San Francisco 49ers Coach to Drive C7 Pace Car at Indy 500
For football players, there is no bigger event than the Super Bowl. Some men strive their entire lives to get to the Big Game, though just a select few have ever earned a Super Bowl title. San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh fell three points short of winning his Super Bowl bid this year, falling to his brother, John, who coached the Baltimore Ravens to victory.
But even being a Super Bowl loser has its perks. One of them is the privilege of driving the 2014 Corvette Stingray Pace Car at this year’s Indianapolis 500 event, becoming one of the first “civilians” to drive this brand new American icon.
It’s a bit of a homecoming for Jim Harbaugh, who quarterbacked for the Indianapolis Colts during the 1990s. In addition to being a fervent football city, Indianapolis has a rich racing history, including the iconic Indy 500. GM has had numerous cars pace the Indy 500, including the Corvette, but with hundreds of thousands of fans in attendance, this is the first time many of them will see a Corvette C7 up close and personal.
In fact, this is the 12th time the Corvette has paced the Indy 500, including appearances that dominated most of the past decade. But this arguably the biggest Corvette pace car event of them all, a radical redesign from the “safer” look of the Corvette C6. Painted in Laguna Blue, this stunning ‘Vette will certainly draw a lot of looks when it makes its pace car debut this Sunday.
I love book and the movie, and I even started considering collecting one. When I was a kid (back in the early 70’s) across the road from our house, in a field, sat an old Plymouth Fury – can’t recall cars year but it did have fins.
I remember asking my Dad why we didn’t drive it and he said it needed a carburetor. It seemed in my young mind’s eye that the carburetor wasn’t much more than a can looking thing with a butterfly looking think in the middle. So I fashioned one out of a soup can and the metal dividers in an ice cube maker – yes kids it was before ice fell from a frig with a push of a button.
Stephen King said he chose a 1958 Plymouth Fury to play the inhuman title character in his book from the year prior because Furys “were the most mundane Fifties car that I could remember. I didn’t want a car that already had a legend attached to it like the fifties Thunderbird, the Ford Galaxies etc… Nobody ever talked about the Plymouth products.”
Enjoy this article at the link below (and go pick up a Hemmings periodical). You’ll love them.
Well there were the Cobras and the Mustangs, even a Lancer and an Omni, why not a Shelby pick up truck….and naturally it would be a Ford.
The Ford Rapture was a formidable 4 by 4 at it’s inception with gobs of horsepower and not a badly appointed interior.
But we expect more from a Shelby and you are going to get with this monster truck.
Yeah…It’s a Shelby
That’s what most other 4×4 are going to see…the back side
The NEW Shelby Raptor delivers a heart pounding, supercharged 575 hp (50 state emissions compliant), tuned with Shelby Stinger exhaust, complimented by a custom Shelby leather interior, all wrapped in Shelby graphics and styling, and finished with an exclusive Shelby Registry number and badges. Personalize your new Shelby Raptor from your choice of three Shelby graphics packages, or add wheels and tires, light bars, bumpers and roll bars, all from our ever growing Shelby options list.
There are several paint scheme:
I like this white version – reminds me of the Mustangs
It’s a well-known fact that James Marshall Hendrix, better known as “Jimi,” was a fan of the iconic Fender Stratocaster. What isn’t common knowledge was his affinity for Chevrolet Corvettes. During his short time in the spotlight, Hendrix owned not one, but two Vettes.
His first, a Stingray, was purchased in Cleveland in 1968 while on tour with his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, in support of their recently released masterpiece Axis: Bold As Love. Sadly, after less than a year, Hendrix totaled the car following a long night of heavy partying. Undeterred, and with his insurance claim filed, Hendrix took delivery of a replacement Corvette.
This second Corvette, in Cortez Silver, remained in Hendrix’s possession until his death, after which it was sold to cover mounting bills faced by his estate. From there the trail goes cold, with the car’s whereabouts currently unknown.
See more at http://www.historicvehicle.org link below.
Normally, I do a Auto Factoid piece and you’d find a entry that would say on May 14, 1969 the last Corvair rolled off the factory line.
Some folks loved the car and many collectors still do. There were a few that really disliked the car for various reasons and one guy in particular, Ralph Nader, believed they represented all that was wrong with the U.S. auto industry. Although he may not have single-handedly contributed the end of the Corvair’s production, many believe he was instrumental in it’s early demise.
