The Chevy Enthusiast

Amongst Corvette enthusiasts, the last Friday in June has been considered the National Drive Your Corvette To Work Day.  This year the day has fallen on June 27th.

 We have been having grim weather over the past few months, including hail storms and severe thunderstorms.  The weather forecats today included the threat of rain later in the day.  Despite all that, I drove a Corvette to work today.  Since my 1965 Fuelie Corvette was blocked in the garage, I drove my wife’s 1978.

It was a great morning drive with warm humid temperatures.  Driving with the T-Tops off and the windows down was great.  The car just sliced through the early morning haze, as I drove along some of the back country roads.  The performance exhaust note echoed off the trees mixed well with the sounds from the radio.  What a perfect setting.

Along the way, I passed several other Corvettes that all responded with a wave.  Sitting in my office, with a clear view of the street, I have seen several other Corvettes of all vintages drive past.  That is not counting what we have driving in and out of the parking lot, considering we are Canada’s largest Corvette dealer.

I hope you are able to enjoy your Corvettes today.  No matter the vintage or model of Corvette, they are a treat to drive on any day!

The Chevy Enthiusiast

During this in depth explanation about the General Motors Accessories Division and their directional thought process, there is a sneak peak of and actual portion of the 2009 Chev Camaro.

We are all eagerly awaiting this stellar Camaro and any preview is exciting!

The Chevy Enthusiast

Here is a snapshot of what happens in the Paint Booth at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant………Enjoy!
The Chevy Enthusiast

There has been a lot of excitement over the last time period as we all learn new facts about the Corvette ZR1.

Follow this  video of a Corvette ZR1 as it flows down the assembly line in the Bowling Green Assembly Plant.  Way Cool!!!

The Chevy Enthusiast

This is a direct quote from the wonderful folks over at www.corvetteracing.com

We congratulate the Teams on running a terrific race!

Corvette Racing Finishes Second and Third in 24 Hours of Le Mans

American Team Scores 15th Podium Finish in France

LE MANS, France – For the second consecutive year, Corvette Racing finished second in the GT1 class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Johnny O’Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows completed 344 laps in their No. 63 Compuware Corvette C6.R, finishing on the lead lap with the winning No. 009 Aston Martin DBR9 of David Brabham, Antonio Garcia, and Darren Turner. The No. 64 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis finished third with 341 laps completed.

The twice-around-the-clock race featured a hard-fought battle for the GT1 title between Corvette Racing and Aston Martin Racing. The No. 63 Corvette C6.R and the No. 009 Aston Martin DBR9 were in lockstep from the start, trading the lead and separated by less than a lap in the running order for hour after hour. Rain arrived at the Circuit de la Sarthe before sunrise and returned as the race drew to a close, compelling teams and drivers to develop new strategies and make difficult tire decisions in the rapidly changing conditions.

The turning point came in the 17th hour when the Corvette Racing crew had to replace the No. 63 Corvette’s right front brake pads. Although the work was finished in less than 90 seconds, the Aston Martin gained valuable track position. After scoring five wins in seven years, Corvette finished second to Aston Martin Racing for the second year.

“Once again, we saw one of the epic battles in all of sports car racing,” said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. “When you can take two cars, run them for 24 hours, and have them finish just minutes apart, it’s an incredible achievement for both teams. We had a brake issue with the No. 63 Corvette and overcame a problem with the alternator in the No. 64 Corvette, and both cars finished on the podium. When we look at Corvette Racing’s overall record and performance here at Le Mans, Chevrolet can be proud.”

In the sixth hour, the No. 64 suffered a broken alternator connection that required six minutes to repair. Then at 19:24 into the race, the crew removed and replaced the engine compartment undertray. Papis rejoined the race five minutes later, losing one lap in the process. Both Corvettes made 29 pit stops during the 24-hour race.

“This has probably been the best we’ve been able to race for the entire distance,” commented team manager Gary Pratt. “We had a good strategy to pick up a lap by running 14-lap fuel stints, but we got hung up by the safety car. In the night and in the rain, the Astons could pull away from us a little, and we couldn’t seem to get it back. We started to catch up in the daylight, but then the rain returned. The Corvette Racing team worked hard, we never gave up, and we made it a close race.”

