Hot Rods Old Vail 1st Annual Car Show – Vettes

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

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.

DSC_0181

Vettes

 

Hot Rods and Vette!!!

Hot Rods and Vette!!!

 

Classic Vettes

Classic Vettes

All this for FREE and only 1o bucks to enter these great cars!!

More coming up!!!!

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

 

GM Press Release: 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray base price set at $51,995, up 3%

GM Press Release: 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray base price set at $51,995, up 3% – Corvette Action Center – Corvette Forum.

 

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)
  • Dual-mode exhaust system ($1,195)
  • Carbon fiber interior trim ($995)
  • Sueded, microfiber-wrapped upper interior trim ($995)
  • Red-painted calipers ($595)
  • Black-painted wheels ($495)

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.

 

Thanks for reading

Tim

FEATURE: 1974 GMC Sierra 2500 Camper Special | Classic Recollections

FEATURE: 1974 GMC Sierra 2500 Camper Special | Classic Recollections.

 

This 1974 GMC 2500 Sierra Camper Special was restored by the original owner's nephew.

Squared  nose and sturdy.  These trucks can last.

Thanks for reading and check out the link above.

Tim

The End of a Decade – The Mustang Era

Well one thing we can count on  for sure, is that things will always change.

For nearly  10 years my 1970 Mustang has been a great joy.  I’ve taken it from a 6 cylinder lady’s car (I say that purely because it was first owned by a lady, who in turn, handed it down to her daughter and it had some dainty pin striping) to a proud muscle car.

We suffered a couple flat-bed trips, a problematic carb and leaking power steering, an AC unit that got less miles per oz of coolant then the engine did in miles per gallon and invented some new cuss words!

We survived a few charity drag races and won a bunch street light mini drags, took home a couple of car show trophies and placed a lot of smiles on passerby faces and kids when I let them sit behind the wheel.

But things change and I’ve enjoyed my Mustang thoroughly.  But it’s time to move on so my Mustang is going to a new home, where it will enjoy the company of four other Mustangs.

I will miss the old steed but so proud of where it started and where it is now.

So fare well old friend…on to new adventures.

1970 Mustang Mods for 300 HP

1970 Mustang
Mods for 300 HP

So what’s next for me?  Well there is my 1965 Bridgestone motorcycle and many more car shows and SCCA with the my C7 Vette and a surprise coming up….oh…no you are just going to have to wait to find out.

So stay tuned for some more mods, car shows, racing and classic/muscle car reading.

Thank you for reading.

Tim

 

Road Tripping – Cars – Lowell, Az – Part I

One of our (myself and my better half) favorite things to do is road trip to out of the way places.  Once there, I have a limit to how many shops, art galleries and “antique” stores I can handle.  So we’ve taken to the back streets to look  at the local neighborhoods.  My wife is an interior designer and she loves architecture so we are always keeping eye out for interesting homes and buildings and I love cars so I’m always on the lookout for what’s in the backyard.

So that is what led us to this unique discovery outside of Bisbee, Az.  The next few blog entries will be what we discovered in the area.

Lowell, Az is nearly a ghost town, surrounded by the mining town of Bisbee.  The story goes like this: there is this fellow who had something to do with starting and promoting one of the largest motorcycle events in the world… The Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle event!!

Some call it a ghost town, but it is not.  There is a food co-op, a small cafe and a working motorcycle restoration shop.  The rest is really a very cool set up.

Here is the town:

Downtown Lowell, Az

Downtown Lowell, Az

IMG_0069

Coming up we’ll explore this town and find some interesting details.

Thanks for reading,

Tim

‘67 Corvette Abandoned in a Field Gets a Chance at a Second Life – CorvetteOnline.com

‘67 Corvette Abandoned in a Field Gets a Chance at a Second Life – CorvetteOnline.com.

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.

Camaros and Firebirds

Camaros and Firebirds.

They almost always went hand in hand with GM, at least during my formidable days.   Then came the Trans-Am.   Pontiac was over took the Camaro arguably in performance but uncontested in folklore, I offer up Burt Reynolds & “Smoky and the Bandit” for support (you can count the Rockford Files, the Camaro there was not much more than a prop –cool no doubt but mostly a prop.

Camaro’s back (in case you’ve been living under a discarded intake manifold) with the Z28 soon to return and the SS and LT1 already burning up the streets.  But the when the axe fell on Pontiac it took with it any chance to bring back the Firebird in any kind of configuration.  So we are forced to back in time and watch old super 8 movies of Firebird/Trans-Am in motion.   Or do we?

What if (and it’s a BIG IF) some where, someone started producing that iconic version of the Firebird – not a pre-made body – al-la Dynacores’ Mustang offering, but an up to date platform, like Mother Mopar did with the Challenger.

What if (BIG IF – again), they placed it on a new 2012 Camaro platform and soup-ed it up a bit?   Something like this:

 

Aweseome!

Awesome!

Yes , that is just what those innovative folks did at Lingenfelters.   This is the 455 TA “lightly” (snicker) Camaro.

It sports a the Tran-Am trade mark split grille and honey comb wheels and blue and white paint schema.  But under the hood is a power plant will make the hardest Camaro shake in it’s engine bay.

 

Oh...BTW...comes in drop top...love the wheels

Oh…BTW…comes in drop top…love the wheels

The engine is a custom  RHS Aluminum engine block at displaces 455 cubic inches.  It has a 4.155” bore Diamond 11.5:1 compression ratio pistons, 4.200” stroke, Lunati forged crankshaft, LPE CNC ported and polished LS7 heads. Pair this up with LSX Fast 102 intake and Lingenfelter’s 6 bolt LS9 twin disk fly whee/clutch assembly and you get a 655 horse powered monster that can lay down 610 ft-lbs of torque to the  20×11 rear tires (front are 20×10),

 

MONSTER!!!!

MONSTER!!!!

OK…you can exhale now, but when the 455 TA does it uses a custom Corsa stainless exhaust and it sounds AWESOME!!!!

I caught this version at the Barrett Jackson Auction this past January.

The LPE concept body mods include front air dam and rear Firebird like spoiler and taillights.

You want one, I know you do!!!

Here’s a little more:

Thanks for reading.

Tim