Tom Panaseny grew up on Long Island, NY helping his Dad work on the family cars. In 1969, his neighbor drove home in a new 1969 Camaro Indy Pace Car - white with orange stripes and orange interior. Tom thought it was the coolest car he’d ever seen. It made a lasting impression, and started his love of Camaros.

Money was tight in the early ’70s, so Tom’s first cruiser ended up being a tired old ’64 Mustang, beat up from many years enduring NY winters. It did not take long though, before Tom joined his Chevelle and ’Cuda driving friends and built a total performance 1923 T-bucket with blown 350, and “all of the good stuff.” Talk about one extreme to another!

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.

Chevrolet Performance, the high-performance parts division of Chevrolet, has announced that it will increase its contingency payouts to those who race in NHRA-sanctioned events using Chevrolet Performance parts while displaying the brand’s decals.

Says Jim Campbell, General Motors U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, “Chevrolet has a long history of supporting NHRA drag racers and our 2014 contingency program rewards sportsman and Pro Stock racers for top performances. When you race with Chevrolet Performance parts and display our decals, you are eligible for a contingency payout that can be reinvested in your race team.”

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.

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.

The Blue Devil ZR1 is the first Corvette to emerge from the National Corvette Museum sinkhole - and it started! Encouraging news from Bowling Green, KY.

March 3, 2014 at 1:09 pm by Car and Driver. Photography by National Corvette Musesum 

Whether you are installing your new exhaust system yourself or having a pro handle the job (our recommendation), it’s important to loosely fit all the sections before you attempt cutting, clamping or welding the system together. This will save lots of time and frustration, not to mention a better fitting exhaust system!

If you're unlucky enough to have your car stolen, there's roughly an 80 percent chance that your car will be found. Those numbers paid off for a retired northern California mechanic when his stolen 1957 Chevy Bel Air was recovered by law enforcement — 30 years after it went missing, and in far better condition than when it was snatched.

As first reported by the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Ian "Skip" Wilson got a call three weeks ago from the California Highway Patrol asking after the Bel Air he reported stolen in 1984. Wilson told Yahoo Autos he had paid $375 for the car back in the '70s on the East Coast, and had driven it daily for years before someone swiped it in 1982. Wilson had gotten the car back that time without an engine, and was working on it when it was stolen again.