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.
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.
The second-generation Corvette is widely regarded as one of, if not the best-looking Corvette, and they fetch a high premium on the auction circuit. But not every Corvette has benefited from a full restoration, and even fewer can claim to be true “survivor” cars.
Thankfully, it looks like one long-languishing 1967 Corvette coupe will get a second chance at life, reports Old Cars Weekly writer Al Rogers. The couple who owns this ‘Vette has vowed to restore it, citing their long history with the car.
Lee and Amanda Sloppy (not making that name up, by the way) have a long history with this ‘67, buying it from the original owner in 1973. Amanda used it as her daily driver to her two-mile commute until 1981, and then after the mufflers, brakes, and other bits needed replacing, the Corvette was eventually parked. Parked, but not forgotten.
I re-posted a discussion on “Would You Take A Viper Over A ZR1?” (http://wp.me/pKHNM-1nH). To me there is really no discussion to be had. There is absolutely no way I’d select a Dodge Viper for a ZR1. Heck, there’s no way I’d select a Viper over any Corvette (even the ugly, big butted C5’s). Yup, even over the horse power difference.
It is mainly the design. The Viper looks like the it’s either broken in the middle or was two cars shoved together. Check this out?
So here ya go – the curve of the hood and rake of the windshield make he look “bent” at the vertical line drawn on the fender. The bump where the side exhaust starts the bent look. The door is hinged inside what would normally be a fender brake cooling vent. Then notice the back-end – it looks familiar, yes like a Mazda. It really looks like a sports car got been by shoving a Mazda Miata in its trunk.
Now take a look at a 1992 Corvette ZR1.
Let rake in the windshield and the brake vents are as they should be!!! Great lines!!!
Collector for a 1992 Viper vs. the 1992 ZR1 is a little one sided with the Viper about $15k more than the Vette, so for investment purposes the Vipers the one to own.
What if you could switch your supercharger on and off with the flick of a switch? Many gearheads have had that dream ever since it was seen in the Mad Max movie in 1979. The aftermarket was slackin’, but 34 years later, Procharger has made it real. Or close.
The all-new i-1 supercharger is a belt-driven centrifugal deal like Procharger is known for, but this one can be programmed for the boostcurve of your choice by way of a computer-controlled constantly variable transmission (CVT) that changes the blower-drive ratio dynamically. The i-1 blower has a 8:1 gear-driven reduction augmented by the CVT that runs between 0.6:1 and 1.9:1. The drive ratio alters the blower speed and therefore changes the boost.
How is this Mad Max-like? Because you can dial a low 1 or 2 psi for driving around town and then crank it up to the blower’s full potential of around 850 hp, all on the fly. You can also custom-shape a curve to your liking, overdriving the blower at low engine speeds for more bottom-end power, and then tapering it off to ensure you don’t get into overboost. You can also create a flatter boost curve than you would normally see with an rpm-dependant centrifugal blower There are three modes out of the box: Touring for 1-2 psi, Sport for a medium- aggressive boost curve, and Competition for all-out power.
Procharger CEO Ken Jones told us that the i-1 was tested back to back with the company’s mainstay P1SC at the drag strip. The older blower ran 120 mph and the new one ran 122—that’s not due to the CVT, but because of a refined compressor housing.
Ken also says ’10-up CamaroSS will be the first available application, but company insiders have been driving around in 5.0 Mustangs, Corvettes, late-model Mopars, and F-150 trucks. We’ll throw out a guess that the 5.0 Mustang kit will be the next to market.
This is the most creative new product launch we’ve seen so far at SEMA 2012, and HOT ROD is already scheming an interesting way to test one of these things. Meanwhile, you have to check out the video to really understand how cool it is:
