This store has a wide variety of Corvette books and it highlights Corvette Racing Legends.  Take a look at it when you have a moment.  I’m sure you will like is as much as I do.

This year’s show is expected to be one of the largest ever, as the show is now open to ALL makes and models of Muscle Cars and Corvettes.  You don’t want to miss this one!

You can get a preview and daily updates at Corvette Pete’s unique page: http://www.corvettepete.com/muscle_car_corvette_nationals_2009.html

Recently, one of my customers found my name on a corvette forum, but it wasn’t me.  I’ve heard of people pretending to be someone else on sites such as Twitter and MySpace, but not in the forums.  Those pretenders faced some serious uncertainties if they didn’t delete or change the names.  But apparently in the forums, the rules are different.

I contacted the forum adminstrator regarding someone using my name, and guess what, he didn’t care!

So should I assume if someone registered their name as Dick Guldstrand, should we wonder if it is really him or not?  I’ve always thought that when you see someone’s name that you know, it should be that person.  I just found out in the vast emptiness of the galactic Internet, that there are administrators who have no regard for that concept.  In fact, this is after they have been informed of the use of the name that has been used for business purposes elsewhere.

What ever happened to social consciousness?   You ask which forum this is?    Oh yeah….it’s the C6 Vette Registry.  I’m not going to post a link to their site, because you don’t know what kind of information you will receive back.  Especially when their members pretend to impersonate legitimate business owners, and the administrator doesn’t care.

If you want the real Corvette Pete, visit these sites:

www.corvettepete.com

www.myspace.com/corvettepete

www.corvetteracinglegends.com

www.thel88corvette.com

www.corvettelegends.com

by, the REAL Corvette Pete

     I’ve watched hundreds of thousands of good employees lose their jobs, and even worse,  lose the value of their retirement accounts as the value of their company sank.  I’ve watched families pay their health insurance premiums for years, and suddenly, when they need the benefits from their policy to cover the treatment for an illness or an accident, the insurance company denies payment.

     I’ve been thinking about how a lot of people in this world are getting stomped on…..right now.

     It hit me a couple of days ago as I watched a couple of business men getting into one of their imported cars (one with very poor styling if you ask me) at the end of their lunch hour.  They were in their late 40s early 50s, and you could tell that for some reason, they were impressed with this import car that I found very unimpressive.  They were both a bit overweight, as the extra pounds could be noticed from across the parking lot due to the large amount of white shirt that was visible in the abdominal areas.   They sported  grins that were so “phoney”  it made me sick.  I used to call these kind of guys “Hey Ho Guys” because when they are walking around, you can hear them saying an emphatic “hey” or a deep, smooth  “ho” to everyone who crossed their paths or if they saw someone they knew.

     I can’t tell you what I call them now, this is the Internet….you know.   But what I can tell you, is that their ties nausiated me.  It wasn’t because the ties were in poor taste and did not even match their suits.  It was what those ties symbolized.     The ties that were neatly crossed at the collar and hung down over those fat bellies that coordinated with the obnoxious grins and the even worse sounds of the “hey” and the “ho” created a visual and an audible cacophony that was unbearable.  The arrogant executives at the insurance companies who deny claims, but each year receive a raise and a bonus so they can continue living the high life.  The obnoxious financier who only cares about his commission and doesn’t care if his client makes or loses money.  All the other jerks out there who cheat people out of their money.  It’s ironic that they all wear ties.  These guys make me sick.

     This is why Corvette Pete doesn’t wear a tie.

The Corvette lives.  It will continue on as a 2010 model and beyond.

That makes sense to me, but there has to be other models for the American family to choose from.   In fact, there has to be other trim levels from Buick and Cadillac and GMC to please the wide variety of buyers out there.

We lost Oldsmobile a few years ago and in the process alienated a big portion of the loyal GM buyers.  Many of those buyers have purchased Toyotas since then.  Now we are losing Pontiac because the GM board did not make the price point and the trim upgrade levels a high enough step up from Chevrolet to Pontiac.  So there it goes also.

Will GM get things right this time??  They are in bankrupcy.  Who knows!

I even heard announcers at one of the collector car auctions make a statement about several of the classic 60s and 70s GM musclecars and he couldn’t believe that GM stopped making such fun cars!!  That is part of the problem.  The cars are not as fun as they used to be.  The other problems are reliability and the cost of replacement parts.

If GM can improve the fun factor, increase reliability and reduce the cost of replacement parts, they will be huge winners in this Global Economy.

The loyal GM customers are still out there.  They are waiting to buy cars.  All GM has to do is to tell them that they have the products they are looking for.

What I am most impressed about is the price that COPO Camaros and Chevelles command at these auctions.  These cars are powered by the L-72 427 Corvette engine which was introduced for the 1966 model year, and then in 1967 it acquired a triple 2bbl Holley carb setup (tripower) and was re-coded as an L-71.  In 1968 and 1969, a lower profile intake manifold was used to clear the hood of the new C3 Corvette.

