National Corvette Museum Sinkhole – Update 3/2/2014

I spend sometime with the live feed at NCM and I watched as they placed the Blue Devil in a sling to be hauled up tomorrow (3/3).

2009 ZR1 Blue Devil.

2009 ZR1 Blue Devil.

 

Blue Devil

Blue Devil – will be raised from his current rest place.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

wildheart4vr

RT @CorvetteBlogger: Two Ways You Can Help the National Corvette Museum Right Now http://t.co/nmpvqvtt69 #Corvette @CorvetteMuseum #NCMSink…

 

 

 

National Corvette Museum to display cars swallowed by sinkhole | Hemmings Daily

Once the eight Corvettes are pulled from the sinkhole, they’ll be exhibited in an “as-recovered” state in a dedicated display scheduled to run from April 18 through August 3, at which time they’ll be shipped back to General Motors for restoration. As previously reported, the restoration process will be conducted at GM’s Mechanical Assembly facility, and overseen by Ed Welburn, GM’s vice president of global design. Until the condition of each car is better understood, no predictions can be made about how long the restoration process will take.

via National Corvette Museum to display cars swallowed by sinkhole | Hemmings Daily.

 

Blue Devil

Blue Devil

 

 

 

wildheart4vr

RT @CorvetteBlogger: Two Ways You Can Help the National Corvette Museum Right Now http://t.co/nmpvqvtt69 #Corvette @CorvetteMuseum #NCMSink…
jmswyo

RT @GMHTP: The National Corvette Museum will begin the extraction of the eight fallen Corvettes first thing in the morning,… http://t.co/…

 

 

National Corvette Museum Sink Hole – Webcam Skydone

NOT Obsessed…nope….I’m NOT Obsessed!!!!

National Corvette Museum National Corvette Museum

But just in case YOU are  Wink  here is the link for the live camera overlooking the hole in the floor of the Corvette museum.

http://www.corvettemuseum.org/webcam/camera6.shtml

Not that I am, but you could have it up on one monitor and work off the other.

Just saying!!!

And if you think about – join the museum or give to restoration fund.

 

Thanks for reading and SAVE THE WAVE!!!

Tim

84C4_by_RJSweet

 

 

National Corvette Museum To Display Damaged Corvettes Before Sending …

You have probably heard by now that eight Corvettes were eaten up by a sinkhole which opened up in the Skydome room of the National Corvette Museum on February 12. The cars will eventually be restored by GM at the automaker’s Heritage Collection in 

 

 

Auto Factoids for Week of Feb 23, 2014

Here are your Auto Factoids for this week in automotive history.

 

A very light week, but a couple of biggies.

 

First up is the debut of AMC’s AMX that happened back in 1968 on Feb 24th.  Born to be muscle and destined to be a classic from the start.

They were sharp-looking and a curb weight of only about 3,000 lbs they weren’t heavy weights.  Impressive engine configurations of 290, 383, 360, and 390 with nothing but a 4 barrel carb (and one twin 4 barrel) you got horse power from 225 (the 290) to 420 (390 with twin 4 barrel carbs).  Impressive!  Sadly only a two-year run.

1969 Hurst version...NICE!!!

1969 Hurst version…NICE!!!

 

Had to dig for this one. Found it on http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org.   Back in 1905 a Cadillac was the first car to cross the Andes (the mountain range not Andes, New York) that happened on Feb 25th, but I don’t know why, nor does anyone else seem to know.  I can tell you  the Andes are in South American and average about 14,000 feet in altitude.  The ’05 (that’s 1905 not 2005) Caddy was, well let’s say “airy”.   That ‘brave’ (pronounced ‘Crazy’) soul was Jose Piquero. But wait, some sources say it wasn’t a Caddy at all, but a Oldsmobile.

So I would imagine either in either ride the trip was a tad bit chilly.

1905 Olds

1905 Olds

1905 Caddy

1905 Caddy

 

Less we forget that Ralph Nader has a birthday this month, you can celebrate that (anyone?  Bueller, Bueller…) if you absolutely can’t find another reason to have an adult beverage.  That day was Feb 27 back in 1934.  I wonder if he fell out of a car seat when he was young?

1962 Lakewood

1962 Lakewood

As luck would have it Mother Nature tends to even the playing field, so a few years later Mario Andretti was born in February on the 28 back in 1940 in Montona, Italy.

 

Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

Griot’s Cover Car Story: Rich & Marlayne’s 1957 Buick Special Estate Wagon

▶ Griot’s Cover Car Story: Cherry | Rich & Marlayne’s 1957 Buick Special Estate Wagon – YouTube.

 

This a beautiful car, especially if you like station wagons.

 

These were huge cars. Weighing well over 4K pounds.  There were two stations wagons produced that year for Buick the 49 and the 49D.  Total production  for both was 13,020 units.

