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”
Tag: Illustrated Corvette Series
Vette Polls: What Is Your Favorite C4 Corvette?
Dateline: 10.1.11
With 13 Model Years and Eight Unique Special Versions, Vote For Your Favorite!
Cast your vote at the bottom of this post
When the new 1984 Corvette was shown to the automotive press in the Summer of ‘83, there was a wave of euphoria. “FINALLY!!! A New Corvette!” As there should have been. After all, the Shark had been with us since 1968 and the steel parameter frame and suspension since 1963. The chassis was designed somewhere around 1960! So you could say the car was a little over due for an update.
In retrospect the C4 was an extraordinary generation. It came with 205-horsepower, went out with the 330-horsepower LT4, and maxed out with the 405-horsepower LT5. Here are the highlights:
* Domination of 1985 to 1987 Showroom Stock Series
* 1986 Indy 500 Convertible
* 1987 to 1991 Callaway Twin-Turbo Option
* 1988 35th Anniversary Edition
* 1988 Callaway 254.76-MPH Sledgehammer
* 1990 to 1995 ZR-1
* 1990 Morrison ZR-1 24-Hour Speed Record of 175.885-MPH
* 1992 LT1 as the base engine
* 1993 40th Anniversary Edition
* 1995 Indy 500 Pace Car Replica
* 1996 Collector Edition
* 1996 LT4-Powered Grand Sport
C4 Corvettes are at rock bottom prices these days and there were so many built that if you cut one up and make it into a hot rod, no one will howl at you. That is, unless you cut up a Grand Sport. I’ve read comments from some fellows stating that for them, the appeal of a C4 is that it still has that “rough muscle car” feel to it. As a generation, the C4 had a lot to offer and today, they make excellent entry level Corvettes. I’ve seen early C4s with a little Continue reading “Vette Polls: What Is Your Favorite C4 Corvette?”
1996 LT4 Small-Block Chevy – The Finished Classic SBC?
Dateline: 9.30.11
Forty One Years of Classic Small-Block Chevy Success and Power!
When the Cadillac-derived Small-block Chevy engine first arrived in 1955, I’m certain that Ed Cole and his team of Chevrolet engineers never imagined that their efforts would have such a profound and long lasting impact on the automobile industry. The little 265-cubic-inch engine had just 162-horsepower. By 1970 the 350-cubic-inch LT-1 engine was packing 370 gross horsepower. Beginning in 1973 Gm started rating their engines in “net” figures making it look as if the legs had been cut out from under all of their motors. While it’s true that there were emissions restrictions and reduced compression, the “net” power ratings were in real-world terms, closer to reality. From ‘73 to ‘96 it was a long slow slog, but the last SBC to use the basic original design was the 330-horsepower LT4. So, what would be the ”gross” horsepower rating of a ‘96 LT4? That would be anyone’s guess, but somewhere close to or over 400-horsepower would be a good guess.
Since Spring ‘11 I have been asking the question in my Illustrated Corvette Series VETTE Magazine column, “What’s the best _____?” for each generation Corvette. ICS No. 174 takes a look at the 1996 LT4 Corvette and asks, is this “The Finished Classic SBC?” let’s get into the details. Talk about going out with a roar! Enjoy – Scott
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 174: 1996 LT4 Small-Block Chevy – “The Finished Classic SBC?”
The ‘97 C5 Corvette was introduced to the press in November ‘96 at Road Atlanta Raceway, in Georgia and went on sale at Chevrolet dealers on March 7, 1997. Not only was the body, interior, chassis, and suspension all-new, there was a totally new engine and transaxle. The splash the new C5 created, followed up with roadsters, Pace Cars, hardtops, race cars, and a Le Mans win in ‘01, was so huge that the highlights and achievements of the C4s quickly faded. While the jewel-like LT-5 that powered the exotic ZR-1 still stands as the high watermark of the C4 generation, there was a quieter high watermark that took place. Had the LT4 engine option arrived a few years before, there would have been another Chevy legend.
The C5 program was an on-and-off-and-on again project due to GM’s financial troubles in the early ‘90s. Initial sorties began in ‘88 with the intention of an all-new C5 a ‘93 model. Corvette chief engineer, Dave McLellan was given a budget of $250 million, but that number turned into a roller coaster ride with the C5 being pushed back year after year. GM’s miracle of the ‘90s was that there even was a C5 Corvette. All of this makes the LT4 even more amazing. Continue reading “1996 LT4 Small-Block Chevy – The Finished Classic SBC?”
1982 Collector Edition Corvette – The Polished Shark
Dateline: 9.5.11
Illustrated Corvette Series looks back at the Last of the C3 Corvettes
For the last three months I’ve been having fun with my VETTE Magazine monthly column, “The Illustrated Corvette Series” looking back at what I believe are the “best” of every generation Corvette. So far, we have looked at the ‘62 Fuelie Corvettes and the ‘67 427/435 L89 Big-Block. This month we’re looking at the last of the C3 Corvettes, the ‘82 Collector Edition Hatchback. While it wasn’t the stump-puller from the late ‘60s and early ‘70, the ‘82 Collector Edition was a very sweet machine. So, let’s get straight to it! – Scott
The ‘70s had been a challenging and strange time for America’s sports car. Performance had been on a decline since ‘70 but because of little to-no-competition, Corvettes sold like hot cakes, hitting an all-time high of 53,807 units in ‘79. Between increasing federal demands for emissions and safety improvements, there was little time for performance. In fact, what should have been a performance improvement through the use of lighter materials – aluminum differential, tube headers, etc – was offset by reduced horsepower due to more stringent emissions controls.
