Not Corvette, but Worth Seeing...

This video is from the Volkswagen plant in Dresden, Germany. It was sent to me by my good friend, Pat, from Indiana. It's amazing and something that the UAW ought to consider for improving conditions, quality, and morale.

Enjoy.

Love that Meguiar's

Summer has arrived and it's time to keep that Corvette sparkling and shiny with a good coat of wax. I know each of you has your favorite detailing products. Or maybe you don't, and you're looking for suggestions. Well, here's mine. I love Meguiar's products. They make everything I need for giving my Vette a deep, lustrous shine and protecting it from the elements.

Here's my procedure:

Since I don't drive my Vette in the rain (yes, I'm one of those guys) I rarely need to wash it. When I'm not driving it, it stays protected in my garage under its car cover. But it still needs some care on a regular basis to keep that shine going on.

My first step when I bought the car was to use a claybar. You may not think it's necessary, but I assure you it will make a difference in the depth of the shine you can achieve. The secret is not to scrimp on spraying that lubricating spray. Otherwise your claybar will stick to the paint. No damage, but just a little troublesome to get it unstuck.

Secondly, I use Meguiar's Step 2 Polish. You apply it like wax. And here's a point I'm adamant about. Always use a microfiber towel unless you want to end up with swirls in the paint.

After Meguiar's Step 2 Polish, I apply the Meguiar's Showcar Glaze. Same procedure. And I finish it off with Meguiar's Gold Class Wax. That's it. I'm done. I do the whole car by hand.

So enjoy polishing your Vette, no matter what product you prefer. Just remember to use those microfiber towels.

You'll be happy you did.

Watch those potholes!

One thing you have to be very careful of when driving a Corvette, or any other sports car that sits close to the ground, is potholes.

Actually, you need to be careful in any vehicle when it comes to holes in the road surface, especially at higher speeds.

Here are a couple that appear to be quite dangerous and capable of inflicting serious damage to your undercarriage.

I don't know about you, but I know this would slow me down! I see myself slowing down, trying to "straddle" the hole, then breathing again when I cleared it without hitting it!

But they're not really holes. They're actually a clever, new idea to slow traffic down. Actually much better than the old concrete or asphalt humps or speed bumps we all remember. It looks like these would jar your dentures loose if you drove into one.

So if you're driving along and see something that looks like anything in these pictures, just be careful. If you think they're the fake ones you've seen on here, and just drive carelessly over them, you might be surprised.

It could be the real thing.

ENTER TO WIN TWO CORVETTES!

That's right. Not one, but TWO Corvette's are being given away. Plus you can help deserving kids in the process.

CLICK HERE to enter.

Cherry Berry

Some of you may not know about my Corvette, so I wanted to post this and tell you all about it. It was a year ago this month that I drove it for the first time and fell in love. I had been searching for two years to find the perfect car, and this one was definitely it. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It all started the summer of 1967.

If I remember correctly, gasoline was about twenty-five cents a gallon. I think the United States was producing a lot greater proportion of our oil supply at that time. We weren't nearly so dependent on the foreign oil producing countries. But that's another story for another time. You could buy a sixteen-ounce Coca Cola in a glass bottle for ten cents. A ticket for a Saturday matinee movie was thirty-five cents. And automobiles were not nearly as expensive as they are today.

On that particular day, I was in the showroom of a Chevrolet dealer in Independence, Missouri. I was waiting for them to finish up the paperwork on a Chevelle Malibu I had just purchased. There wasn't much to do to fill the time except to look at the cars on the showroom floor. One of them was a brand new, bright red, 1967 Corvette convertible. It was gorgeous, of course. I looked at the sticker and read the price: $5,700. Naturally, it was way out of my price range. But from that day on I dreamed of someday owning a Corvette.

I searched for 40 years, on and off, but never could find exactly what I was looking for. A new one was out of the range of possibilities, but a well-maintained pre-owned Vette would fill the bill. But I was picky. Being an artist, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. And I couldn't find a pristine and perfect Vette at a price I was willing to pay. By the way, if you would like to see some of my paintings and prints you can visit http://www.wildheartgallery.net/.

But we're not here to talk about painting. Let's get back to the subject at hand. I finally got serious about two years ago and decided, at 59 years old, that it was time to either find my dream car or forget about it altogether. And forgetting about it didn't seem like a good option. You just can't let a lifelong desire fade away and become an unrealized dream.

