Saturday, February 2, 2019

Detroit Dragway - Gone But Not Forgotten


Detroit Drag/Connie Kalitta

Detroit Dragway


Detroit Dragway was located in the then not so populated Brownstown Township of Michigan just outside of Detroit. This legendary dragstrip opened in 1959 and closed its gates in 1998.


The shutdown was mainly due to two reasons. The first reason was Detroit Dragway needed a renovation, but the proposal to do so was turned down by Township residents in 1994. The extra traffic congestion and noise pollution were not what the now populated upscale Brownstown Township wanted. The other reason for closing down was a lack of business due to a much nicer updated track [Milan Dragway] only about an hour away.


Although Milan Dragway did not in no way have the history that Detroit Dragway had, it did, however, have much-needed safety regulations and creature comforts to attract more racers and spectators on a weekly basis.


Sunday, Sunday, Sunday


"Sunday, Sunday, Sunday at Detroit Dragway", that used to be the catchphrase broadcasted across the radio waves when main events were being promoted. Although by the time I was old enough to go racing with my Dad the real history and charm of the track had already passed on and big NHRA names were no longer showing up. The tracks legendary stories, records, and photos prove that there's no doubt the big time drag racers would always show for the big events, but now it's just history.


In 1959 and 1960, Detroit Dragway hosted the U.S. Nationals for the first time putting them on the map and paving the way to host many more great racing events. Big names like "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Connie Kalitta (a hometown hero), Shirley Muldowney, the Sox & Martin team, the Ramchargers team, and much more would come to compete and put on a show.


Detroit Dragway Classic


Detroit Dragway: A Dragstrip with a Purpose


One great thing that Detroit Dragway did for the surrounding cities was it gave illegal street racers a place to race legally. Growing up in Michigan, I witnessed and joined in on the street racing fun. Telegraph Rd. among many other Detroit highway roads were a hub for street racers, and Detroit Dragway was a place to go close by and legally race.


Another service Detroit Dragway provided was a place for promotion. “The Big Three” seen the dragstrip as a great place to promote their products. What better place to put their new performance vehicles on display than a racetrack that is right next to the then biggest automobile manufacturing city in the world (The Motor City).


Nothing Stays The Same Forever

Things have changed over the years. Detroit may still be nicknamed “The Motor City”, but it definitely is not the biggest automobile manufacturing city in the world anymore, and by most accounts, it is still broken and struggling.


Street cruising/racing on Telegraph, Outer Dr., and Grand River disappeared in the late ’70s and early ’80s but made a huge comeback in the late '90s and early 2000s. But after a police task force was formed to rid the city of the dangerous pastime and a few heavy-hitting raids cost many of us big fines, suspended driver’s licenses, and all-around big headaches, we mostly stick to drag racing legally and safely now. Although there may be some strays out looking for that kind of trouble still, there's not even enough of them for the Detroit Police Department to keep the street racing task force up and running.


<b>Detroit Dragway</b>


White Knuckle Racing
I did get to race at Detroit Dragway a few times before it was shut down. I was always hearing these stories about a big dip at the end of the track after the finish line, and I'm here to tell you it was there. I don't know if I would say it was dangerous, but it was an eye-opener when you crossed the finish line (hence the need for renovation).


Racing at Detroit Dragway was fun. There was a slight feeling of danger and fear when racing at that track, almost like you were crossing your fingers in hopes that you made it down the track and back to the pits safely. Milan Dragway doesn't really give you that feeling, but that's because the track is up to code and their safety team is 110% awesome.


Nowadays, Milan is where racers from the southeast side of Michigan and beyond go to do their drag racing. I recommend it to anyone, it's a nice facility and a nice place to race. And I can tell you from experience that the price of emissions is a small price to pay as opposed to being caught in an underground drag racing sting.


Gone But Not Forgotten

The once famous Detroit Dragway located at Sibley and Dix in Brownstown Charter Township is now a warehouse facility. Most who live with-in the surrounding high-class neighborhoods don't even know what kind of history was bulldozed down to keep their neighborhoods quiet.


But for those of us who do remember "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday" being shouted out on the oldies rock station, we knew what it meant. We knew that loud and fast cars would be lining up at the gates, then finding their spots in the pits, and eventually funneling into the staging lanes to wait for their chance to compete for a trophy win, bragging rights, and a payout at the Detroit Dragway quarter-mile.  


DETROIT DRAGWAY – Just another part of drag racing history gone but not forgotten.


Detroit Dragway History

 

Saturday, January 26, 2019

2019 Daytona 500 Gets A Pace Truck: The First Time Ever For The 500

Related image


2019 Daytona 500 Gets A Pace Truck


For the first time in the 61 year history of the Daytona 500, there will be a truck leading the pack. A bright blue 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pace truck will be driven by none other than a legend to the sport, Dale Earnhardt Jr.