When Dave McLellan inherited the Corvette from Zora Arkus-Duntov in ‘75, it was not a pretty picture. Poor quality was rooted in the seriously outdated 1920s St. Louis plant. Rumors of a new assembly plant began in ‘73. Another challenge was the Corvette’s very old chassis and drivetrain. Designed in ‘61, most components were not shared with any other GM car. John DeLorean tried to address this issue with his plan to build Corvettes on the Camaro/Firebird chassis pan. While this might have made GM’s bean counters happy, it would have been a bad move. McLellan was charged with the responsibility of tighter government controls, keeping the Corvette fresh, improving existing hardware, transitioning the car’s assembly plant, and designing and implementing the new C4. A real peach of a job, right? Continue reading “1982 Collector Edition Corvette – The Polished Shark”
Vette Videos: 2009 Press Conference Debut of the Corvette Stingray Concept Car
Dateline: 8.14.11
GM’s top Car Guy, Ed Welburn, introduces the Tom Peters-designed Corvette Stingray Concept car to the world at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show!
Every debutante has her day, that special day when she’s the bell of the ball. Corvette styling chief and lead designer of the C6 Corvette and the Corvette Stingray Concept car, Tom Peters was a proud papa on February 11,2009 when GM’s Ed Welburn debuted the Corvette Stingray Concept car at the Chicago Auto Show. Before we get into the rest of the event, let me get this out of the way in the beginning. In Spring ‘11 I had the opportunity to talk at length with Tom Peters for my Illustrated Corvette Series No. 170 2-page color special edition covering the latest and arguably the swoopiest Corvette concept car to ever wear the Corvette moniker. Tom was emphatic, “This is NOT the C7 Corvette.”
I already knew that before we spoke and perhaps it was my clarification before we talked that I was not trying to fish for details about the C7 design we all know Tom and his team have been working very hard upon. Our conversation was strictly focused on the actual Corvette Stingray Concept car. While there are tons of photos with copious amounts of regurgitated generic speculation about what the latest concept Vette represents, there were actually very few details about the actual car. You can read the compete article as it appeared in the August 2011 issue of VETTE Magazine, HERE.
But for this post, lets get back to the debut video. Corvettes have never been far from Hollywood. Millions of Americans weekly enjoyed the adventures of Todd Styles (Martin Milner) and Buzz Murdock (George Maharis) in the early ‘60s TV show, “Route 66.” Corvettes have had bit parts in everything from the Elvis Presley movie, “Clambake,” the film, “Corvette Summer,” the 80s TV show “Stingray,” and now the latest in the Transformers franchise, as the car/transforming robot machine, “Sideswipe” in the Michael Bay film, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” Unlike the Presley film, “Clambake” which used a red version of the ‘59 Stingray Racer, Continue reading “Vette Videos: 2009 Press Conference Debut of the Corvette Stingray Concept Car”
Vette Videos: Corvette Stingray Comcept Car at the Car Shows!
Dateline: 8.9.11
Until Chevrolet wants us to know what the C7 looks like, this is the best we can do…
We’ve covered the upcoming C7 Corvette from every angle here at Corvette Report. To access all of our C7-related posts, look at the top of the page for the “Search Gens” drop down in the red bar to catch all of our posts. Just today we launched a new section for your enjoyment titled, “Vette Videos” We have videos of all seven generation Corvettes, plus a section of Corvette racers. Look in the above red bar for the drop down menu. So to kick off the C7 category, we’re dishing up a few videos taken at car shows of the Corvette Stingray Concept / Transformers car.
More videos below… Continue reading “Vette Videos: Corvette Stingray Comcept Car at the Car Shows!”
Coming Attractions For The Illustrated Corvette Series!
1978 – 2003 Special Edition Corvettes
Things have been COOK’N here at Free Spirit Enterprises. Last month, not only was our Illustrated Corvette Series book released for publication, but we launched a new website, CorvetteLaserArt.com. With those two big projects behind us, we’ll now have more time for The CorvetteReport blog.
So, here’s what’s coming up in The Illustrated Corvette Series, as well as some BIG NEWS at VETTE Magazine. Continue reading “Coming Attractions For The Illustrated Corvette Series!”
Social Media is Catalyst that Gets New Corvette Book Published!
LinkedIn Plays Key Role in Getting K. Scott Teeters his Illustrated Corvette Series Book Deal!
The Creation of the Illustrated Corvette Series
by K. Scott Teeters
That Corvette History Column
The Illustrated Corvette Series book is something that I have been thinking about for a long time. My VETTE Magazine monthly column began as a wild idea – “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to do an illustrated monthly column telling the chronological history of the Corvette?” That was in Winter ‘97. I created a rough layout and faxed it to VETTE’s then editor, Richard Lentinello. Richard thought it was cool, but didn’t have any open pages for another monthly column. Thanks, but, no thanks. A few days later, he called me to tell me that one of his columnists bagged out on him. “Are you still interested in that Corvette history column?” It was a shocker for me because “no” usually means, “no.” I replied, “Ahh… sure, YES!” After I got off the phone, I thought, “Oh wow! Now I HAVE TO get these done every month! Continue reading “Social Media is Catalyst that Gets New Corvette Book Published!”
Illustrated Corvette Series Book
| Coming in 2010!
“The Illustrated Corvette Series” Book Subtitle: The Illustrated History of the Corvette from 1953 to 2010 by K. Scott Teeters |
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CarTech Books will publish a 144-page book version of Scott’s Illustrated Corvette Series column, as seen every month in VETTE Magazine since 1997. Continue reading “Illustrated Corvette Series Book”