So I began looking a little more seriously. I searched the country, spent excessive time on ebay, and surfed the net checking out what was available at the local dealers.

March 15th of last year (2008) was a beautiful and sunny spring day. That's the day I saw it for the first time. It was sitting on the front line at Morse Chevrolet in Overland Park, Kansas. I thought it was new when I drove past it the first time and almost didn't stop. But, as fate would have it, I decided to turn around just to check it out.

The closer I got, the better it looked. It didn't have what you would call a "ten-foot paint job." Even at a foot away, it was slick and shiny without a scratch visible. The interior was equally perfect. The previous owner had babied it, and it looked as if it had just been driven off the showroom floor. After speaking to Chad Barker, the Sales Manager, the great news was that it was in my price range!

I was surprised to learn that it was 2001 model year. And I was even more surprised when I learned it only had 22,780 miles on the clock. What sold me on this particular Corvette was the envelope in the glove compartment containing a letter from the previous owners and addressed to "The New Owner." The letter indicated that the car had a name. They had named it Berry, perhaps because of the Magnetic Red color. It also included their name and a phone number to call with any questions — and a request to please take good care of Berry because it had been a great car for them. Well, that pretty much sold me.

The dealer was asking $27,500 for Berry. I knew the Kelly Blue Book value was very close to that price, but naturally you always want to try to negotiate when you can. I offered them $25,000. Of course I had to wait while they thought about it, as they always do. They returned with a story about another buyer who was interested at full price. This buyer was supposed to come back in a day or two to buy it. My reply was that the other buyer may or may not come back, but I was there right now with an offer to write the check as soon as they agreed. It didn't take long for them to see the logic in accepting my offer.

The deal went very smoothly. They were great to deal with and met all of my expectation. I would highly recommend them if you're in the market for a Corvette, or any other car. I felt I was treated very fairly.

And so the adventure began. An hour later Berry (now named Cherry Berry) and I were driving home and getting to know each other. And that's enough for tonight. I'll be back tomorrow to continue the story and get you up to speed on everything I've learned about Corvettes in general and about my Corvette specifically. I'll try to remember to include some information I learned about tires when I come back.

Today, she's sitting in my garage, under her cover. We're supposed to get 6-10 inches of snow this evening, so she won't be seen on the streets until that mess is cleaned up. I hope you enjoyed the story, and if you've got one of your own, hit that comment button and tell us all about it.

Marie's Black Vette

Well, all I can say she's gorgeous. And, hey, the car isn't bad, either!


This black beauty comes to us from my friend, Marie. I'm going to let her tell you about it.



"Well, it's a 2003 Z06. The mods include: RK5 Hood (RK Sport), GHL Bullet Exhaust, Drilled Slotted Rotors, Tire Pressure Sensors, Z06 Exhaust Plate, Z06 Shift Knob, Z06 Door Sills, Rear Z06 Partition, billet Grille Inserts, CCW 505A wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Tires (Front 275/30/19, Rear 295/35/19."





It sounds to me like the gal knows her car. Thanks, Marie. And just look at that shine.

You've made us all jealous now.

Fabulous Corvette Auction

One of the biggest Corvette auctions in the Midwest is coming up in March. It will be held at the new, state-of-the-art facility of Adesa in Belton, Missouri. More info to come soon.

Wezel's Vettes

As Wezel says, "What's better than owning a Corvette? Two Corvettes, of course!"

He goes on to tell more about the gorgeous C4 pictured above...

"It is a 1996 LT-1 with Torch Red paint, sporting an A4 tranny, Bose, and performance-wise it is completely stock. It's still a great car. After I bought the C6 I couldn't think of a good reason to sell it. It hasn't turned over 70,000 miles yet.

"The C6 is a 2007 3LT, Black/Ebony and also completely stock with F55, Bose, A6, chrome wheels and both tops. The window tint is after-market."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm jealous. Not only does Wezel own TWO Vettes, they're both gorgeous and tricked out pretty nicely. Life is good in Horseshoe Bay.

ZR1 - Revisited

I had so many visitors when I ran the ZR1 article, I thought there might be a little more interest out there for more info on the current model.

If you'd like to Read All About It, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. A good friend of mine who advertises with me on this site has already done the lion's share of the work by putting together a great article on this beast.

You can read his information by clicking HERE. It's very detailed and probably contains everything you ever wanted to know about the 2009 ZR1.

