The 1957 Corvette SS Racer’s exotic body turned out to be the hot ticket to failure!
Image: GM Archives
Dateline: 11.16.17 (VIDEO BELOW!) –This was such a heady time! Corvettes were starting to do well in racing and the Fuelie was about to go into production. Chevy general manager Ed Cole gave Duntov the green light to move forward with the XP-64/Corvette SS racer. The XP-64 was a purpose-built, tube-frame racer that was to be the template for Duntov’s 1957 Le Mans assault team of Corvette SS racecars.
Image: K. Scott Teeters – The Corvette SS Racer is owned by the Indy 500 Museum. This photo was taken at Bill Tower’s 2016 “60 Years of Corvette Racing” seminar at the 2016 12 Hours of Sebring event.
“Lightweight” was sports car exotica in those days and the only thing lighter than fiberglass or aluminum was magnesium, so the XP-64 was to have an exotic magnesium body. Continue reading “
Corvette “Timeline Tales” Nov. 16, 1956: One magnesium-bodied XP-64 (Corvette SS) would be built for the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring race” →
A C7 ZR1 in full-camo makes a daylight raid on Nurburgring in the snow and rain!
Looks like Car and Driver nailed the ZR1 on the April 2017 cover! Image credit: Motor1.com
Dateline: 4.20.17 –Before you know it, we’ll know it! Chevrolet and the media are teasing us like never before. Spy photos are now so clear and sharp that it looks like Car and Driver Magazine’s April 2017 cover nailed it.
Of course, we still don’t know what’s really lurking beneath all that carbon fiber. Will the ZR1 be powered by the next generation LT5 engine? Will the ZR1 have GM’s Active Aero System? Or, are they saving those gems for the mid-engine C8? Folks, we just do not yet know, which leads to delicious bench racing. Enjoy the below Corvette video.
Even without the LT5 or Active Aero goodies, a goosed-up LT4 sporting a bigger supercharger and intercooler could do the trick. Maybe Chevrolet engineers will employ Continue reading “
C7 ZR1 Making THUNDERSNOW at Nurburgring!- Video” →
Dateline: 10.6.11 Another look at AWD, does it really matter?
To visit the official ZR1 website, click the above image.
(Cast your vote at the bottom of this post.)
The other day I was sharing with you the November 2011 Road & track cover story about the 2-second club – three world-class sports cars capable of 0-to-60 in LESS than 3-seconds. Club members include the Nissan GT-R Premium, the Porsche 911 Turbo S, and the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. All three cars had AWD and except for the nuts-o 1,183-HP Bugatti, the other two members have LESS horsepower that the ZR1. Plus, the ZR1 Corvetteweighs 225-pounds LESS than the Porsche. So, the Corvette with a 106-horsepower advantage isn’t in the club, what’s up with that? “All-wheel-drive” boys and girls.
Mamma mia! That's'a SPICY meatball! And she's nice too!
Well don’t despair Corvette fans, not all AWD supercars are in the 2-second club. The Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV could only to the 0-to-60 scoot in 3.0-seconds, so no club membership card for the Lambo either. The June ‘09 Car & Driver Lambo test car was packing 661-HP, 487 LB/FT of torque, weighed 3,850-pounds, and has a top speed of 209 to 213-mph. All that for only $457,500 – enough to buy three ZR1s and a Z06! But we won’t beat them up over a few hundred grand.
Dateline: 9.20.11 But on the street, it’s grump, Grump, GRUMP!
Jeremy Clarkson from the TV program, “Top Gear” arguably has the best car-guy job on the planet! All he has to do is drive, burn rubber, and critique. And his critiques are usually, ah, I’ll be a lot nicer that the comments people leave on YouTube, and describe them as “crabby.”
Clarkson starts off flogging the pants off the 505-horsepower C6 Z06 at Willow Springs Raceway and is just about besides himself! He loves what the car will do on the track and has WAY too much fun rear-wheel-drifting the “Zed-Oh-Six” as he calls the car. (He’s a Brit, so we’ll cut him a little slack!) Everything is sweetness, light, and adrenaline… COOL!