That’s why in a border town car show in Nogales, AZ I found this humorous:
What’s funny about a 1966 Corvair?
How about the Ralph Nader for President bumper sticker?
There was a time in Ford history where the same car carried several names at one time. This was my favorite car at this show. The Ford Starliner also carried the name Galaxy (the Fairlane also carried the Galaxy name). This one is a beautiful 1960 Starline and I love it.
Just down the street is a new eating establishment. From the outside it looks odd, until you realize that the shape on the roof is a car air filter. On the inside it’s very unique.
While dinning you are sitting slightly above and do the West of a very large working garage. The glass walls allow patrons to view the projects that range from a built from scratch race platform (not yet a car but tube framed out), a Cobra body – mostly likely a kit, any early 1900 Ford, a 50’s Chevy and few other.
It has a great atmosphere with lots of car and racing memorabilia (with a complete Sprint and drag car) and lots of TVs tuned to all types of sports. Food is good and prices are reasonable.
Hot Rods
As you can guess in my two previous ‘almost live’ posts Hot Rods is a great place to hold a car show.
And what would a car show be without some classic corvettes? Well we weren’t able to explore that at this show.
Vettes
Hot Rods and Vette!!!
Classic Vettes
All this for FREE and only 1o bucks to enter these great cars!!
DETROIT – The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe will have a suggested starting retail price of $51,995, and the Corvette Stingray Convertible will start at $56,995. Both prices include a $995 destination fee but exclude tax, title, and license.
“The 2014 Corvette Stingray perfectly embodies Chevrolet’s mission to deliver more than expected for our customers,” said Chris Perry, vice president, Chevrolet marketing. “The Corvette Stingray delivers a combination of performance, design and technology that very few manufacturers can match, and none can even come close for $52,000.”
Standard features on the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray include:
Seating with lightweight magnesium frames for exceptional support, and eight-way power adjustment
Five-position Drive Mode Selector that tailors up to 12 vehicle attributes
New seven-speed manual transmission with Active Rev Matching
6.2L LT1 V-8 engine with direct injection, Active Fuel Management, continuously variable valve timing and an advanced combustion system
Carbon fiber hood on all models, and a carbon fiber removable roof panel on coupes
Aluminum frame that is 99 pounds lighter (45 kg) and 57-percent stiffer than the previous model’s structure
Advanced, high-intensity discharge (HID) and light-emitting diode (LED) lighting
Dual, eight-inch configurable driver/infotainment screens, with next-generation Chevrolet MyLink infotainment system and rear vision camera
Bose nine-speaker audio system with SiriusXM Satellite radio, Bluetooth connectivity, USB and SD card and auxiliary input jack
Keyless access with push-button start
Power tilt/telescope steering wheel
An all-new, fully electronic top on the convertible that can be lowered remotely using the key fob
As shown at the North American International Auto Show, the Stingray coupe fitted with the major available options would be $73,360, including:
3LT interior package, with leather-wrapped interior ($8,005)
Z51 Performance Package ($2,800)
Competition sports seats ($2,495)
Exposed-carbon-fiber roof panel ($1,995)
Magnetic Ride Control with Performance Traction Management ($1,795)
The 3LT interior package includes: Bose 10-speaker surround-sound audio system; SiriusXM Satellite radio with one-year subscription and HD radio receiver; color head-up display; memory package; navigation system; heated and ventilated seats with power lumbar and bolster adjustment; premium Napa leather seating surfaces; and leather-wrapped dash and instrument panel, console and door panels.
The Z51 Performance Package includes: high-performance gear ratios; transmission-cooling system; larger 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels and tires; larger, slotted rotors and brake-cooling ducts; electronic limited-slip differential and differential cooling system; unique chassis tuning; and available Magnetic Ride Control active-handling system with Performance Traction Management. Equipped with the Z51 package, the Corvette Stingray is capable of accelerating from 0–60 mph in under four seconds, and more than 1 g in cornering.
For football players, there is no bigger event than the Super Bowl. Some men strive their entire lives to get to the Big Game, though just a select few have ever earned a Super Bowl title. San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh fell three points short of winning his Super Bowl bid this year, falling to his brother, John, who coached the Baltimore Ravens to victory.
But even being a Super Bowl loser has its perks. One of them is the privilege of driving the 2014 Corvette Stingray Pace Car at this year’s Indianapolis 500 event, becoming one of the first “civilians” to drive this brand new American icon.