It's a great site, not only for the ZR1, but also for a lot of other exotic automobiles.

Check it out. You'll be impressed, I'm sure.

Meguiar's Giveaway

You guys and gals have been coming here for quite some time, and I haven't given anything away yet. So, I've decided to offer something in return for your continued visits. It's a product I love. And I'm sure if you try it, you'll love it, too. If you've already got a favorite and don't want to change, you can give it to a friend as a Christmas gift.

The prize is a bottle of Meguiar's Gold Class Wax. All you need to do for a chance to win is click on the COMMENT thing below this post and enter a comment. Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you. After we have 100 entries, the entry period ends. Only the first 100 entries will be eligible to win. I will use the services of Random.org to select the winner in a random drawing.

After you click the COMMENT, if you don't have a Google ID, click the ANONYMOUS option at the bottom. Be sure to include our email address in your comment. Entries without email addresses will be deleted. I need to know how to contact you if you win. Good luck to all!

The Eariler ZR1

Let's take a look back to the 90s at the ZR1 that preceded the current one. Here's some info about that classic model.

Four years prior to its introduction, the Corvette team approached Lotus, then a GM subsidiary, in 1986 with a concept for developing an ultra-high performance vehicle based on the C4 Corvette. With input from GM's "Corvette Team" of engineers and designers, Lotus designed a new engine to replace the traditional pushrod L98 V-8 that powered the standard C4. The result was the LT5. This engine was an aluminum-block V-8 with the same bore centers as the L98, but with four overhead cams and 32 valves.

A unique air management system provided a wider power band by shutting off 8 of the 16 intake runners and fuel injectors when the engine was at part-throttle, while still giving the ZR-1 375 hp when at wide open throttle. Since Chevrolet had no facility which could manufacture the new LT5, the engines was subcontracted to Mercury Marine, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which normally specialized in high-performance marine engines.

Lotus also aided in the development of the ZR-1's standard "FX3" active suspension system, which would provide the basis for active suspension systems found (as optional equipment) on all Corvettes since.

In 1991, all Corvettes received updates to body work, interior, and wheels. The convex rear fascia that set the 1990 ZR-1 apart from the base model was now included on L98 Corvettes, making the styling of the expensive ZR-1 even closer to that of the base cars. The most obvious difference remaining between the base and ZR-1 models besides the wider rear wheels was the location of the CHMSL (center high mounted stop lamp), which was integrated into the new rear fascia used on the base model, but remained at the top of the rear-hatch on the ZR-1's.

All corvette ZR-1's had a interesting feature — a power key — mounted underneath the radio. Using this key you could turn the power from "full" to "normal" which disabled the secondary intake ports and cut the maximum power to 200hp.

Further changes were made in 1992: ZR-1 badges were displayed on both front fenders and traction control was added as a standard feature. In 1993, Lotus redesigned the cylinder heads and valve-train of the LT5, resulting in a horsepower increase from 375 to 405. In addition, a new exhaust gas recirculation system improved emissions control. Production of the ZR-1 ended in 1995, after 6,939 cars had been built.

Gorgeous in Orange

Our Showcase Photo is changing again today. If you like orange, you're going to love the featured Vette this week. It was sent to me by my good friend David Howard. I'm going to rest my voice and let David tell you all about it.

I saw your post in the Corvette Forum and thought I would drop you a line and let you know I like your blog and enjoyed reading your comments. C-3’s as an era of Corvettes covers a lot of years and share at least three differing groups. The all metal bumper group (68-72); the one year only front urethane and rear metal bumper (73), and the urethane front and rear bumper years (74-82). All of them are C-3’s, some are more sought after than others, and there are now far more red ones than were ever built by GM.

I have a 1977 Corvette Orange original with 22K documented miles that I show locally. It was chosen for a Celebrity Choice Award at Corvettes at Carlisle this year and we were very proud to win this award. I am attaching a couple of pictures of it for your viewing and use if you wish. Much is known about this car through my research and this is one of two 1977’s that I currently own.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but after reading that, I'm wanting to see the OTHER 77 that David owns. Maybe it's a work in progress, under restoration, or not ready to be shown yet. In any case, I hope he is listening and sends us some photos of it.

If you have a Corvette and would like to share your story with the world, email me the info about it, as much detail as you wish, and three or four photos (jpeg would be the best).

If it's ready for a show, that's great. And if it's currently undergoing restoration, that's great, too. Here's the address: mbroadway@comcast.net.