Tag: corvette blog

Special Interest Autos’ – SIA – 1957 SS Corvette Feature Story

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 11.2.11
Hemmings Motor News old sister publication takes a look back at the first special-built Corvette race car, the SS Corvette

Special thanks to Hemmings Blog for the image. For more very cool car stories, visit http://blog.hemmings.com/. I go there every day!

(Be sure to check out the SS Corvette video at the bottom of this post!)

Back in the early ‘80s there was a new trend in the car magazine biz – specialty publications. Marty Schorr’s VETTE Magazine was ahead of the curve when it came out in ‘76. VETTE was the first “Corvette-only” news stand magazine ever published. By the early ‘80s there was a specialty publication for most brand cars. Hemmings Motor News branched out with a unique magazine called, “SIA – Special Interest Automobiles.” While I remember seeing the magazine on the news stands it wasn’t something I was interested in back then, as it featured many pre-WW II “classic” cars, and I was interested in other things at the time.

Fast forward to today and the wonderful world of blogging, Hemmings has one of my favorite car blogs. It’s the preverbal “box of chocolates” because “you never know what you’re going to get.” (thank you Forrest Gump!) Recently at http://blog.hemmings.com/ they posted an interesting and detailed story about the 1957 SS Corvette race car from the October 1988 issue of SIA magazine.

Don’t let the rather scathing introduction put you off, “…the SS was little more than a poorly executed and slapdash affair, deserving of its failure at Sebring and merely spared the pain of further embarrassment… “ The actual article from SIA is very good with lots of pictures, statistics, and some nice technical illustrations of the SS Corvette.

Special thanks to Hemmings Blog for the image. For more very cool car stories, visit http://blog.hemmings.com/. I go there every day!

This is just my opinion, but I think that the introduction was a little unjust for the following reasons. While it is true that Duntov and his team copied the Mercedes 300SL race car’s birdcage frame and chassis, so did many other cars. The design was the standard road racing layout of the day. General Motors of the mid-’50s was arguably the least prepared auto company to even take on such a project, as they had NO experience what-so-ever in building race cars. The only part of the car Chevrolet engineers were familiar with was the 283 Fuelie engine. Plus, the small-block was only in its third year of production and F.I. unit was brand new. Continue reading “Special Interest Autos’ – SIA – 1957 SS Corvette Feature Story” →

Corvettes Unlimited of Vineland New Jersey’s Glass & Steel Show

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.26.11 (This is our 200th post!)

Corvette & Classic Car Autumn Fun in New Jersey

(Check out to six slide shows at the bottom of this post!)

Autumn in New Jersey makes up for Summer in New Jersey. If you can live in Jersey, you can live almost anywhere, as we get it all – LOTS of snow in the winter, below freezing temps in the winter, 100-degree temps with 95% humidity in the Summer and an occasional huricane. But when October rolls around, it’s PERFECT! And a fantastic time for a car show.

Corvettes Unlimited of Vineland, New Jersey changed their venue for their annual car show from Wheaton Village, in Millville to the Michael Debbie Park in Buena Vista. To draw more attendees, the club opened up the show to classic and muscle cars, hence the new name for the show, “The Glass & Steel Show.” While it turned out there there was more steel than glass, it was a delightful show just the same. I for one enjoyed the steel side as much as the glass side.

I took LOTS of pictures, so we have several slide shows to share with you below. Enjoy! – Scott

The People's Choice Award went to: Michael T. Cafarelli, of Minotola, N.J. - 2006 white coupe. The Best of Show Award went to: Gary & Patty Rickets of Salem, N.J. - 1965 silver & red Sting Ray coupe.

Here are the winners. All of the Corvettes in the show can be seen in the below slide shows.