“The effort that Chevrolet and Corvette Racing put into this event is gigantic,” said Johnny O’Connell. “Ninety-nine percent of teams would be ecstatic to finish second at Le Mans two years in a row, but we have high expectations and lofty goals at Corvette Racing. Had the weather not gone the way it did, with our strategy of going 14 laps on a fuel stint, the race might have gone our way. The spectators saw the two best teams in sports car racing go toe-to-toe today, and I’m very proud of the effort that everyone put forth.”

Corvette Racing’s next event is the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., on July 12.

24 Hours of Le Mans GT1 Results:
Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Laps
1. (009) Brabham/Garcia/Turner, Aston Martin DBR9, 344
2. (63) Fellows/O’Connell/Magnussen, Corvette C6.R, 344
3. (64) Gavin/Beretta/Papis, Corvette C6.R, 341
4. (007) Frentzen/Wendlinger/Piccini, Aston Martin DBR9, 339
5. (72) Alphand/Policand/Moreau, Corvette C6.R, 335
6. (73) Gouselard/Blanchemain/Pasquali, Corvette C6.R, 325
7. (50) Bouchot/Bornhauser/Smet, Saleen S7R, 306
8. (59) Menten/Fittipaldi/Borcheller, Aston Martin DBR9, 302
9. (55) Kox, Rusinov/Hezemans, Lamborghini Murcielago, 266
10. (53) Negrao/Hardman/Leventis, Aston Martin DBR9, 82

What can we say, if you have never had a chance to drive your Corvette at high speed on a road course, you do not know what you are missing!

The skilled team from Powell Motorsport hosted our third session of the Wilson Niblett Performance Corvette Driving Experience on June 5th at the Mosport International Raceway.  14 Corvettes showed up for the days activities (15 if you count my classic 1965 Fuel Injected Corvette)

We had John Powell and his team create these Corvette specific Driving Sessions to teach Corvette owners how to use the technology built into their Corvettes to the fullest, all in a controlled and safe teaching environment.  The advantage of doing this on the Mosport Grand Prix Track is that the students can experience the higher speeds that smaller track and public roads cannot proving in a safe and legal manner.

We stress the learning of not only the incredible capabilities that General Motors has built into these engineering marvels but also the limits that each driver can bring these cars to and maintain control.  In the end, all students were amazed at the capabilities of the stock Corvettes in the areas of handling, braking, accident avoidance and high speed stability.  They were also able to learn and practice cornering skills, proper seating and steering manipulation along with heel and toe shifting skills.  There were attendees of all levels from first timers to a few with deeper experience and track time.

The day started promptly at 8:00AM and ran through until 5:00PM with a break for a catered lunch and some classroom briefings.  The weather was perfect, not too hot and just enough breeze to keep us all comfortable.  The latter part of the day was spent with the instrucors giving us personal tips during high speed lapping. We all had a blast and cannot wait for the next session!

For more pics of the event, go to www.corvettecanada.ca and check out the events section.

The Chevy Enthusiast

Last week a very happy client drove away in our second 2008 Z06 Z44 427 Tribute Corvette.  There are only 20 of these beautiful Corvettes slated for Canadian Dealers and we were fortunate enough to have earned the allotment of Two (2) of the 20 units.

If you have not seen one of these fantastic looking Z44 Corvettes in person, you will love the look of them when you do see one.  The colour combined with the special chromed wheels just jump out at you!  Keep you eyes open and you might see this one blasting around the GTA.

The Chevy Enthusiast

On May 24th the staff at Wilson Niblett Corvette hosted the National Corvette Restorers Society, Ontario Chapter Judging Meet.  The Ontario Chapter has been very active in the Corvette hobby since it began operating in 1980.  We were very honoured and thrilled to be approached by the Chapter to have us host their Annual Judging Meet this year and in the future.

The NCRS is an organization that was founded to share information amongst Corvette afficianados with respect to the standards of originality as the cars were originally produced at the factory.  All this information that has been gathered over the years has become the standard against which the Corvettes of each year are judged.  The Corvettes are to appear exactly as they would have been delivered to a client when new (Less any addtional add on equipment that the dealer might have installed)

The event was a great success with 10 Corvettes being judged against their standards.  There was a lot of interest generated around this event since Corvettes are such a part of our heritage at Wilson Niblett Corvette and because nothing looks better than a perfect vintage Corvette.

We eagerly look forward to next years Judging Meet!

Fo

The Chevy Enthusiast