Sunday, December 18, 2022

Camaro SS 30th Anniversary SLP Edition (LT4)

 

1997 Camaro SS SLP


1997 Camaro SS 30th Anniversary SLP Edition

Anniversary Editions are always fun. Special stripes, badges, and performance upgrades find their way onto a limited number of stock versions of a vehicle to celebrate the special year. 

Although anniversary additions usually see minor changes, that wasn't the case when it came to the 1997 Camaro SS 30th Anniversary SLP Edition. All of the 30th Anniversary Camaros (RS, Z-28, and SS) seen an eye-popping color scheme and 30th Anniversary badges placed throughout the interior, but a few SS Camaros (US 100 – Canada 6 – Prototype 2) got much more than just a few minor upgrades and a cool looking color scheme. Those few special Camaro SS received a stout LT4 5.7-liter engine installed by SLP.


1969 Indianapolis 500 Pace Card


Where Did The Color Scheme for the Anniversary Edition Camaro Come From?

The color scheme is a throwback to the 1969 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Camaro. Just like in '69, the '97 30th Anniversary Camaro was painted Arctic White accompanied by a set of Hugger Orange racing stripes that graced the hood, deck-lid, and roof of all of the 1997 Anniversary Editions (unless it was a convertible). 

The All-Important 330 HP Badge

They all may have looked the same and had the same embroider badges on the seats and the floor mats, but only a select few got to wear the all-important 330-hp badge indicating an LT4 under the hood.

Almost all of the Anniversary Editions came with stock engines that matched their trim package except for those few lucky SS Camaros that got to take the trip to SLP Engineering after they rolled off the assembly line.

SLP Engineering was able to get its hands on extra leftover LT4 motors that were used in the 1996 Corvette Grand Sport a year earlier. Before SLP bolted these LT4 motors into the Camaros, they broke each engine down and had them balanced and blue-printed. 

LT4 Camaro SS engine


On paper, the LT4 was documented to get 330 horsepower at 5,800 RPM and reached its max torque at 4,500 RPM. But many car enthusiasts and automotive professionals believe this motor that had 10.8:1 compression was definitely underrated.



SLP SS Camaro


More SLP Camaro Upgrades

The 1997 Camaro SS with the SLP LT4 upgrade also received a Borg-Warner T56 six-speed manual transmission, a performance exhaust, a lightweight driveshaft, Bilstein sport suspension (optional level III Bilstein suspension package), and a Torsen limited-slip differential. All those extras were good to get you from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds and down the quarter-mile in 13.3 seconds. 

With the explosion of technology in the auto industry, that may not seem so amazing in this generation, but back in 1997, that was the fastest production American sports car on the market. There were no American sports cars at that time that could be bought from a dealer that went that fast.

330 HP Badge SS Camaro


Identifying a 1997 Camaro SS 30th Anniversary LT-4 SLP Edition
So how do you tell if what you're looking at or what you own is one of these rare 30th Anniversary SLP LT4 SS Camaros? Regular SS 30th Anniversary Camaros are commonly mistaken for these very rare SLP Editions, and that's because they're easy to pass off as one. 

All of the SLP LT4 Editions rolled off the line and out of the factory as an LT1 before being shipped off for the special treatment. That means even SLP LT4 SS Camaros will still indicate that it is an LT1 Camaro SS in the Vin#. 

First, to either begin or end the discussion of whether it is a true SS or not, look at the trim options. If it's anything other than a white SS hardtop with Huggar Orange stripes, your SS is not an SS LT4 SLP Limited Edition.  

There are a few places on the Camaro that will definitely give you the information you want if it wasn't removed post-SLP Treatment. Right above the rear bumper on the opposite side of the SS emblem, a special edition 330-hp badge will let you know if it's an LT4 SLP, but these can be easily applied to regular SS Cmaros. 

To get to the bottom of your research, you want to look inside the driver's side door and or inside the glove box to find the RPO code. This should indicate if it has been in the hands of the SLP engineers. But if you're still not sure what you are looking at, you can always call SLP Engineering, they are sure to have records of what Camaros they got their hands on.

1997 Camaro SS 30th Anniversary LT4 SLP Edition


If you do have a true LT4 SS 30th Anniversary Camaro in your sights, you're looking at a true collectible. These cars will eventually sell on the Barrett Jackson block like the COPO Camaros do right now. They're good-looking, powerful, rare, and fun to drive.

Happy Hunting!