Stock: 1963-1967 – 1st. place: Ole Olson, Northfield, N.J. – 1966 Red Convertible
Stock: 1968-1973 – 1st. place: Joe Biaselli, Vineland, N.J. – 1973 blue convertible
Stock: 1968-1973 – 2nd place: Louis Rodolico, Aston, Pa. – 1976 red coupe
Stock: 1968-1973 – 3rd. place: John O’Brien, Egg Harbor Township, N.J. – 1973 orange coupe
Stock 1974-1982 – 1st. place: Oscar Pierce, Bridgeton, N.J. – 1978 red coupe
Stock 1974-1982 – 2nd. place: Richard Thomas, Pittsgrove, N.J. – 1982 silver coupe
Stock 1983-1996 – 1st. place: Joseph Burrell, Williamstown, N.J. – 1984 red sport
Stock 1983-1996 – 2nd. place: Wayne Wright, Little Egg Harbor, N.J. – 1996 silver convertible
Stock 1983-1996 – 3rd. place: Jon E. Bowen, Pennsville, N.J. – 1994 dk. red coupe
Stock 1997-2004 – 1st. place: Carmen Petrongio, Vineland, N.J. – 2002 blue coupe
Stock 1997-2004 – 2nd place: Linda & Lou Deman, Nesco, N.J. – 2003 red convertible
Stock 2005-2012 – 1st. place: Dennis Enoch, Cherry Hill, N.J. – 2008 black convertible
Stock 2005-2012 – 2nd. place: John Ormsby, Glassboro, N.J. – 2008 red convertible
Stock 2005-2012 – 3rd. place: Buster Petonglo, Newfield, N.J. – 2009 blue Z06
Modified 1953-1967 – 1st. place: Paul Rickets, Pennsville, N.J. – 1966 blue convertible
Modified 1968-1975 – 1st. place: Bill& Dawn Merola, Egg Harbor Twp., NJ 1973 red convertible
Modified 1976-1982 – 1st. place: Bill & Sandy Ward, Mullica Hill, N.J. – 1982 grey coupe
Custom 1953-2012 – 1st.place: Gary & Patty Rickets, Salem, N.J. – 1965 silver coupe
Custom 1953-2012 – 2nd. place:  Jonathan Settrella       Bridgeton, N.J. – 1976 red coupe
People’s Choice: Michael T. Cafarelli, Minotola, N.J. – 2006 white coupe
Best of Show: Gary & Patty Rickets, Salem, N.J. – 1965  silver coupe

To access the slide shows and Continue reading “Corvettes Unlimited of Vineland New Jersey’s Glass & Steel Show” →

1995 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car – The First “Designer” Indy 500 Corvette

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.22.11

For their third go for the 1995 Indy 500 Corvette, product planners decided to let the designers have at it!

Corvettes have paced the Indy 500 11 times and there have been six Corvette Pace Car replicas offered since 1978. When you look back at the cars in chronological order, there’s an interesting progression. The ‘78 Corvette Pace Car was very stately with its black and silver paint with thin red pin stripping. It was very much of a muscle car-type decoration. The ‘86 Corvette Indy Pace Car couldn’t have been more understated – yellow with lettering on the door. That’s it. Chevrolet hadn’t yet embraced the possibilities of a Corvette Pace Car option and basically wanted to avoid the angst the ‘78 car caused.

But by the time the ‘95 Corvette Indy Pace Car arrived, it was obvious that management let the designers have at it. These cars have to be seen in the daylight to be appreciated. The dark purple metallic paint on the upper portion looks like a lollipop. I don’t know the designer that came up with this design, but BRAVO! Since ‘95 Corvette Indy 500 Pace Cars have been, shall we say, brash, with the exception of the silver & black ‘08 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car, which was a salute to the first 1978 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car. Continue reading “1995 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Car – The First “Designer” Indy 500 Corvette” →

Vette Polls: Would You Buy A New, Factory-Built Retro Corvette?

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.20.11

If Chevrolet offered brand new C1, C2, and C3 Retro Corvettes, would you buy one?

Imagine if you could buy a NEW one of these babies!

Take our Poll at the bottom of this post.
The other day I posted a story featuring a collection of make-believe Chevy billboards titled, “Billboards We’d Like to See”. (check it out HERE) Without really thinking deeply about it, my subtitle was, “If Chevrolet was to make retro Corvettes, would billboards such as these help sell cars?” The subtitled popped into my head because as I was looking at the mocked up Corvette billboards, I was struck by just how beautiful the C1, C2, and C3 cars were.

