Tag: Marty Schorr

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” →

Marty Schorr’s “Car Guys Who Lunch” Car Club – Start Your own Chapter!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.13.11
“There’s only ONE rule – Be a real car guy, or be GONE!”
– Martyn L. Schorr, OWner of Sarasoda Cafe Racers Car Club

Marty will probably blush over this, but I’ll say it. Marty Schorr has made a larger contribution to not just the Corvette world, but to automotive hobbyists all over. Marty was at the helm of High-Performance CARS magazine for nearly 20 years. But “CARS” wasn’t the only pub Marty drove. He was also editor of Chevy Action, Speed and Super Car, the founder of VETTE Magazine and Thunder-AM, plus dozens of CARS Annual special editions and a few dozen stand alone car books. His latest book “Motion Performance – Tales of a Muscle Car Builder” is the official history of the Baldwin-Motion experience, as told by the man that helped create the whole shebang! As front man for the Baldwin-Motion experience, Marty provided those wonderful, “in-your-face” PR, advertising, brochures, and catalog campaigns for the successful Phase III Supercars. The list just goes on and on. “Prolific” is an understatement. And now, we should also add “car club impresario” to Marty’s list of accomplishments.

Marty isn't late, but as Maitre d’ café & CCO (Chief Communications Officer), he likes to be at the restaurant first.

Car Guys Who Lunch started in 2003 when a group of dudes with gasoline in their veins got together for burgers and bench racing in a cafe in Sarasota, Florida. A good time was had by all with everyone agreeing, “Lets do it again!” Within a year, “Sarasota Cafe Racers” was officially launched, or should I say, “lunched.” (Arr, arr!) There are two aspects of Car Guys Who Lunch that make it so unique.

Continue reading “Marty Schorr’s “Car Guys Who Lunch” Car Club – Start Your own Chapter!” →

ULTRA RARE! 1977 Motion Performance “Phase III” Turbo Corvette

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 9.12.11
From the archives of Chevy Action Magazine, a turbocharged 350 Phase III Swedish export Corvette!

Perhaps if Car Craft Magazine hadn’t splashed the story, “King Kong Is Alive and Living On Long Island” in the January 1974 issue, Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen would have had a few more years to build Baldwin Motion Phase III Supercars. It seemed that the federal government thought Motion had a huge enterprise that was cranking out thousands of pollution belching, tire burning , fire breathing social menaces. The DOT had some very stiff, crushing fines they wanted to levy against Rosen for EVERY emissions control device that was removed from every car he built. Talk about heavy-handed and over reaching.

In the end, after seeing that Motion Performance was a very small operation, the Feds backed off, fined Rosen $500, and issued a “cease and desist” order that precluded him from selling modified cars for street use. If cars were sold within the USA, a disclaimer went along with the car that read, “This vehicle does not comply with DOT and EPA regulations and is for off-road use only.” The disclaimer had to be signed by Rosen and the owner.

That pretty much put the kabash on the Baldwin Motion Phase III Supercars. However, if you bought a new Chevy or had a Chevy that you wanted “Motionized,” it was up to you as to getting your car inspected. If you were going to buy the car and take it outside the United States, no problem. Through the last half of the ‘70s and well into the ‘80s Mr. Motion built and sold lots of “export” supercars. Continue reading “ULTRA RARE! 1977 Motion Performance “Phase III” Turbo Corvette” →

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!! CorvetteReport.com’s NEW “Vette Videos” Feature!!!

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.14.11
Corvette videos for every generation and Corvette racing lovers too!

First, I have to thank my wife and business partner, Karen, for dragging me away from my drawing board and into the world of blogging. We launched our first post on CorvetteReport.com on August 17, 2009 – nearly two years ago. For the longest time, I would add a post every now and then, sometimes going weeks or months in between posts. But the more I read and studied the subject of blogging, I could not escape the fact that for a blog to get a lot of traffic, you have to post several times a week – preferably daily.