If you wanted to lighten the car or improve the handling, the L-88 aluminum heads were available as an option.  The L-71 engine would then become an L-89.  The L-89 was available on Corvettes in 1967 only.  In 1968 and 1969, the L-89 was available on the tripower L-71 427 Corvette, but in the Camaro and Chevelles, the L-89 was available on top of the L-78 396/375 engine and was fueled by a single 780 cfm Holley carb.

I’m going to feature and discuss the COPO Camaros and Chevelles in my companion book to Corvette Racing Legends.  The 1969 COPOs were factory 427 cars, that led to the release of the 1970 LS6 454 SS Chevelle.  I made brief mention of that in my book, but you really have to look hard to find it.  That’s why I’m working on the companion book.

But anyway, there were more Corvettes with the L-71 tripower 427 built in 1969 than all the COPO Camaros and COPO Chevelles combined.  That’s why the COPOs command more money at auctions.  There were over 4000 LS6 Chevelles built in 1970.  That’s a lot.  Must not be too many of them remaining. 

I saw one L-88 Corvette at the auction, but it was a no-sale.  The reserve price was not met.  If you want to see more authentic L-88 Corvettes, take a look here: www.TheL88Corvette.com  That site will always have new photos each year after the Bloomington Gold Corvette Show.

While you are waiting for my new Corvette and COPO book, you will have to settle for my current book at: www.CorvetteRacingLegends.com 

I also have a new forum at: www.TheChevroletCorvette.com  Its for everyone and it contains free classified ads for Corvettes and Corvette parts for all of its members.  Join up now!

Long Live The Corvette!

Pete

1955 was the model year that the legendary small block Chevrolet engine was introduced to the world.  An engine that was considered by many as the “Perfect Engine.”  It could be economical or it could be powerful.  It was extremely flexible and versatile.  It was compact and had what seemed to be unlimited potential. 

This engine would remain in the Chevrolet line for 45 years without any major modifications!  Now that is what I call real visionary thinking! 

Corvettes used this powerplant from 1955 through 1996.  It began as a 265 cubic inch engine and grew to 283 cubic inched for the 1957 model year.  In 1962 it was enlarged to 327 cubic inches and then again to 350 cubic inches in 1967 (Camaro only).  The Corvette received the 350 during the 1969 model year.  The engine would remain basically in that form until 1982, when it received a “cross fire fuel injection system” with very early and simple computer commands.  The more attractive Tuned Port Injection appeared on the 1985 models.  A revised version came in 1992 as the second generation engine, which used a reverse flow cooling system to cool the cylinder heads before cooling the engine block.  This engine appeared in the Corvettes as the LT-1 from 1992-1996 with a high performance LT-4 version using different cylinder head, high lift camshaft, and a unique intake manifold. 

GM SUVs would continue to use a more traditonal form of the small block chevrolet engine with sequential fuel injection until 2000, when the 45 year old engine was phased out by the third generation (GEN III) small block Chevrolet engine.

What is going to power the next 50 years of automobiles?  We will have to wait and see.

But the rotary design which was believed to have been purchased from Wankel (the rotary engine designer), turned out to be a low efficient engine that delivered poor gas mileage during that time at GM (early 70s). 

As a result, GM ended up being two years behind on its engine emission/fuel mileage plan exactly when the first gas crisis of the ’70s hit in 1973. 

Is there still a future for the rotary engine?  Who knows?  Perhaps a small displacement multi-rotor engine with turbocharging assistance could be the answer to lowering costs and improving gas mileage.

Computer controlled fuel injection systems have allowed large Corvette engines to achieve way over 24 MPG on the highway and also deliver 12 second quarter mile time slips before heading home.

These same computer managed fuel injection systems might make a huge difference in the future of GM.

All it would take is a new attitude.

These engineers had been working tremedously hard on designing new, more compact, more efficient engines, and also on smaller lighter weight cars of all sizes.  The GM executive board decided that they would not compete in any  type of motorsport activity based upon the terrible accident that had occured two years earlier at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.  This decision was done without even anaylzing and reviewing what had happened.

For those of you who have my book,  look on page 194-195.  That photo from the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans will tell you why there were so many deaths at that race.  The people are standing on the track, during the event, in the rain, while the cars are racing on the track!!! 

These deaths were the result of irresponsibility and not from improved performance of the racing cars.

Once the GM engineers were told they could not compete with other manufacturers regarding the latest and greatest designs and technologies, the development slowed, and during many model years, it came to a complete stop with no changes in the cars from year to year.

Had these engineers been allowed to compete effectively, lighter weight, more efficient engines and automobiles would have been allowed to be produced, which would have resulted in safer, more fuel efficient automobiles that would have been in a better market position in the 70s.

This is where the cancerous gene entered the corporation.  This cancerous gene would spread from one generation of executives and engineers to the next generation, sometimes mutating into a more damaging gene. 

Corvette Pete

That article is on my original website that I posted back in 1995-1996.  Hope you enjoy it!

Corvette Pete