Now this would never, ever, ever happen – but it’s fun to imagine. The basic idea would be this. Start with two Corvettes from each of the first three generations. Let’s say a ‘57 and a ‘62 for the C1 group, a ‘63 and a ‘67 for the C2 Sting Ray group, and a ‘69 and a ‘78 for the C3 group. The idea would be to take the original designs and update the drivetrains, wheels, tires, and brakes, safety requirements, and interior materials and creature comforts. Aside from modern paint colors, wheels, and tires, they would look very much like their original counterparts. They need not be quasi race cars, loaded to the gills with hi-tech hardware. Just brand new, modernized, old-style Corvettes. Sound interesting? So, let’s look at each component.

You could get modern kicks, on Route 66!

Engine & Drive Train: Each car could be powered by an LS3 engine, coupled with a 6-speed manual or automatic transmission. Suspensions should use essentially the original design layout, but with modern shocks, correct anti-sway bars, bushings, steering, etc. The frames should be patterned after the originals, but strengthened in all the known areas of weakness and modified to accept wider tires.

Wheels, Tires, & Brakes: The modified frames could accept tires with modern widths. The wheel diameters should stay at 15-inches so that the wheel/tire proportion looks period correct in the wheelwells. Wheels should be spun-cast aluminum and period styled. C1s could get 15×8 Halibrand styled wheels. C2 and C3 cars could get 15×8-inch spun-cast aluminum Rally wheels or finned knock-odd-style wheels. Brakes should be modern C6 base model brakes.

Could there be such a thing as "too sweet"? This might be it!

Interior: The dash layouts should stay true to their original design, but with upgraded electronic gauges, Bose sound system, airbags, modern leather bucket seats (the original C2 and C2 buckets are really just narrow bench seats), A/C, electric windows and side mirrors, and Nav system. These are cruisers, so the emphasis is on comfort and amenities.

Body: The C1 and C2 cars should get small ‘67-’69 Z-28-style chin spoilers. The C2 cars need a slight forward rake to keep the front end down at higher speeds, All of the cars need to be slightly lowered too. There should be optional hoods. Headlights should be modern LED units but styled in period correct housings. Continue reading “Vette Polls: Would You Buy A New, Factory-Built Retro Corvette?” →

Corvette Billboards We’d Like To See

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.18.11

If Chevrolet was to make retro Corvettes, would billboards such as these help sell cars?

As a “car person” I’m sure you get car related emails from your friends too. The other day my good friend Bill Fackelman sent me a collection of made up images that “should” be Chevy billboards and several were Corvettes. You might have seen a few of these, but they’re still pretty neat.

Here's a REAL Corvette billboard. Part of Chevrolet's "Chevrolet Runs Deep" ad campaign.

Chevrolet has never gotten too much into billboard advertising for Corvettes. It’s understandable, as in the big world of General Motors, the Corvette is a very low-volume car. In 1953 when the Corvette came out Continue reading “Corvette Billboards We’d Like To See” →

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” →

Another Chevrolet-built Custom Corvette – The Bob Wingate FS&O 1967 427 Corvette

Published on by Scott2 Comments

Dateline: 10.12.11

Possibly the ONLY factory-custom Corvette for a non-executive Chevrolet employee.

The last two days we’ve been telling you about the two factory-custom Corvettes built for Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen. As if the customized ‘64 Roadster for Semon wasn’t enough, Mrs. Knudsen may have asked, “Bunkie, where’s my Corvette?” This is total humorous speculation on my part, but one “could” imagine such a conversation. Regardless, they are stunningly beautiful cars and actually, there’s another Knudsen Corvette we’ll be sharing with you soon.