So, last Spring I got on the stick and started posting every few days and by mid-June, just about every day. I also studied other car blogs to research what I like and what I don’t like. I found three blogs that I liked because they are constantly being updated. And because there’s always something new and fresh, I visit Keith Cornett’s CorvetteBlogger.com, Marty Schorr’s CarGuyChronicles.com, and Hemmings Blog EVERY day. Why? Because they’re FUN! To quote Forrest Gump, “It’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”

Last week was “Vette Videos” week. I asked myself, “How could I make CorvetteReport.com better and more fun?” Add videos! DUGH! So over the last week, I have been hammering away at my Mac’s keyboard filling up the eight video sections with fun Vette videos. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as much as I did researching, writing, and stitching together the 25 video posts to get our new feature loaded up.

At the top of the page in the red bar, look for the third drop down that says, “VETTE VIDEOS.” When you click the link, the drop down will give you eight choices – C1 Vette Videos, C2 Vette Videos, C3 Vette Videos, C4 Vette Videos, C5 Vette Videos, C6 Vette Videos, C7 Vette Videos, plus Corvette Racing Videos. “Vette Videos” will be a regular feature at CorvetteReport.com, along with our “This day in Corvette history” feature titled, “Corvette Timeline Tales.” Continue reading “SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!! CorvetteReport.com’s NEW “Vette Videos” Feature!!!” →

Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 2

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 8.1.11
An intimate conversation with Marty Schorr – Baldwin Motion, VETTE Quarterly, and other adventures…

(Our conversation picks up with an enterprise that’s still being talked about! You can catch Pt. 1 of this interview, HERE.)

Prototype 1968 Baldwin Motion Phase III SS-427 Corvette

ST – That’s a great segue Marty, let’s talk about the Baldwin-Motion experience.

MS – Baldwin Chevrolet was an old, local, mom & pop Chevy dealership. Joel was friends with John Mahler, the parts manager, and it all started out as a sponsorship with a strippo, red, big-block Camaro that they dropped an L-88 427 into and went drag racing. It was an advertising / promotion thing. The car ran great and we put our heads together and pitched a program to the Baldwin Chevrolet owners for a full line of supercars called, “The Fantastic Five” that included a Camaro, Chevelle, Nova, Impala, and of course, a Corvette.

We would start off with the biggest optioned engine and heavy-duty suspension and drive train, then we would drop in a 427 with a lot of hot rod parts. Because we were starting off with the toughest stuff available from the factory, the cars were amazingly durable, and still under warranty. We added aftermarket wheels, custom stripes, and badges that created a complete brand. The cars put Baldwin Chevrolet on the map and everyone made money. I did all the branding, catalogs, and ads, we had a shop do the custom stripping, and Joel did the conversions and final tests. Every car was guaranteed to run 12.5 in the quarter-mile with a professional driver. For a time we were the biggest specialty car maker under Shelby. When we got into the V-8 Vegas, Baldwin Chevrolet really didn’t want to have them branded as “Baldwin-Motion” cars because they were front heavy and didn’t handle very well. So if you ever see any of the Vega cars we did, you notice that they are “Motion Performance” car and not “Baldwin-Motion” cars.

Marty discovered that if he ran a hot Corvette on the cover of a magazine, news stand sales would improve. That's called "Corvette power."

 

ST – I was a teenager when you were splashing those incredible Baldwin-Motion and muscle car road tests in CARS. You assembled a group of writers that made the magazine something to look forward to every month. How did that all come together?

MS – When it comes out right, you’re a hero, otherwise, you’re a bum. The perception was that East Coast magazines only sold to East Coast guys. Remember that back then, because Hot Rod and Car Craft owned the newsstands, it looked like nothing was happening on the East Coast. The image was that the West Coast shops were these giant sophisticated shops – palaces – at least, that’s the way they looked in print. The first time I went to the West Coast I was shocked to see the Bill Thomas’ shop was just a little place. Dana Chevrolet only did their high-performance cars for about 1-1/2 years. Baldwin-Motion made cars for six years. The East Coast places like TASCA, SRD, Stahl, Baldwin-Motion, and Grumpy hardly got any attention at all. (Grumpy became one of drag racing’s rock stars after Pro Stock exploded in ‘70 – ST) And the editors of the West Coast books were all treated like heroes and you had to get an appointment just to talk to them. We had a lot to work with on the East.