Earnhardt Jr. has won the Daytona 500 twice, once in 2004 and again in 2014. He also won two Daytonas in July making it a total of four wins for him on the famous race track. Jr. completed his racing Daytona days with 13 top 5 finishes and 19 top 10 finishes with a total of 36 Daytona starts altogether.


“I’ve had a lot of fun and a lot of success at Daytona over the years, and now I can’t wait to get out on that track in a Silverado,” says Earnhardt Jr. “Away from the track I’ve driven Chevy trucks all my life, and I’m excited to have this unique experience of pacing the Daytona 500 with the Silverado.”


This new Silverado pacing The Great American Race marks the 12th time that Chevrolet will take the pace car honors at Daytona. The Camaro took pace car duties 7 times and the Corvette 5 times.


The Silverado has a 6.2-liter V8 that pumps out 420 horsepower and cranks 460 lbs.-ft. of torque, the type of power the veteran race car driver can surely handle.


“Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the perfect choice to pace the race because of his enthusiasm for the sport, his long history with Chevrolet and his love of trucks,” says Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “It’ll be exciting to have Dale lead the field to green in the strongest, most advanced Silverado ever.”


The Daytona 500 will be held on February 17th, and as always will be one more Great American Race.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

2020 Detroit North American International Auto Show Moves To June To Skip The Cold




Detroit North American Auto Show


Detroit North American International Auto Show


It's been no surprise that in the last few years and counting the Detroit North American Auto Show has been failing to achieve attendance goals. And when attendance is down, car automakers drop out.



As of right now, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi have already dropped out of the 2019 Detroit Auto Show. That’s really not that big of a surprise considering automakers like Mitsubishi, Land Rover, Jaguar, and high-end exotic and luxury brands like Bentley have been absent from the prestigious Motor City auto show for years now.  

Guilty As Charged
I love cars and worked in some way shape or form for the auto industries for many years. I try to make it every January, but I've skipped a few times just because of the cold. It always seems to be the week of the auto show that the weather temps drop to a bitter cold making it extremely miserable walking to Cobo Hall where the auto show is held.

Walking down the side streets with towering building on both sides of you turns the streets into a wind tunnel, a wind tunnel that sometimes feels like sub-below temps blowing you from side-to-side. So you have to bundle up to get to the auto show, then you have to coat check everything, and it really just becomes a big hassle when you can stay at home and watch Auto Week.

What’s New For The 2020 North American Auto Show in June?
  • Plenty of courted off space for outdoor exhibits for automakers. 
  • Live Music Venue.
  • Outdoor conference room for world-class speakers. 
  • A mini test-drive track for interested car shoppers.
  • Outdoor food court with food trucks from some of the best culinary hotspots in Detroit.
  • Fun and games. 
  • And much more. 

Image result for 2020 Detroit North American Auto Show

Image result for 2020 Detroit North American Auto Show

Image result for 2020 Detroit North American Auto Show

This exciting indoor-outdoor event that will be held right after the Belle Isle Grand Prix will really help the Motor City seem like the Motor City again.

"The potential to create a month-long automotive festival in Detroit starting with the Detroit Grand Prix, going through our show and concluding with the nationally-celebrated fireworks on the river, will provide an unmatched festival-like experience for all attendees," Detroit Auto Show executive director Rod Alberts said in a press release. "June provides us with exciting new opportunities that January just didn't afford."

The first annual “No Holds Barred” Motor City Showdown legal drag race in September at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport was a huge success. This further lead Detroit into making more changes to really make the Motor City the Motor City again and just a great city all around.  

Detroit is really becoming a great place to visit. There is plenty of great places to eat, visit, shop, listen to music, and drink. A far cry from what it used to be three decades ago.  







Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Harley J. Earl: Four Important Contributions Given To The Automotive Industry

Harley J. Earl



Harley J. Earl


Harley J. Earl started his career at General Motors in the design department as Head of Design. After proving his skills to be invaluable, General Motors appointed him to become Vice President of the corporation.  


The move by GM made Mr. Earl the first-ever appointed top executive of a major corporation in American history. Every executive prior to Earl was grandfathered into their positions.


So what made him so desirable?


What made General Motors go so far out of character to appoint Mr. Earl and his abilities to a Vice President position?


Not only was Earl’s ability to design vehicles incredible, but he also had a knack that no one else did, he could tap into what the consumer wanted.  


Instead of designing vehicles that General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford deemed as profitable, he wanted to design and build vehicles that consumers wanted to see and drive. This idealism made General Motors nervous, but ultimately they trusted in Earl with good outcomes. GM saw the rise in public excitement, vehicle sales, and of course, profits.