The special custom cars for GM’s top honchos has been for decades a low-key topic and were it not for several of these cars going to auction, we most likely wouldn’t know about them at all. But it seems that not all GM customs were for executives. Of course, we’ll never know for certain how many customs were built and for whom, but here’s one that went to the top Corvette salesman back in the mid-’60s. In the world of Chevrolet sales, Bob Wingate was known as “Mr Corvette” because he sold more Vettes than anyone else. This is an amazing story of achievement, reward, loss, recovery, and a beauty of a restoration. I covered this car in my VETTE Magazine Illustrated Corvette Series No. 158, back in Winter of 2010. Enjoy! – Scott

Here’s the story…
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 158 – 1967 FS&O 427 Corvette: “Bob Wingate’s V.I.P. Special”

Special thanks to VETTE Magazine and Wayne Ellwood. To read the feature story on VetteWeb, click the above image.

In the ‘50s and ’60s, GM had a system for taking care of its top people. Presidents, VPs, high-level managers, and other VIP types often got new cars that were specially made vehicles. These were generically called “SO” – for “Special Order” or “Shop Order” – cars. Another term was “F&SO,” for “Fleet & Special Order.” About 25 to 50 or so of these cars were made each year. However, it was unusual for a car salesman to get one. But Bob Wingate of Clippinger Chevrolet, in Covina, California wasn’t just a good car salesman. He was “Mr. Corvette.”

Wingate started at Clippinger Chevrolet in 1955 as a prep guy – the fellow who cleans the cars prior to delivery. His favorite cars to prep were Corvettes. After a few years, he worked his way into sales, and before long, he was selling more Corvettes than anyone else in California. What got Chevrolet sales managers’ attention was when Wingate ordered 100 ‘62 Corvettes for the dealership. Chevrolet had only sold 10,939 Corvettes in ’61, so they wondered, “Who is this guy?” Upper management was reluctant to send that many cars, but Chevy’s Joe Pike believed in Wingate and was not disappointed. Wingate became the highest volume Corvette salesman in ‘62 and by ’66 had sold more Corvettes than any other salesman. Chevrolet thanked Wingate by giving him the Legion of Leaders award. His reputation even got the attention of Ford’s Lee Iacocca, who offered him a job doing the same kind of work for Mustang and Cobra sales. He declined, and when Joe Pike found out, Wingate got a raise and an F&SO Corvette. He was told, “Pick what you want.” Continue reading “Another Chevrolet-built Custom Corvette – The Bob Wingate FS&O 1967 427 Corvette” →

Vette Videos: Mrs Knudsen’s Ride – Arguably the World’s ONLY Hot Pink 1964 396 Corvette!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.11.11
Chevrolet’s general manager Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen had some very cool perks. So did Mrs. Knudsen!

Special thanks to Jeffy Heasley for the photos. You can visit Jerry site at www.JerryHeasey.com/, or just click the above image.

Yesterday we told you about Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s factory custom ‘64 Blue Fire Mist Corvette Coupe. Well, what a NICE husband Semon must have been! Here’s the ‘64 Corvette Bunkie got for his misses. (I know, what’a guy!) What’s not known is if Mrs. Knudsen said, “Semon, so where’s MY Corvette?” or if he just surprised her one day. I’ll vote that he surprised her one day.

This is another example of what the GM Design Center was capable of creating. In retrospect GM “could” have spun off a little boutique business offering customized luxury V.I.P. versions of their top cars, but that’s just a bench racing fantasy of mine. Florence Knudsen’s Corvette Sting Ray was just dripping with special features and some interesting preproduction features.
This car was once part of former Chevrolet dealer, Bob McDorman’s very large Corvette collection. In November 2010, 150 of McDorman’s collection of Corvettes were auctioned off by Mecum Auctions for a total of $4,599,000. Bunkie Knudsen’s Blue Fire Mist ‘64 Corvette Convertible went for $400,000 and Mrs. Knudsen’s ‘64 Corvette Coupe went for 280,000. A slide show of Jerry Heasley photos and a video are below. Here’s a list of the production options that were on the car, custom features, and hand-made fabricated parts.

Special thanks to Jeffy Heasley for the photos. You can visit Jerry site at www.JerryHeasey.com/, or just click the above image.

