On the cover was a bright yellow 427 Corvette, branded, “Baldwin-Motion SS-427 Phase III Corvette”! On top of the standard ’68 big-block hood bulge was a grafted-on ’67 Stinger 427 scoop that totally looked like it belonged there. On the sides of the Stinger hood were badges that read, “SS-427”. WOW
Step back to 1969 with this rare Baldwin-Motion Phase III SS 427 Supercars catalog booklet. This vintage PDF captures the outrageous horsepower claims, bold marketing and big-block attitude that defined Motion Performance’s legendary Corvette conversions. A must-see archive piece for collectors and muscle car historians alike.
Scott: Welcome back to Far Out Radio. Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen and Marty Schorr, the creators of the Baldwin Motion Phase-III supercars of the 1960s and 1970s, are here with us this evening. We’re doing some bench racing and talking about those ground-pounding Chevy supercars from back in the 1960s and 1970s. So Joel, you got the drag racing bug, huh?
Joel: Yea, yea, I got that drag racing bug. One of the things, just to digress just a bit, is that back in the gas station I had, I was one of the first guys with a dynamometer in New York. I was into things like oscilloscopes before people knew what an oscilloscope was – on a car anyway, and I started to teach myself about that stuff. Then a product came out that was a capacitive discharge ignition system, the forerunner of all of the capacitive discharge units, and MSDs and all that. It was an EI-4 and an EI-5, and started to read up on this and the material said that you could run .005 to .006 sparkplug gaps and the engine will run much better and keep it in tune, bla, bla, bla.
This interview appeared in the July 2017 issue of Vette Vues Magazine. Part 2 coming soon! – Marty Schorr is the former editor of CARS Magazine, the founder of Vette Magazine, and is the current editor and chief of CarGuyChrolicles.com, and PMPR, an automotive public relations form. Joel Rosen is the former owner of Motion Performance, on Long Island, in New York, and currently owns and runs Motion Models, a world-renowned, scale military model company in Florida.
In June 2013 I had the pleasure of interviewing Marty and Joel on my radio program, “Far Out Radio.” And now, you get to read the story from the guys that made it happen – Marty Schorr and Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen. The guys created a legend and we’re still talking about it over 50 years later!
Little did Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr know back in 1967 when they started their Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars experiences that almost 50 years later the cars they offered would become SO valuable! Lots of Phase III Motion cars were built and only Joel knows for sure the exact number. However, Rosen’s real passion was for the Phase III Corvettes, and more specifically, his “Shark” Corvettes.
It’s a Friday Night Car Show at Far Out Radio! Our guest will be Marty Schorr and Joel Rosen. Marty is the former editor of CARS Magazine, founder of VETTE Magazine, editor and chief of CarGuychronicles.com, and owns PMPR, an automotive public relations business. Joel Rosen is the former owner of Motion Performance and currently owns and runs Motion Models, a world renound scale military model company.
In November 2011 there were a few automotive bomb shells dropped on the MCACN Muscle Car Show. Namely three unique Baldwin Motion Corvettes. One Survivor Phase III 454 Corvette, one restored Motion Mako Shark Corvette, and one garage/barn find Corvette, the ‘76 Can-Am Spyder.
Since I have covered all of the Motion Performance Corvette cars in my Illustrated Corvette Series column, I decided to create a new print depicting all of the Motion Performance Corvettes. The basic Phase III Corvette, the Phase III GT Corvette, the Motion Maco Corvette, the Motion Manta Ray Corvette, and the Motion Moray Eel Corvette. Hopefully, more of the Motion Performance cars will surface. From survivor cars to extreme barn finds, it’s a good thing when they are brought back to life.
SPECIAL REQUEST:
According to the Motion Performance “bible,” Marty Schorr’s “Motion Performance: Tales of a Muscle Car Builder” book, only 4 Motion Can-Am Spyder Corvettes were built. One red car with white striping and three yellow cars, like the one presented in the below post. To date, only two of the four cars can be accounted for. As documented in Schorr’s book and on the net, the red Can-Am Spyder is part of Dan McMichael’s collection of Motion cars. And now we know of the below car. If you know of the whereabouts of the remaining two yellow Can-Am Spyders, please let us know. Thanks! – Scott