Here are just four of Harley J. Earl’s important contributions to the automotive industry.    


Harley J. Earl

 


1. Freeform Sketching and Hand Sculpted Clay Models: Harley J. Earl was a coachbuilder by trade. By honing and adjusting his craft, he became a pioneer of car design by introducing the use of freeform sketching and hand-sculpting clay models. Bringing this skill to the industry helped create some of the finest bodylines that we’ve come to know and love today.


1954 Corvette



2. Chevrolet Corvette: Earl decided that America needed a real sports car, one that resembled the English and European sports cars that were getting built overseas after WWII.


With Earl’s already established reputation in the automotive industry, he didn’t think he would get too much pull from other executives by presenting the thought of taking on such a risky project as creating a sports car, and he didn’t.


He went to Chevrolet’s general manager, Ed Cole, with a secret project called “Project Opel." With complete confidence in Harley Earl, Mr. Cole gave him the okay with no hesitation. Not more than a year later, in 1953, America would get its first glimpse at what would become the most iconic American sports car ever built, the Chevrolet Corvette.  


Buick y-job 1938


3. First Concept Car: The 1939 Buick Y-Job was the first-ever concept car built. Earl recognized early the need to get the public's reaction to a vehicle's appearances and performance before one is put into production.


Under Earl’s supervision and direction, the General Motors styling division created something similar to what they hoped would become the next production car for Buick. With enough interest and feedback from the public, GM put a vehicle into production that turned out to be very successful. With such success with the “concept car”, to this day the concept is used every year by every large automotive corporation in the world. 


 

Automotive Tailfins


4. Tailfins: If you like the look of classic cars, then you know you like the look of tailfins. They’re stylish, they’re sexy, and the design of them are credited to Harley J. Earl. First appearing on the Frank Hershey 1948 Cadillac, they became an iconic look that was used throughout the 1950s and 1960s.


Automotive Tailfins



After the public accepted the look, Detroit car builders, especially Chrysler, competed to see who could design the most complex, biggest tailfins that could fit on the back of a car while still looking awesome.


Automotive Tailfins



An American Automotive Pioneer


Harley J. Earl



Some of the coolest inventions and designs the public gets to enjoy in the automotive industry today are credited to Harley J Earl. Without him, who knows if we would have the Corvette, the ‘57 Chevy, and concept cars among many other great things we get to enjoy credited to Earl. 


1951 Buick LeSabre


You don’t hear about him too much, but we should always remember one of the great pioneers of the automotive industry.



Monday, October 8, 2018

2020 C8 Mid-Engine Corvette Just About Ready For Unveiling


2020 C8 Mid-Engine Corvette


It’s about that time, the cats just about out of the bag and the mid-engine C8 Chevrolet Corvette’s most recent run around Nürburgring raceway has given us a lot to look at.


The 2020 C8 Corvette is getting ready to shred its camouflage. Most all rumors from credible sources all have the same info in common, and that is we will most likely see the first version of the 2020 Vette at the North American International Auto Show.  


But thanks to some great spy photos and some insider info,  we can get a pretty good grasp of what to expect at the Corvette’s international unveiling. Corvette is trying to keep the C8 from falling into a class like the Ford GT, a high-priced limited edition exotic sports car. To accomplish that goal, the new C8 Corvette will be using the C7 Spaceframe to keep cost down.


The C7 Spaceframe is a beautifully designed frame that is more than capable of handling the speeds and the cornering that the C8 will be expected to handle.


The body of the C8 Corvette does feature a lower and wider stance than the C7 Corvette which is much expected. The short front overhang and the big front air dams really make the Corvette look much more like a European supercar. But since Corvette is looking to make a much bigger presence in the global market, the look makes sense.



You won’t find vertical lifting doors (Lambo doors) on these new Corvettes, but you will find a set of dual rear calipers and a set of dual buttress supports placed on both sides of what most people think will be a see-through glass engine cover.


Now The Fun Stuff: Powerplants


When the C8 Corvette was tested at the famous Nürburgring raceway, from what everyone could tell it was being tested with the first engine that will be available with the mid-engine Corvette. That engine is the C7 Stingray 6.2-liter V8 that will put out 500-hp.


Later in the year, a 5.5-liter V8 engine should arrive with a flat plane crank and a DOHC setup pushing out about 600-hp. The next move after that will be to implicate a twin turbocharging option that should boost the Corvette’s 5.5-liter horsepower engine up to 800.  


Corvette has also mentioned plans for a hybrid option. Some old school American car enthusiast might cringe at this idea, but if Corvette wants to compete in the supercar market globally, then they have to get with the times. This new hybrid option will add an electric motor to the front wheels while the twin-turbo engine will be supplying power to the rear wheels ultimately giving the Corvette hybrid a rating of 1,000-hp.


