Category Archives: Auto History

National Corvette Museum: Museum Owned GS90 Unveiled at 20th Anniversary Event

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So what’s a GS90?   Here a share from  National Corvette Museum blog

BTW it you are a Corvette owner or enthusiasts and you are not a member of the Museum – you should be and here is the perfect reason why.  Read on!!!

History of the GS-90

In 1994, Corvette racing driver and tuner, Dick Guldstrand introduced his first and only coachbuilt Corvette: the GS90. The car is based on the Corvette ZR-1 chassis and engine designed by Steve Winter. When the C4 ZR-1 was released, Guldstrand saw an opportunity to bring back the Grand Sport he used to race with, pitching the concept of his radically restyled ZR-1 to Chevrolet. He requested several ZR-1s and a few million dollars. Instead he received one car and a blessing.

The GS90 was Guldstrand’s ultimate 475hp version of the ZR-1, incorporating influences from the Grand Sports of the early 60s inside a distinctive body style that is a throwback to the original 1963 Corvette Grand Sport race cars. Guldstrand left the ZR-1 cabin alone, concentrating instead on the chassis and engine development, and bespoke coachbuilt distinctive body.

Read entire article here National Corvette Museum: Museum Owned GS90 Unveiled at 20th Anniversary Event and see how a Lifetime Member supported the restoration of this rare car!!!

GS90

Thanks for reading.

Tim

corvette gs 90

National Corvette Museum to close sinkhole, plans for Great Eight finalized | Hemmings Daily

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It’s been a while since I’ve checked in on the Great 8. The National Corvette Museum has just announced that they will close the sinkhole.  See more here:   National Corvette Museum to close sinkhole, plans for Great Eight finalized | Hemmings Daily.

 

As for the Great Eight Corvettes themselves, the museum’s board of directors, in conjunction with Chevrolet, has determined that only three of the eight cars damaged were in sufficient condition to be repaired. Chevrolet will oversee the restoration of the 2009 ZR-1 Blue Devil prototype, as well as the 1,000,000th Corvette assembled, a white 1992 convertible, at the GM Heritage Center. The third car to be restored is the black 1962 Corvette; Chevrolet has agreed to fund this restoration, which will be handled by a shop designated by the National Corvette Museum. The remaining five cars will be preserved in their current states, and will form the basis of a future museum exhibit.Speaking of the car’s damaged in the sinkhole collapse, GM’s executive vice president of Global product development, Mark Reuss, said, “Our goal was to help the National Corvette Museum recover from a terrible natural disaster by restoring all eight cars. However, as the cars were recovered, it became clear that restoration would be impractical because so little was left to repair. And, frankly, there is some historical value in leaving those cars to be viewed as they are.”

 

1 Millionth

1 Millionth

1962

1962

Blue Devil 2009 ZR1

Blue Devil 2009 ZR1

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

Corvette museum to fill in sinkhole, leave five cars unrestored

Preservation or restoration. That’s the question that faces anyone dealing with classic cars, and it’s the issue with which the National Corvette Museum is grappling in the wake of the sinkhole that opened up in its midst this past February. In the …
National Corvette Museum sinkhole will not be permanent attraction

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) – A massive sinkhole that swallowed eight sports cars won’t be a permanent attraction at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky. The museum’s board voted Saturday to fill in the entire hole that opened up in February and …

 

First 2015 Mustang Rolls off the Assembly Line!!

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2015 Mustang starts production at Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant; car to be exported globally for the first time in its 50-year history New Mustang goes on sale this fall in the United States, and in more than 120 countries next year Mustang sets new performance and dynamics benchmarks for the brand with world-class handling, more precise steering control and enhanced ride comfort.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

2015 mustang

First 2015 Mustang rolls off line

FLAT ROCK, Mich. — Ford began production of the all-new 2015 Mustang on Thursday at its assembly plant here. The first 2015 Mustang off the assembly line was a red GT coupe that has been sold to Texas dealer Sam Pack for $300,000. He is donating the …

Video: A 1964 Tempest Gets Fed The Eye Of The Storm With Vortech – Street Legal TV

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This is a fantastic car.  Follow the link below on Street Legal TV.

