Friday, June 6, 2025

Own A '63 Corvette Grand Sport Without Paying Millions

  1960s Corvette Grand Sport


Rare Corvettes for Less


Some of the rarest sports cars of all time are a group of five early '60s Corvette Grand Sports built with the sole purpose of running in the GT classes at the Sebring 12 Hours and the 24-hour LaMans races.


The Godfather of Corvettes, Zora Arkus-Duntov, led the crusade of light-weight race-ready roadsters that were designed to compete with the dominant Ford GTs and the rest of the field's competitors.


Duntov had planned on building 1,000 of these Corvettes, but only five Corvette Grand Sports were originally built in the ‘60s.


Two of the Corvettes [#001 and #002] were put to the side and three others were sent to John Mecom of Houston, TX, who eventually sent them off to three other prominent individuals in the racing industry.


Purchasing One Of These Rare Beauties

So let's say you were not lucky enough to be one of those people who received one of those five Corvettes, but now you would like to see if you can purchase one today.


Well, although these Corvettes are not relevant in the 24-hour LaMans and other races anymore, fat chance of getting your hands on one for under five million dollars.


A few years back, the #002 Corvette Grand Sport found its way to an auction block, and although the high bid was $4.9 million, it was still not enough to take the blue beautiful race car home.


If you're like most car guys, you probably don't have $4.9 million sitting around for a sports car that you wouldn't even want to drive that much anyway. But getting something similar and in many cases, much more modern and driveable with an affordable price tag is definitely feasible. 


Superformance, a car-building company in Southern California pushed to get granted the licensing to build replicas of Zora Duntov’s famed Corvette Grand Sport making it possible to own one, well at least a replica of one.


Superformance was even granted original build sheets for the #002 Grand Sport Corvette. They claim that if you wanted a replica almost identical to the original, they could build you one that only experts could tell it’s not an original #002 Grand Sport.


But like a lot of people, you're probably just looking for the look of the legendary Corvette and the performance and comforts of a newer vehicle and that's fine, Superformance is dedicated to building Vettes like that. 


1960s Corvette Grand Sport RoadsterCustomize Your Own Corvette Grand Sport

Superformance will work you up a vintage Corvette Grand Sport of your liking. Features like power steering, four-wheel disc brakes, power windows, A/C, and fully independent front and rear suspension with Bilstein suspension components can be optioned up for your Vette. There are roadster versions available, but they will look and drive more like the race Corvettes of the past, and many features and options of the coupe will be limited. But as far as power plants go, Superformance offers a variety of engines including an LS9 supercharged monster that can really make the coupe and the roadsters fun to drive.


There are actually seven engines in all to choose from. All engines come with a 2/year 50,000-mile warranty that can be serviced at your local authorized dealer. The greatest thing about the Superformance Corvette Grand Sport replica is the price tag.

Depending on your options and how customized you want it, your price tag will still be just a fraction of the price you would have to pay for the real thing.

Let's go cruising

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Best Car Cruising Movie of All Time "American Graffiti"

 

A Movie That Emulates a Great Time in Car 
History!

American Graffiti hosted a lot of great cars, a lot of great music, and a lot of great up-and-coming actors. I wasn't even a sparkle in my mom and dad's eyes in the generation the movie portrays, but I do know the importance of it. 






I grew up in a family full of car enthusiasts. We all had our own vehicles and we worked together to build them and keep them running. I got my own street and track banger when I was 17, and boy it was fun. 

This great movie shows the fun you can get into while enjoying cool vehicles and the little bit of trouble you can find with them. 

Finding a place you can hang out with your buddies, finding out through the grapevine your closest competition has been doing some upgrades to his or her vehicle—of course, you have as well and you're trying to keep it a secret for your next possible opponent. The drama, the excitement, and the slight danger are all part of the appeal.



The Changing of a Car Cursing Generation

The car cruising scene is still out there it's just a lot different. Obviously, stricter laws, crazy young kids driving their Dad's car that is way too fast for them, too many people watching "Street Outlaws" and believing it, and true cruising music that has turned into stuff I don't even understand are just some elements that make that longer drive to the drag strip worth it.

My time of cruising and drag racing in an area of Detroit, MI that was notorious for cruising/drag racing culture was almost extinct a few years after I got involved. The atmosphere went from fun to stupidly dangerous. 


What's Coming New Look for The Car Curing Scene?

A safer more responsible way for car guys to get together and enjoy the car culture. Here in Michigan, bar and grilles, coffee shops, and a lot of other sponsorships have joined together to host cruise nights across the state, and they start out early and end way before 4:00 AM in the morning. 

Pretty much any day of the week, there are plenty of these mini-car cruises going on. Not to mention big ones on Saturday night that draw people from all around, and never to be forgotten, the world-famous Woodard Dream Cruise that happens every year.

What Happen to the Illeage Drag Racing Scene?

It's still around, it's just played out in much darker corners of the streets where fewer people will show up causing more complications than needed. That means fewer cell phone videos, fewer people making the spot look oddly too busy, fewer distractions, and faster getaways if the boys in blue show up.  

"American Graffiti" The Grooming of Some Great Actors

You know a movie is legendary when many actors get their first big break with their roles and go on to have very successful careers. Actors like Suzan Sommers, Harrison Ford, Wolfman Jack, and many more Hollywood greats played in American Graffiti


.  

A Great Movie for a Great Time in American History

Back in those days, cars were "Big, Bulky, and Beefy. They looked different from one another. In this current generation, you can take badges off of just about any vehicle and switch with another vehicle in their respective class and you wouldn't know the difference. 


Mustang vs Camaro Look Alike
                                    
                                           Camaro/Mustang 
                        
It's a "Monkey See, Monkey Do" automotive industry anymore. 

We Need To Get Back To This Type Of Fun






Tuesday, February 4, 2025

First 1967 Camaro Commercial Broadcast In 1966

 


Back in 1966, the American people were introduced to a sports car that would see five decades of success. That sports car was the Camaro, and to this day has just as much power and influence in the high-performance auto motor industry as the day it first went on sale on Sept. 29, 1966.


After the Mustang was introduced in 1964, Chevrolet had to come up with a sportier, tougher two-door sports car than its current two-door sports car at the time, the Corvair. So under the code name XP-836 and then soon after named the Panther for temporary identification, Chevy went to work.

For the year 1967, Chevy decided to name the soon-to-be iconic sports car, the "Camaro". This obscure word comes from the French-English dictionary meaning "friend". They added eight different engine setups including a SS 350 option and a stout 427 option. Even though the Z/28 did not come along till the next year, on the day of September 29th, 1966, the Camaro hit the road for the first time. Five decades later, this sports car is still a noticeable piece of automobile history no matter what year or model you are driving.