Joe Oldham was a street racer kid that used to deliver flowers in my neighborhood and then one day he came into the CARS office to sell a Pontiac-go-fast article. It turned out that Joe used to deliver flowers in my neighborhood and knew my red Bonneville Coupe with the eight-lug wheels. Joe is now the editor of Popular Mechanics and for a long time was my road test driver and a columnist.

Roger Huntington was an engineer that used to write tech features for us. Not many readers knew that Roger had been wheelchair-bound all his life, but he wrote good tech features.

One of our early guys, Fred Mackerodt, started with CARS in ‘64 and today he’s a PR guy with a GM account. Fred was a very good editor even though he never graduated from high school. He was a good humorist writer to and used to do stories under the pen name of “Dilbert Farb.” (His trash truck road test had me in stitches when I was a kid. – ST) Cliff Gromer was another one of our regular guys, along with Alan Root, Alex Walordy, Stewart Yale, Fred Cohen, Joel Rosen, and others. Continue reading “Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 2” →

Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 1

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.31.11
An intimate conversation with good-guy, car-guy – Marty Schorr

Go to the magazine stand and the number of car magazines is amazing. But way back in the ‘60s, most of the car magazines were west coast publications. CARS Magazine was one of the only east coast car magazines that included road tests, feature cars, and race event coverage. When muscle cars party were hot in the late ‘60s, CARS editor, Marty Schorr was right on top of the east coast muscle car and specialty car scene – especially the Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars of Joel Rosen. Talk about muscle cars with attitude! Every Phase III Chevy was carefully built under Rosen’s supervision and was guaranteed to run 12.5 in the quarter mile.

By ‘71 the muscle car party was over and we all adjusted to somewhat bland cars. The only “performance” cars that survived were the Z-28, the Trans-Am, and the Corvette. By ‘76 I had been into Corvettes for 12 years and regularly scoured the magazine stands for special “Corvette editions” magazines. One day I saw “VETTE Quarterly.” Finally, a Corvette-only magazine! Marty Schorr from CARS was the editor, so I knew this was going to be a fun publication. The magazine was so cool I wrote a letter with some article ideas, along with some samples of my art, and sent it off to Marty. A week later, I was on board with VETTE.

VETTE Quarterly went bi-monthly in ‘78, was retitled, “VETTE” and eventually became a monthly magazine in 1980. When CSK Publishing bought the title, Schorr stepped out of the editor’s chair and was for many years a contributing editor. Marty started his own automotive PR company, PMPR, Inc. and I went on to become a commercial artist, toy designer, and artist/writer for VETTE and many other car magazines.

In ‘07 I reconnected with Marty when I was researching the Astoria-Chas L-88 ‘67 Corvette drag car. We kept in touch and I thought that it was time to get Marty’s story out to today’s VETTE readers. Last December, we talked for three hours about Marty’s career in the automotive publication business, and yes, Corvettes. – Scott

ST – Marty, it sounds like a cliché, but, how did you get started in this crazy business?

MS – I was just a kid in Yonkers, New York in the mid-’50s when I joined a local hot rod club, the “Dragon Wheels.” I wasn’t a mechanic or mechanically inclined, but it was a lot of fun to be around. We had all kinds of homemade hot rods. One guy had a fuel dragster and another had a fuel coupe. There weren’t any race tracks around, so we used to race the cars on a section of the Bronx River Parkway late at night. A lot of the guys got nailed by the cops with early versions of radar. Back then, if you ran away, the cops would shoot at you! It wasn’t uncommon to see club cars with bullet holes in the back of the car! I wasn’t much of a mechanic, but I could write pretty well and soon became the club’s PR director. I had a little 620 Browie camera and got my first article published in ‘57 about our club’s Cadillac-powered dragster in a small digest-size magazine. I got paid $25 and said to myself, “I LIKE this!” I kept practicing my photography and writing skills, eventually landing a job as an editor for $100 a week.