 

1964 Monster Tempest

1964 Monster Tempest

 

Many of the people we come across tell us they’ve had their car for a long time, and that time frame is just barely into double digits. But Paul Minore from Orange, Connecticut, has surpassed many of those people three-fold. His 1964 Pontiac LeMans was purchased right out of high school and has been in his possession for 32 years now. It wasn’t new at the time, with some 18 years under its belt already, but he had plans for it.PM-Tempest09While most people know the musclecar-era LeMans as an A-body, it began as the Y-body Tempest, a sub-compact car that was shared with Buick and Oldsmobile in the early 1960s. Pontiac’s designer du jor from that decade was none other than John DeLorean, who had a hand in making the early Tempest a bit more unique than its Buick and Olds cousins.

via Video: A 1964 Tempest Gets Fed The Eye Of The Storm With Vortech – Street Legal TV.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

326/3-Speed 1964 Pontiac LeMans Coupe | Bring a Trailer

2) The tail lights and rear trim are from a 1964 Tempest Custom. 3) The paint code says the original paint was Alamo Beige (however Sunfire was available in 1964) 4) The trim code says it was originally a saddle interior.

Packard plant owner plans partial restoration with original architectural firm | Hemmings Daily

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With most disputes over the ownership of the former Packard plant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit resolved, the new owner of the plant told the Detroit Free Press this week that he intends to begin cleanup soon and eventually restore some of the plant with the help of Albert Kahn Associates, the firm named for the man who designed the plant in 1903.Though Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo paid $405,000 for the 40-acre factory complex – vacated by Packard in 1956 – at a Wayne County foreclosure auction in December, he’s since had to clear a few hurdles to begin work on the deteriorating and vandalized buildings.First, in March, the former owner of the plant, Dominic Cristini – whose failure to pay about $1 million in back taxes led to the foreclosure of the factory – stepped forward to claim that he and a number of investors who backed him still held an interest in the factory worth $3.5 million. Though Palazuelo then described the claim as “typical blackmail,” he told the Free Press that he reached a deal with Cristini last month, and that he probably didn’t have the clear title to the plant that he previously thought he had.Then, earlier this summer, a number of Detroit news sources reported that Palazuelo owed the county more than $92,000 in delinquent taxes. At the time Palazuelo said that he believed his lawyers had taken care of the back taxes, but the Detroit Free Press noted that he only paid the county those back taxes after he resolved the dispute with Cristini.That leaves just one last hurdle, a dispute over a 4.5-acre parcel within the Packard plant complex that includes half of the much-photographed pedestrian bridge crossing East Grand Boulevard and that was not included in the county foreclosure auction. Palazuelo is reportedly working with the city to resolve that claim.

Read the rest at  Packard plant owner plans partial restoration with original architectural firm | Hemmings Daily.

 

Sprawling Packard Plant.

Sprawling Packard Plant.

Thanks for reading

Tim

packard plant then and nowpackard plant then and nowpackard plant then and now

 

New 8-Speed Enables Quicker, More Efficient Corvette

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I’m a GM fan. Have been since I  was a kid and currently drive a C6 Corvette as my daily.  I’m also a manual transmission guy so automatic transmission really aren’t a preferred option. Of course the new Corvettes has paddel-shifting which is state of the art, but what do I do with my left leg???!!!!

 

DETROIT – The all-new, GM-developed Hydra-Matic 8L90 paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission offered in the 2015 Corvette Stingray and Z06 enhances performance and efficiency, while delivering exceptional refinement and world-class shift responsiveness that rivals the world’s best dual-clutch transmissions.

In fact, in the 2015 Corvette Stingray, it enables a class-leading 29-mpg EPA highway estimate – a 3.5-percent increase in fuel economy over the previous six-speed automatic – and a quicker 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds, all while delivering wide-open-throttle upshifts quicker than those of the dual-clutch transmission offered in the Porsche 911.

“GM’s new 8L90 eight-speed automatic represents a rare win-win-win scenario for customers,” said Kavoos Kaveh, global chief engineer for eight-speed automatic transmissions. “It offers greater performance and efficiency, while weighing less than the transmission it replaces. That’s a rare accomplishment in the industry today – and one for which GM has been awarded more than two dozen patents.”

via New 8-Speed Enables Quicker, More Efficient Corvette.