What’s Happening in Bowling Green, KY








About 15 months ago, Corvette closed down their Bowling Green Corvette Plant in Kentucky to make $700 million dollars in upgrades so that they can efficiently mass produce the C8 mid-engine Corvette. The plant will reopen to the public sometime in January 2019.

Unfortunately, with such a massive move to upgrade the plant to accommodate the new C8 Corvette, one can only speculate that Corvette planned for the ZR1 to be the final hooray for the C7 and front engine Corvettes altogether.  

Friday, September 21, 2018

2019 Chevrolet Camaro Online Configurator. Plus Lower Prices And New Technology












2019 Chevrolet Camaro Online Configurator


If shopping for the perfect car that has everything you want - the right color, wheels, accessories and more - becomes too tedious of a job for you, then Chevrolet has something new you might find fun and interesting.

The new 2019 Chevrolet Camaro Online Configurator is a way to build your dream Camaro without leaving your house. Using Chevrolet's configurator located on their website, you can get a 180-degree visual of what the exterior and interior of a particular Camaro will look like based on the options and configurations you choose. You will also get a net price of what the Camaro will cost and a location to the nearest dealership that has a Camaro on their lot that has all the bells and whistles you're looking for.

The configurator supplies you with seven different Camaro categories that you can customize. Pages include configuration, trims, colors, packages, exterior, interior and accessories. The configurator interface is easy to use and you can customize everything from wheel size and tire options to interior color and seating options.

Refreshed 2019 Camaro
There are not too many big changes to the new Camaro, but a bolder, stronger looking front end will be added to the already menacing looking sports car. The Camaro LS, LT, and RS models get a new front fascia that is a little sleeker looking whereas the Camaro SS front end will receive a bigger front fascia somewhat resembling the Silverado's new bold look.  

The four-cylinder turbo trim models, including the new 3LT trim model, will offer you a more sophisticated, custom 1LE suspension option. Although not your big engine Camaro - pumping out 275 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque - you can still have a lot of fun in these four-cylinder sports cars.     

The Camaro SS offers you a newly advanced 10-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission. This trans includes a line lock control and custom launch control technology for a better drag racing experience. Also, on higher end Camaro trims, a new Gen 3 Chevrolet MyLink Infotainment System displayed on an eight-inch-diagonal color touch-screen will be standard.

New Pricing
The Camaro 1LS will drop from $26,900 to $25,995, while the Camaro 2LT will drop approximately $3,000 from last year’s previous price tag. Since the Camaro has fallen behind the Mustang and the Challenger in terms of sales, Chevrolet’s sales strategy is to focus on lower prices for high-volume Camaro trim models.


One last surprise the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro configurator lets us in on is the “Crush” orange exterior paint option will again be available. This color made its last debut on the 2017 Camaro alongside the Camaro Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary special edition vehicle.  








Monday, September 3, 2018

Corvette C7.R To Race In China For The First Time Ever


Related image


Corvette C7.R


What’s Chevrolet's latest move to increase sales for the Corvette overseas? Bring their coolest Corvette they have to race at places they haven’t raced yet.   


Corvette will close out the 20th season of FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with its first-ever factory-run race in Asia. The Corvette C7.R Redline special edition will run the 6 hours of Shanghai on the weekend of November 16-18.


The Shanghai International Circuit is a venue that offers 16 turns in 5.45-km (3.38-miles) per lap. Like all WEC races, this track is designed to test the vehicle’s speed, endurance, stability, fuel economy and, of course, the driver’s skills. Built in 2004, the motorsports venue already host many racing championship circuits including the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix.


“Corvette Racing has proven itself as a world-class racing program,” said the Chevrolet director of Motorsports Competition, Mark Kent. “Competing in the Shanghai race provides us with an additional opportunity to test ourselves against the top manufacturers and teams in the FIA WEC.”    


Chevrolet Redline Edition


Chevrolet's decision for making the move toward racing the Redline edition Corvette C7.R instead of the tradition yellow and black C7.R is because of their plans to sell the special edition Corvette in China and other countries in that region.


The Redline edition isn’t just limited to the Corvette. This special edition trim was first introduced at the 2015 SEMA Show and is implicated on select Chevrolet trucks, SUVs, sedans, compacts and sports cars. Some of these other special edition models will join the Corvette in the overseas sales campaign.      


Scott Lawson, general director of Chevrolet for SAIC-GM tells us, “Chevrolet plans on strengthening their brand in China by boosting their product lineup and their overall customer and ownership experience. We have been rolling out more youthful and sportier Redline editions to help reach younger customers, the ones that are most likely to branch out and buy a sporty looking Chevrolet.”

Either way, global exposure and sales will keep profits up and stock prices steady if not rising.