ST – Marty, most publications these days require an editor to have a degree in English or journalism. What kind of formal education did you have?

MS – I didn’t have the means to go to school full-time, so I took night classes for about five years in English, advertising, and public relations. I didn’t finish college and never got a degree because my freelance career really took off. My career paralleled a guy from my school that graduated two years before me, Ralph Loren. We didn’t know one another or travel in the same circles.

ST – And what kinds of cars were you driving back then Marty?

MS – Let’s see, I had a ‘51 Pontiac, a ‘40 Mercury, and a ‘32 Chevy Cabriolet. My hot ride was a little MGTA with a flathead Ford V8 and a four-speed trans. It had been converted to left-hand drive and had the big 19-inch wire wheels, no side windows or top, and I drove it all year around while I was freelancing. It was quick, but it handled terribly, had awful brakes, and the wire wheels had to constantly be realigned. I was always taking the car to a Rolls Royce dealer because they had mechanics that knew how to fix wire wheels. (I’ll be they loved having that car in for service. ST)

ST – Back in those days Marty, all young men had to do military service, unless you got a deferment or were classified 4F. What did you do for Uncle Sam?

MS – I was actually in the Army two times. I enlisted for six months of active duty, plus 100 years of reserve. After boot camp I was in the transportation corps as a non-officer and eventually got into the photography lab and did a lot of documentation photography. It was great experience that I applied to my freelance journalist work for small car magazines. After my six month stint I got called back because of the ‘61 Berlin crisis. I didn’t get to do anything interesting, but while stationed in Virginia, my wife and I were renting a place and one of our neighbors was astronaut Alan Shepherd. So I worked my Army job during the week and was shooting cars and doing stories on the weekends. Continue reading “Interview With VETTE Magazine Founder & First Editor, Martyn L. Schorr – Pt. 1” →

From the Archives of CARS Magazine: In Memory of Astoria-Chas 1967 427 L88 Corvette Roadster

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 7.16.11
“Astoria-Chas” Snyder – The Buddy Holly of Corvette Racing


Glen Spielberg photo.

As a lad growing up during the muscle car era in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, CARS Magazine was my favorite car mag. The publication had a definite East Coast flavor and the magazine slightly favored Chevys, which was perfectly fine with me at the time. One of my favorite cars of the day was the 1967 427 L88 drag racer, “In Memory of Astoria-Chas” 427 L-88 Corvette roadster. The story has all the elements of legend; brutally fast, quick car, great looking, owned and driven to national prominence by a young fellow, not much older than myself and my Chevy pals.

Fortunately, the car is still around and looks the way it did when it set the AHRA Nation Record of 11.04 @ 129 mph. Later, the car ran a best-ever 10.47 et. While the L88 still runs, the current owner, Glen Spielberg, does not “run” the car on the strip, as he has given his word to the Snyder family that he would not restore or race the car. Besides, the car still has its original, 40-year old tires! A stock ‘67 L71 427/435 Corvettes were solid high 13-second cars. A Mid-10-second version was MIND BLOWING back then!

Since the Astoria-Chas Corvette was a Motion performance prepared car, it got lots of ink in CARS Magazine. Below is one of many CARS articles on the car. Unfortunately, I do not have the end of the story on page 74. However, I did cover the car as Illustrated Corvette Series No. 129 back in early ‘08. The story copy is below the CARS article scans.