Too often, cars such as this are bought and sold over and over to the point of becoming a derelict. This is what happened to the beautiful Bob Wingate FS&O 427 ‘67 Corvette. When the current owner bought the car, it was an abused hulk of what was once an awesome automobile. We’ll be covering the Wingate car tomorrow.

 

 

 

Here are the features of Florence Knudsen’s customized 1964 Corvette.

Factory Production Options:

* AM/FM radio with power antenna.
* Air conditioning.
* Telescope steering column and teak wood steering wheel. Continue reading “Vette Videos: Mrs Knudsen’s Ride – Arguably the World’s ONLY Hot Pink 1964 396 Corvette!” →

Bunkie’s Ride – Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s Factory Custom 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.10.11

Being the general manager of a GM division is hard work, but it sure had its perks!

Special “Thanks!” to Mid American for the beautiful photos! To visit their site, just click the above image.

(Slide show at the bottom of this post)
Back on October 2, 2011 we told you about what would have been Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s  99th birthday. I don’t know if the GM Design Center still does customs, but back in the glory days, one of the perks of being an executive was that you could get a GM car built just for you. I don’t know if the executives actually “designed” their cars or if the GM Design Center guys just “had at it.” (Okay Mr. Knudsen, what color would you like?”) It’s an interesting and very overlooked part of GM’s history. What’s not overlooked is when these cars go on the auction block or are on display at shows.

Kundsen’s GM-customized ‘64 Corvette coupe is now part of Mike Yeager’s Mid America Motorworks “MY Garage” collection of cars, and will be on display at the Mid America booth (#24297) at the 2011 SEMA Show, November 1-4, 2011, in Vas Vegas. (Yes, you can sing a little “Viva Las Vegas” if you have to) Mid America is showing the Knudsen Corvette to showcase their ability to expertly replicate parts for specialty cars through their Performance Choice services.

The Knudsen 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe is just drop dead gorgeous and includes the following special custom features:

* Fire Frost Blue Cadillac paint (same as John Mecum’s grand Sport) over a specially prepared body.
* 327/365 hp engine and original drive train.
* Custom hood with deeper vents. Continue reading “Bunkie’s Ride – Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s Factory Custom 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe” →

Corvette Pace Car Files: 1986 Indy 500 Pace Car Corvette

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.7.11
A Look Back at the Most Common and Overlooked Corvette Pace Car 

1986 was a banner year for Corvette fans with the return of the roadster. The ‘70s was an awful time for performance cars and “fun” cars in general. Between new strict emission controls, sky rocketing gasoline prices (all the way up to 50¢ a gallon! in ‘73), reduced performance, and increased safety concerns, it was not a good time. Convertibles also went down the drain too. Beginning in the Fall of ‘75 with the ‘76 model, there were no more Corvette roadsters. After 22 years, the Corvette Roadster was dead.

So in ‘85 when it was announced that the roadster would be returning, Corvette fans couldn’t be happier. But unlike the olden days when a convertible Corvette cost LESS than a coupe (the ‘75 convertible cost $6,550 and the coupe cost $260 more than the roadster!), the ‘86 Corvette convertible cost an additional $5,005! Unlike the C2 and C3 chassis and body structure, the C4 was not originally designed to be a topless car. Coupe to convertible conversions usually have the characteristic cowl shake and sometimes ride more like wiggle wagons where the driver can actually see the dash shake on bumpy twisty roads. The solution for the C4 was to add a large X-brace to stiffen the chassis.

The second piece of big news for ‘86 was that a Corvette would pace the Indy 500 for the second time. Retired General Chuck Yeager was enjoying celebrity status as a result of the book and movie, “The Right Stuff.” But Chevrolet was still smarting from the heavy criticism over the ‘78 Corvette Pace Car debacle and seemed to go in the opposite direction. Rather than producing a set number of pace car relicas, ALL ‘86 Corvette convertibles were designated as a “Pace Car Replica” and came with dealer or customer applied decals for the doors. Many said, “Why bother.”

