in the Corvette community.

John and Burt Greenwood knew all about Duntov’s “racer kits” and like many others, took maximum advantage of the special hardware. The Greenwood boys had another advantage. Sr. Greenwood had been a WW II fighter pilot and worked at the GM Tech Center. Their Dad would sometimes take young John and Burt to work on Saturdays, to let the lads see the experimentals and prototypes. It was better than an invitation to Elvis’ house! Continue reading “Illustrated Corvette Series No. 175 – Greenwood Stars & Strips Goes On The Block!” →

Corvette Timeline Tales: July 4, 1971 – John Greenwood Wins July 4th Race

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John Greenwood & Bob Johnson July 4th Win at Michigan International Speedway!

Here’s Greenwood’s Corvette at Daytona in 1971.

July 4, 1971 was a great day for America, Corvettes, John Greenwood, and Bob Johnson! At Michigan International Speedway, Greenwood and Johnson picked up a big win in a 4-hour endurance race in a field of 36 cars. Greenwood’s car was sporting an early version of his stars and stripes livery that would eventually become his signature trademark.

We covered Greenwoods BF Goodrich ZL-1 Corvette last month HERE. And it just happens that today (July 4, 2011) Blog.Hemmings.com also covered the car because it’s going on the block at RMAuctions soon. So, if you’ve ever had the itch to own an early Greenwood ZL-1 Corvette, here’s your chance. Bring lots of cash or a BIG line of credit! Continue reading “Corvette Timeline Tales: July 4, 1971 – John Greenwood Wins July 4th Race” →

John & Burt Greenwood’s C4 Corvette “G” Supercars

Published on by Scott

John & Burt Greenwood Build Super C4 Corvettes

This was to be Greenwood's $425,000 Supervette.

John Greenwood is a Corvette racing legend. Actually, it was the “John and Bert” Greenwood story here because John’s brother Bert was very much part of the story. Through the ‘70s, Greenwood Corvettes were fearsome and very entertaining. It was a classic, American little guy vs the big dogs. The Woodward Avenue street racer put the fear of big-block Chevy power into the competition. While all of the above is correct, sometimes early childhood impressions have profound effects on a lad’s life.

The Greenwood brothers had an inside connection – their Dad. Sr. Greenwood worked at the GM Tech Center and on weekends would take John and Bert to see some of the prototype cars in development. (Can you imagine that?) The inspired boys started their careers with a tube frame go-cart, powered by a Briggs & Stratton lawn mower engine. Not long after getting his drivers license, John was street racing a big-block ‘64 Corvette. Street racing lead to road racing with John winning the A/Production championship in his first year. Continue reading “John & Burt Greenwood’s C4 Corvette “G” Supercars” →