The engines in the Buick Special Estate Wagons were a V8 Overhead valve, cast iron block.  The power plant displaced 364 cubic inches.  The bore was 4.125″ and the stroke was 3.4″ giving the car 9.5:1 compression ratio.  Top that will a 2 barrel Stromberg (model 7-106) or a Carter (2529 or 2536 model) carb and it could produce get about 250 hps.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

1957 buick special estate wagon

Auto Factoids for the Week of Feb 16, 2014

Sorry let this slip a couple of days.  Here are your Auto Factoids for this week.

 

2/16/1951 – Nash Healey debuts in US

This was a totally by change partnership.  Healey was on his way back to England for the US after GM refused to sell him Cadillac engines for his cars, when he met George Mason of Nash-Kelvinator on the ship.  For 1951 Nash-Kelvinator supplied the engines and drivetrain, specifically an inline six-cylinder OHV 234.8 cu in (3.85 L) engine and three-speed manual transmission with Borg-Warner overdrive, plus torque tube and differential.  Healey made a few mods to the engine like higher-compression aluminum cylinder head (replacing the cast-iron stock item) with twin 1.75-inch (44 mm) SU carburetors that were popular on British sports cars. This increased power from the stock 112 hp (84 kW; 114 PS) version to 125 hp (93 kW; 127 PS).  The car was longer and heavier than most European cars and although the 125 hp helped, it fell short of the original expectations that included Cadillac’s 331 cu in (5.4 L).

This what we here in the US were able to purchase for the first time in 1951.

1951 Nash Healey

1951 Nash Healey

 

2/18/1952 – Studebaker 100 years

Studebaker turned 100-year-old this date in 1952 and it offered up a few beauties for their customers.

Like the Star Light, Land Cruiser and 1/2 ton Pickup.

52 Star Light - Love the 'split 4 piece' rear window.

52 Star Light – Love the ‘split 4 piece’ rear window.

 

This huge '52 Land Cruiser would get across country with room for luggage!!

This huge ’52 Land Cruiser would get across country with room for luggage!!

Workhorse 1/2 ton pickup.  Hard to find one now that hasn't been customized.

Workhorse 1/2 ton pickup. Hard to find one now that hasn’t been customized.

 

2/18/1898 – Enso Ferrari born in Modena, Italy

Would you by a car from this face?

Enzo_Ferrari

 

What if they looked like this?

 

Hell Yeah!!!!

Hell Yeah!!!!

 

2/20/1954 – Detroit – Chicago Auto show saw Dodge’s Fire Arrow

Ghia Dodge Firearrow II Sports Coupe 1954

Ghia Dodge Firearrow II
Sports Coupe 1954

 

That is a nice looking car!!!  If you visually mess around it a bit, you might see some resemblance to the Crossfire.  Yes?  No?

Maybe??   A little?

Maybe?? A little?

Or something from a different manufacture.

'64_Pininfarina Corvette

’64_Pininfarina Corvette

 

2/21/1948 – NASCAR’s first race – held in Daytona, FL

Historic First - a bit dusty...but awesome (no I wasn't actually there!!).

Historic First – a bit dusty…but awesome (no I wasn’t actually there!!).

 

And let’s go waaaaay back   2/22/1732 – George Washington was born in Virgina.

George-Washington-001

Well George didn’t actually own a car…but if he did, ask yourself “What would George Drive?”  Post up what you think the father of our country would drive today.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

 

 

18 Things You Didn’t Know About Lamborghini – Italian Supercar Facts – Supercompressor.com

18 Things You Didn’t Know About Lamborghini – Italian Supercar Facts – Supercompressor.com.

By Aaron Miller

Miura

The Countach lived on your wall as a kid, and you probably knew that the Miura was the original supercar, but did you know there’s a direct link between the Miura and modern IndyCars, that there was a Dodge sedan based on a Lamborghini concept, or that Ferruccio Lamborghini started out making tractors? To honor the man who died on February 20th, 1993, we hit the books and came up with 18 things you probably didn’t know about Lamborghini.

1. Ferruccio Lamborghini was the original Tony Stark.
During WWII, he was stationed on the isolated island of Rhodes as a vehicle maintenance supervisor for the Italian Royal Air Force. Needless to say being stuck on an island in the middle of a war makes it pretty tricky to secure spare parts, forcing Lamborghini to cobble together scraps to keep his machines running. He quickly earned the reputation of being a master mechanic, and an even more prolific tinkerer. Kind of like that time Tony Stark built a nuclear reactor in a cave. But real.
2. The first Lamborghinis were tractors, and they’re still made today.
Because of that WWII experience, when he got home he started piecing together tractors out of spare parts. People loved them, and his tractor business took off overnight. They’re no longer part of the same company, but Lamborghini Trattori are still designed by the same firm that created the Gallardo and the Maserati MC12. They range in price from $30,000 to over $300,000 – the only question is, will your neighbor still give you credit for owning a Lambo?