By the end of the year, 7,315 of the 35,109 Corvettes were convertibles (20%), all considers “pace cars” regardless of the color of the car. The actual Indy 500 Pace Cars were all yellow and 732 yellow convertibles were sold for the year. No special embroidery, wheel centers, stripes, spoilers… just a set of decals. Consequently, of the six Corvette pace car replicas offered from ‘78 to ‘08, the ‘86 model is the least valuable. Most of the ‘86 Corvette convertible “Pace Cars” never had their decals applied. Continue reading “Corvette Pace Car Files: 1986 Indy 500 Pace Car Corvette” →

Vette Polls: What’s Your Favorite 1968-1982 Shark Corvette?

Published on by Scott2 Comments

Dateline: 10.5.11
The Mako Shark II show car styling forever defined the “Corvette look.” What’s your favorite? Take our poll at the end of this post!

The Mako Shark-II show car was about 7/8s the size of the production '68 Corvette. Or at least, it looked that way.

The 1965-1966 Mako Shark-II show car was so over the top, it just had to be the next Corvette! Chevrolet management was so jazzed they wanted it a year! The first Mako Shark-II was a non-running car and was shown to Chevrolet management in Spring of 1965. I guess because the chassis and running gear would be a carry over from the then current Sting Ray, management thought a totally new body and interior could be designed and developed in time for Fall ‘66 delivery to showrooms as a ‘67 model – 18 months? No way!

So the schedule was pushed back a year to Fall ‘67 as a ‘68 model – and even that was pushing it! The end result was that ‘68 models were, shall we say, challenging. Even through everyone’s socks were going up and down over the look of the car, customers were shocked at how rough their premium car was. The new Shark Corvette should have been introduced as a ‘69 model, but hindsight is 20/20. The ‘69 model was a big improvement and things went from there.

Special thanks to Tom Henry Racing for photo. To visit their site, click the above image.

Of course, we all tend to think that things will always improve, right? So when the ‘70 Corvettes came out with their LT-1 small-blocks, and  enlarged, 454 big-blocks, we all assumed things were going to get even better. But a one-two punch landed squarely on the jaw of performance cars with a right jab from the insurance companies and a left hook from the oil companies and new environmental concerns. While getting the lead out of gasoline was a good thing, it took a long time for performance to recover. 1970 turned out to be the high watermark for performance and it was downhill for almost 15 years.

While the performance party was definitely over in the ‘70s and car makers were dropping their muscle cars like hot potatoes, it turned out to be a good thing for Corvettes. Continue reading “Vette Polls: What’s Your Favorite 1968-1982 Shark Corvette?” →

Corvette Timeline Tails: Happy 99th Birthday Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 10.2.11

One of the Unsung Heros of Corvettes & High Performance Chevrolets

Within the machinations of a big corporation, to get things done, it’s good to have an angel. Zora Arkus-Duntov had several angels. We’ve talked about Duntov’s relationship with Chevrolet honcho Ed Cole. But one angel that doesn’t get much attention was Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen.

Semon’s father was former GM president, William S. Knudsen. While this was helpful for the younger Kneudsen’s career, things weren’t handed to Bunkie – he had to work for what he accomplished. Like many teenage boys of his generation, Semon was interested in mechanical things. When he asked for a car, his Dad gave him one… in pieces for the young man to out back together. During his college years, Summer break meant a stint working at GM… on the assembly line. Upon graduation, Knudsen got a job at Pontiac in 1939 and quickly rose up through the management ranks. By 1956 he was the general manager at Pontiac.

The main job of every general manager is to increase sales. Like Chevrolet, Pontiac had a stogy public image. Bunkie assembled a team to jazz up the line and brought in Pete Estes from Oldsmobile, and John Z. DeLorean from Packard to create high performance version of his best -selling Pontiacs. Thus began the era of the “Wide Track Pontiac.” (Remember the ‘60s jingle, “Break away, to a wide track’n, Pon-tee-ack…”?) Within a few years, Pontiacs were a force to be contended with in NASCAR racing. Bunkie’s makeover of Pontiac put the division in third place in the industry and his reward was a promotion to head of the Chevrolet Division in 1961. Continue reading “Corvette Timeline Tails: Happy 99th Birthday Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen” →