Also, at the bottom of this post are links to some other interesting Astoria-Chas material. CARS editor, Marty Schorr often took his little daughter, Collier to the drags to see the KO-Motion Corvette. Collier had an art show in ‘07 featuring her drawings and recollections of Chas Snyder. I’ve included links to two articles that covered Collier’s show. Continue reading “From the Archives of CARS Magazine: In Memory of Astoria-Chas 1967 427 L88 Corvette Roadster” →

427 ZL-1 John Greenwood & A NHRA Top Fuel Record Holder Chevy Top Fueler!

Published on by Scott


John Greenwood’s 427 ZL-1 BF Goodrich Corvette Race Car

Special thanks to www.RollingThunderz.co

Aluminum engines are so common today that no one even notices. But back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, aluminum engine components were considered trick hardware. All-aluminum high-performance engines were only found in exotic European cars. Having learned his engineering and racing craft in Europe, Zora Arkus Duntov first proposed an all-aluminum engine as part of the 1957 Q-Corvette proposal. Also included in the proposal was an aluminum transaxle. This was actually part of a larger plan called the Q-Chevrolets for 1960. Chevrolet chief engineer, Ed Cole, envisioned the entire line of Chevrolet cars equipped with the transmission mated to the rear axle as a way of vastly improving the interior space of every Chevy.

The plan was eventually scrapped for cost reasons, but Duntov was definitely keyed in on the idea of adding aluminum engine and drive train components into his Corvettes as a way to lighten the car. Through the ‘60s, aluminum parts slowly crept into the Corvette. But it wasn’t until the introduction of the ‘67 L-88 that the automotive press and fans really took notice of the lightweight hardware.

 


One of Duntov’s favorite playgrounds – the GM test track!

But when Zora and his team unleashed the all-aluminum ZL-1, jaws dropped and eyes popped! The thought of a solid-lifter, 12.5:1 compression, big carb 427 that weighed as much as a small-block was just OUT’A SIGHT! FAR-OUT! GROOVY, MAN!

Hot Rod Magazine splashed the all-aluminum ZL-1 on the cover and caught a lot of heat for spinning the fan on an engine that was obviously not running or attached to anything. The yellow headers or ANY headers for that matter were NOT part of the ZL-1 package. Unfortunately for fans of lightweight Corvettes, the ZL-1 was for all intent and purposes a teaser option. Yes, the ZL-1 was an official option costing $4,718, PLUS $1,032 for the L-88, on top of the $4,781 base price of the ‘69 Vette. Only three ZL-1’s were “officially” built and all are accounted for. However, there may have been 10 or so ZL-1 Corvettes built as demo cars. CARS Magazine editor, Marty Schorr was one of the fortunate few that got to drive a ZL-1 ‘69 Corvette and it was NOT one of the three surviving ZL-1 Corvettes.

 

Special thanks to http://www.rmauctions.com/

Fortunately, for racers, such as John Greenwood, ZL-1 engines could be purchased as crate engines. While Greenwood wasn’t the only Corvette racer to use a ZL-1, his stars and stripes, BF Goodrich-sponsored Corvette became a legend. One ZL-1 engine even made its way into Jim Butcher’s Top Fuel dragster and actually held the NHRA elapsed-time national record for a few week in 1973. The all-aluminum ZL-1 gave Butcher a 500-pound advantage over the cast iron Hemi dragsters of the day!

It’s too bad that it would take 28-years before a production Corvette would finally be powered by an all-aluminum engine. The LS1 engine powered the ‘01 C5-R Corvette to Corvette’s first big class win at le Mans. Today’s all-aluminum, 638-horsepower LS9 engine is the most powerful production car engine ever produced in Detroit’s history and is ONLY available in a Corvette!

Scott

Would a Fuelie ZL-1 work for ya? YIKES!!!

NHRA Gatornationals – Hemi fans COULD NOT BELIEVE that Jim Bucher’s little Chevy Top Fueler set the NHRA Top Fuel ET National Record with a 6.09 ET! Too bad the car didn’t dip into the 5’s!

I covered the 1969 ZL-1 Corvette in VETTE Magazine in July ’09 in ICS No. 149

The Baldwin-Motion Phase-III GT Corvette – Version 2.0

Published on by Scott

The Phase III GT was only a few months old, and Joel Rosen rolled out an even WILDER version of his ultimate Corvette GT.

