The process of removing the eight Corvettes which were swallowed up by a sinkhole that opened up in the National Corvette Museum in February has been neither easy nor short. The construction crews working on the sinkhole managed to rescue five of the eight Corvettes from the earth’s 30-foot deep embrace before they had to put a temporary halt on the effort in order to stabilize the hole. Today, the rescue attempts started back up with the one-off 1991 Corvette ZR-1 Spyder being hoisted out of the pit and back to safety.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
The all-new Corvette arrives for 1984! After a “missing” ’83 model year (Chevrolet was simply not ready in time for full scale production in 1983. Technical advances in this new gen Corvette were vast and Chevy needed the extra time for testing, etc. More stringent California emissions standards were introduced then as well, adding further challenges), the 1994 model was a welcome change. This ad showed the world it was well worth waiting for!
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
Corvette lovers looking to drop $1.7 million on a powerboat can rejoice! The 2012 MTI ZR48 is exactly what you’re looking for. Based in Tennessee, powerboat manufacture, Pier 57, recently created this Corvette inspired 2,700 HP beast that will have you cruising across the water at 180 mph while sitting comfortably in a Corvette cockpit. The MTI ZR48 features a pair of 1,350-horsepower turbocharged Mercury Marine V8 engines strapped into a carbon fiber hull. As impressive as all that is, what really sets this craft apart from others is its complete Chevrolet Corvette inspired hull and interior.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
While the second-oldest Ford GT40 will dominate the interest of car fans around April's classic car auctions, a pair of Chevy Corvettes offer an interesting story of their own — including one so pampered it's never seen a passenger.
The first at Mecum Auctions is the Bernie Knudsen Corvette, a one-off 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Styling Car that was built for General Motors Chevrolet Division General Manager Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
Now here was a true-blue American race car. This 1968 Corvette raced at Daytona’s IMSA (International Motor Sport Association) 24-hour race in 1973 and then again in 1975. It was produced as a “standard production” automobile and was driven as such until 1972, when it was involved in an accident.
In 1973, Jerry Thompson purchased the car from Jerry Pennington. Mr. Thompson was a widely recognized race car engineer and national championship race car driver. Thompson set out to redesign and rebuild the Corvette to IMSA race car standards. He chose a 454 cubic inch engine bored .60 over to power this beast. Upon completion, the engine dyno’d out at over 640 hp. Late in the 1973 season, the car was ready for its first race in the G.T. class. What better place to test a “new” car than the 24-hours race in Daytona?
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
In the wake of the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum, Fastlane has taken the time to reflect on the iconic cars damaged in the destruction. The latest article spotlights the 1 millionth and 1.5 millionth Corvettes.
The 1-millionth Corvette is a 1992 convertible born around 2pm on July 2nd. This vehicle was modeled after the first Corvette built in 1953 – a convertible clothed in white and stitched with a red interior. Prior to birth, the decision was made was to give it to the Corvette Museum Foundation, with the sale of the “one-millionth plus one” Corvette to be auctioned with the proceeds going to the National Corvette Museum.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
Construction crews at the National Corvette Museum have recovered the 1984 PPG Pace Car from the facility’s sinkhole, making it the fifth vehicle to be extracted. Unfortunately, the car was chopped by a large slab of concrete, and is in worse shape than any of the four vehicles extracted before it.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
Vehicle extraction efforts at The National Corvette Museum had a lucky break today, when construction crews were able to resurrect the Millionth Corvette from the depths of the facility’s sinkhole.
At first, construction crews had no intention of pulling the Millionth out, but decided to give it a try as they saw the vehicle at the bottom of the hole.
“Initially there was no intention to bring the Millionth out, but as we got in there and saw more this morning we did feel like this might be our best chance,” said Danny Daniel, President of Scott, Murphy and Daniel Construction.
The crews first pulled the car by one wheel from where it was lodged, which swung the vehicle into the cavern. From there, they were able to lift it and place it to rest upside down on the bottom of the sinkhole. Then, the Corvette was hooked up by its two tires to be lifted out of the sinkhole, a process similar to that used to retrieve the 1993 40th Anniversary.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
The crew responsible for extracting all of the historic American performance cars from the sinkhole under the National Corvette Museum was hard at work today – this time removing the black 1962 Chevrolet Corvette which was perched precariously along the side of the hole in the Earth with a 10,000lb slab of concrete pressed against the front end.
The 1962 Chevrolet Corvette was the most difficult car to remove as the first step of the extraction process. After spending day 1 removing the 2009 Blue Devil and the Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Edition 1993 Corvette – both of which were as simple as lifting them out of the hole – day 2 saw a much greater challenge.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured
Unlike the Blue Devil ZR1 that was retrieved in overall great shape, a 1993 ruby red 40th anniversary Corvette didn’t fare so well. The body panels and window glass need replacing, but the vehicle is salvageable, Chevrolet spokesman Monte Doran said.
The frame looked to be "pretty straight," the underbody appeared intact and the steering gear worked, he said.
"Mechanically, it looks to be in remarkably good shape," Doran said. Chevrolet will oversee restoration of all eight cars damaged Feb. 12 when the earth opened beneath a display area while the museum was closed. No injuries were reported.
As the rescue operation began, workers in a cage were lowered to hook straps around the cars before they were hoisted out. The hole is about 40 feet across, museum spokeswoman Katie Frassinelli said.
Read more
Posted in Corvette, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured and Featured