 

3. Lamborghini was founded because Ferrari used tractor clutches and had crummy customer service.
Ferruccio famously owned a Ferrari 250GT, which he took in to be serviced at the Maranello headquarters after realizing that the clutch was identical to the one being used on his production line. He politely asked Enzo Ferrari for a replacement part, who replied “You’re just a silly tractor manufacturer, how could you possibly know anything about sports cars?” Like any red blooded Italian, he spit on the floor, walked out and started designing his own sports car. Four months later he unveiled the Lamborghini 350GTV. Boss.
4. The first Lamborghini Miura didn’t even have an engine when they unveiled it.
The Miura may have been the world’s first mid-engined V12 supercar, and the car most often credited with kickstarting the genre, but when it was first unveiled at the Turin Auto Show it wasn’t even finished. So they put a bunch of bricks where the engine should be and kept the hood shut the entire time.

 

5. And it was designed by the guy who builds IndyCars now.
Gian Paolo Dallara did much of the Miura’s chassis and engineering work, then went on to work in F1, before starting his own race engineering firm, which happens to build every single IndyCar chassis you see today.
6. In the late 1960s, if you didn’t own a Miura, you were nobody.
Today, they’re owned by people like Nicholas Cage and Jay Leno, but in the sixties Miuras were driven by people like Saudi King Fahd and Prince Faisal, Rod Stewart, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra, who famously said about his orange Miura with orange shag and wild boar skin seats: “You buy a Ferrari when you want to be somebody. You buy a Lamborghini when you are somebody.”
This one was really interesting:

18. They built the very first Viper engine.

The Dodge Viper was developed in the late eighties, while Chrysler owned Lamborghini. Rather than simply dropping a truck motor into the car, Dodge had Lamborghini cast an aluminum version of it for the prototype. It wasn’t the one used in production, but somewhere, locked away in Detroit, is a Lamborghini powered Viper.

See the rest at 18 Things You Didn’t Know About Lamborghini – Italian Supercar Facts – Supercompressor.com.

 

 

Disguised Lamborghini Huracan Outside Factory Premises

It seems as though the Lamborghini Huracan has been around for quite a while now, yet only Lamborghini customers have been able to take a close up look at it in the flesh. These pictures from outside the factory show the car going out, presumably on a
Australian LS1 V8 Powered Lamborghini Jalpa Runs 10-Second 1/4 Miles

This Lamborghini Jalpa P350 was originally purchased by a man named Nick who while impressed with its driving characteristics, was somewhat disappointed with the 25 5hp produced by its V8 engine. As a result, Nick decided to completely replace that 

 

 

Factory Fast: Dave Bridgewater’s 2012 COPO Camaro – LSXTV

Though Dave Bridgewater already had three big block 1969 Camaros and an LS1 Swapped 1969 Firebird that he and his team maintain and race regularly at drag racing events around the country, he still wanted something more to add to his already awesome collection. That something more would most certainly be a Camaro of some sort, being that Bridgewater seems to have an undying love for the pony cars.

When the factory drag race COPO Camaro was first announced, “I signed up for it right away,” Bridgewater recalls. “But I got a call later on letting me know that they were all sold out.” After seeing videos on the internet of Dave Connelly testing the Cagnazzi COPO Camaro, he knew he needed to have one in his stable. With all of them being spoken for already, Bridgewater wasn’t going to let that get in the way of him owning a 2012 COPO Camaro.

See more:

Factory Fast: Dave Bridgewater’s 2012 COPO Camaro – LSXTV.

r-camaro

COPO Camaro

COPOCamaro

This is what makes the COPO GO!!!

 

Thanks for reading

Tim

 

First 2014 Camaro Z/28 and COPO Camaro Bring Over $1.3 Million At Auction

Two of the most enthralling auctions witnessed at the recent Barrett-Jackson event in Scottsdale, Arizona were those of the very first 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and COPO Camaro. Tgether, they brought in over $1.3 million, and the best part is that all
Veterans Charity Raises $700000 from 2014 COPO Camaro at Barrett-Jackson

To refresh you on the origins and hardware on the COPO Camaro, the original COPO Camaro originated with the Pennsylvania dealer Yekno Chevrolet, founded and owned by Don Yenko. In order to have a unique product not available at other dealers, 

copo camarocopo camaro

 

National Corvette Museum Sink Hole- Restore the Vetts?

Keeping the proper prospective, (no humans were harmed) but it’s a shame to lose those beautiful one of a kind, historic cars.

So what’s next?

Apparently they believe the rest of the National Corvette Museum building it’s self is sound as is the rest of the grounds under the 184-acre Motorsports Park, which is opening in August.

But what should happened to the cars?

Should they be restored?

Should they stay as they are and preserved?

Let me know what you think.

 

Give me some feedback and I’ll send it on the Museum folks.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

1 and Half Millionth Corvette

1 and Half Millionth Corvette

 

 

National Corvette Museum Sink Hole – Drone Camera Inside the Hole.

Well, I almost didn’t want to see this.

 

The Blue Devil might be fine.  The others….yikes.

 

 

Thanks for viewing.

 

Tim