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2015 Hydra-Matic 8L90 (M5U) Eight Speed RWD Automatic Transaxle

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Chevrolet Corvette (C7)

seven-speed manual with rev-matching technology or an Hydra-Matic 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, a …
GM makes 8-speed automatic transmission standard on 2015 Chevrolet …

The GM-developed Hydra-Matic 8L90 eight-speed is approximately the same size and weight as the Hydra-Matic 6L80 six-speed automatic. Its 7.0 overall gear ratio spread is wider than GM’s six-speed automatic transmissions, providing a numerically higher …

Wrecked – 1972 Mercury Cougar

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I haven’t done a “Wrecked” piece in a while.  These are fun articles to do.  They include some history and specs for the highlighted car and a look at one that has quality parts still available.

You can find this featured car over on www.Parting Out.com. They have a unique system that pulls together quality used parts from all over Texas and U.S.

In 1972 the Mercury Cougar (rich cousin to the Mustang) took a different path from is roots as a classy coupe and began the move to the luxury side of the auto market.

By 1972 the Cougar series to flavors the Cougar and the Cougar XR-7.  Body styles were 2 door hard top Coupe and 2 door convertible for both the versions. If you say “…hmmm I don’t recall seeing a convertible!”   There’s a good reason for that.  In 1972 only 1,240 Cougar  verts were produced and only 1,929 for the XR-7.

Engine for the 1972 was the Ford work-horse power plant, the 351.  It had a cast iron block, overhead valves, bore and stroke 4.00″X3.50″.  Compression ratio was a low-ish 8.5:1 and topped with a two barrel carb it was able to knock out 163HP.

There isn’t anything that great to see is a donor car like this one:

Lot of parts on this car. Hard to find glass and any of the light lenses.

Lot of parts on this car. Hard to find glass and any of the light lenses.

 

Good fenders and doors and intact rocker molding - a huge plus

Good fenders and doors and intact rocker molding – a huge plus

Here is the best part. Rear bumper..will need re-chroming but the taillight lenses took to be in good shape!!

Here is the best part. Rear bumper..will need re-chroming but the taillight lenses took to be in good shape!!

 

Restoring a Cougar?  Give me a shout!!!!

 

Thanks for reading

Tim

 

1972 cougar xr 7

1971 429 XR-7 on E-Bay – Mercurycougar.net

1971 429 XR-7 on E-Bay. A bit tired but has some nice options. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercu…item4ac46cf6e3. 1972 Cougar,XR-7. My Cougar 2003 Focus SVT My SVT …

This is the 707bhp SRT Charger Hellcat – BBC Top Gear

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Rowan Horncastle14 August 2014

This is the 707bhp SRT Charger Hellcat

Dodge’s tuning wing unveils the fastest and most powerful production four-door in the world. Run for the hills

via This is the 707bhp SRT Charger Hellcat – BBC Top Gear.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

hellcat charger

Why Dodge Is Building a 707-Horsepower Hellcat Charger

Fiat Chrysler unveiled the 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat on Wednesday. Like its Challenger sibling, the Hellcat Charger is being positioned as an extreme high-performance car that is also a practical daily driver. Source: Fiat Chrysler. To the …

2015 Mustang “OK” to Buy Date is NEAR!!!!

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The information posted over at Mustang6g says that Tuesday September 10 is the ok to buy date your 2015 Mustang. According to Mustnag6g this means that dealers will have the ok to begin selling stock inventory. Special orders on this date will then begin production. According to the post at Mustang6g this is to limit any glitches on special order vehicles. The 2015 Mustang convertible wont’ begin production until September 15. Its ok to buy date is not slated until October 27.

 

via 2015 Mustang Production And Sales Schedule Revealed By Mustang6g – StangTV.

Can't wait to how they sell!! Still have to wait until Oct. if you want the 'vert version

Can’t wait to how they sell!!
Still have to wait until Oct. if you want the ‘vert version

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

2015 mustang sales brochure

Bugatti to replace the Veyron with an even faster hypercar hybrid

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Based on its talks with “Bugatti insiders,” Autocar reports that the next-generation hypercar will be capable of flipping the last two digits of the Veyron’s 268-mph 431-km/h world record, reaching speeds up to 286 mph 460 km/h. Bugatti’s computer simulations suggest that the new car will also be quicker, launching to 62 mph 100 km/h in 2.3 seconds.

via Bugatti to replace the Veyron with an even faster hypercar hybrid.

 

bugattiveyronsuccessor-0

Thanks for reading.

Tim

bugatti hyper hybrid