A few months after Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr rocked the house at the ‘69 New York Auto Show with the Baldwin Motion Phase III Corvette, plus, got the official blessing from Corvette chief engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov, the next version of the GT was shown on the September ‘70 issue of High-Performance CARS Magazine. The fixed-headlight was a real polarizer, but it was definitely unique. It’s too bad that federal regulations did not allow for the clear lexan headlight covers, because the covers were available for “show” or “off road” use only, and looked great.

From 1969 to 1971 only 12 Phase III GT Corvettes were built. Due to the extensive custom body work on top of the performance enhancements, the Phase III GT Corvettes were THE most expensive of all of the Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars. Continue reading “The Baldwin-Motion Phase-III GT Corvette – Version 2.0” →

NEW BaldwinMotionReport.com Website!!!

Published on by Scott1 Comment

After many years, we FINALLY made it happen!

I’ve been a big fan of Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr’s, Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars since 1968. While they were not the only tuners that were offering packaged supercars, they were the only ones to offer a money back guarantee that their car would run 11.50 in the quarter-mile, or YOUR MONEY BACK! Plus, Rosen and Schorr came up with a signature look for their cars that has been imitated by many.

In all the years that Phase III supercars were built and sold, not a single customer ever asked for a refund because their Phase III car didn’t perform!

I’ll be covering all the RED HOT Baldwin-Motion Phase III muscle cars – the Phase III Corvettes, Phase III Camaros, Phase III Novas, Phase III Chevelles, and the ultimate sleeper machine, the Phase III Biscayne. Continue reading “NEW BaldwinMotionReport.com Website!!!” →

Vote For Your Favorite Baldwin-Motion Corvette

Published on by Scott

Which Baldwin-Motion Corvette is YOUR FAVORITE?

(scroll down to cast your vote)

From 1967 to 1978 Joel Rosen, Marty Schorr, and the crew produced an astonishing array of Chevy supercars. “The Fantastic Five” included the Biscayne, the Nova, the Chevelle, the Camaro, and Corvette. If you wanted a true sleeper supercar, the Biscayne was the way to deliver one heck of a surprise. While the big 427 and 454 monster cars got most of the attention, Mr. Motion would build you whatever you wanted. So, there were also a few Motion cars powered with enhanced 350 small-blocks, and a few Corvettes that received turbochargers!

All of the Baldwin-Motion cars were special and unique, but let’s face it, the Corvettes were the halo cars. Since every Motion supercar was custom-built according to the customer’s wants and checkbook, every car is slightly different. The only thing standard was Joel’s selection of heavy-duty after market parts needed to keep the machine relatively bulletproof.

From ‘68 to ‘78, there were six distinctive Baldwin-Motion Corvettes. Let’s have a look-see… Continue reading “Vote For Your Favorite Baldwin-Motion Corvette” →

Baldwin-Motion Phase III Shark Corvettes – Part 3 of 3

Published on by Scott2 Comments

Joel Rosen’s Sharks

Joel Rosen’s meca for Chevy supercars – Motion Performance on Rising Sun Highway, Long Island, New York. Note the custom fish-scales paint job! The Phase III Vega behind the Maco Shark was the car that brought the Feds crashing down on Motion performance.

As the new ‘63 Corvettes were hitting the showrooms, GM’s Chief of Styling, Bill Mitchell, was dreaming up the next Corvette. With the help of stylist Larry Shinoda and a small team of designers, the radical Mako Shark II was shown to GM’s management in Spring of ‘65. The non-running full-size mock up made jaws drop. Before the car was shipped to the New York International Auto Show, the order was given, “build a running version!” By October ’65 the running version of the new design was complete and headed out to the show car circuit where it received rave reviews. It was obvious – the Mako Shark II HAD TO BE the next production Corvette.

You can catch Part 1 HERE.

And Part 2 HERE.

Continue reading “Baldwin-Motion Phase III Shark Corvettes – Part 3 of 3” →