 

Sunday, December 4, 2022

The 1956 Corvette "The Real McCoy" That Saved The Brand

1956 Corvette



Just about anybody in the world who knows a little about cars knows that the Corvette was the first American sports car and is now the most popular, fastest, and most recognizable American sports car to date. But what a lot of people may not know is that this was not always true. In fact, by the year 1955, the Corvette almost saw its extinction.

Rumors about the move to drop the Corvette flooded out of Chevrolet's top offices with very sad sales numbers to back up what only seemed to be a good idea. Their competition, the two-seater Ford Thunderbird, which sold an astonishing 16,000 units in 1955—the Corvette—only sold a depressing 700 units.

Unfortunately for Ford, the same car that was taking so many sales away from the Corvette would be the inspiration for keeping the Corvette in the product lineup. The idea behind keeping the Vette and spending more money on a car that was obviously tanking was brought on by a few Chevrolet bigwigs, including former Corvette chief engineer Dave McLellan. McLellan released a statement concurring that, "if the Ford Thunderbird was doing so well, there is obviously a market for a two-seater sports car. With a solid change for the better and the right amount of marketing, the Corvette should be able to become a moneymaker."

In an ironic twist, the very car that Corvette planned to piggyback off of, the Ford Thunderbird, had already made future plans to market the car differently by doing away with the two-seater style and making it a four-seater touring car, thus leaving the American sports car market wide open for Chevrolet and its Corvette.


Corvette 327


"The Real McCoy" 

As wide open as the market was, the Corvette needed some changes for success, ideally in the form of performance and a new body style. When Zora Arkus Dutov took the reins as Corvette Chief Engineer, he was ready to make those changes, but he knew first the chassis had to be redesigned to handle any horsepower upgrades.

Once engineers updated and strengthen the chassis, Chevrolet engineers went performance and horsepower hunting. First, they ditched the boring and heavy two-speed power-glide transmission and replaced it with an upgraded four-speed. They also took the original 265 cu.-in. motor and bored it out to a 307 that sported dual Cater carbs and a now-famous "Dutov High-Performance Cam." 

1956 Corvette Real McCoy


Other upgrades were also included on the Real McCoy like a very rare set of Halibrand magnesium knock-off wheels, special heavy-duty brakes with cooling scoops, heavy-duty shocks and sway bars, an upgraded high-capacity fuel tank, and more—all newly implicated to help achieve the Corvette performance desired.

After all of those upgrades, top engineers slapped a new SR Prototype body on what was now known as project Corvette #6901. The engineers called it "The Real McCoy" and decided it was ready to head to the racetrack.

Dayton Speedway Record
The first stop for the "Real McCoy" was the Dayton Speed Week for a two-way flying speed mile. This is where the Corvette would make its first milestone. At the time, the record for the Corvettes class was 127 mph. With Dutov as the driver, the 255-horsepower Corvette sped to an average speed of 150.58mph to crush the record.

This was an extremely sufficient record because it occurred just weeks before the New York Motorama, where the Corvette would be on display to many potential buyers, most of which had already heard the news of the record-breaking performance.

12-Hour Sebring Race
A few months after Daytona, the ground-breaking Corvette made its way to the famous 12-Hour Sebring Race. This race was designed only for the toughest of the toughest—the fastest of the fastest. Only cars like Jaguars, Bentleys, and Aston Martins graced the racetracks for these events. But with a chance to prove that the Corvette has changed and deserved respect along with the other powerful sports cars, Chevrolet did not shy away, instead, they joined in on the action.

1956 12-hour of Sebring


Race car drivers John Fitch and Walter Hansgen were brought on board to take on the challenging race. When the green flag dropped, the race was on. But early on in the race, the Corvette experienced mechanical problems, so much so they did not think it would finish the race. In the end, not only did the Real McCoy Corvette finish, the Corvette finished first in its respective class and 9th overall. This was an incredible accomplishment, especially considering 60 cars entered the event, but only 24 crossed the finish line.

With another huge milestone under Corvette's belt, Chevrolet exploited it by printing ads like this "A Tough, Road-Gripping Torpedo On Wheels" and "The Most Remarkable Car Made In America Today." 

Those ads were to send a message: Corvette had finally arrived as a force in the international sportscar racing circuits, and they proudly called this particular Vette "The Real McCoy."

Between all of its accomplishments and Chevrolet's ad campaigns, the '56 Corvette sold 3,467 units, and in '57 they nearly doubled that with 6,339 sold. One of the main reasons the Corvette saw such selling success was if they were to race the Vette in its respected class at the 12-hour Sebring race, every part that was changed or modified for the race had to be documented and later made available to the public. This process made potential buyers very excited about being able to buy a Corvette and beef it up to run and look just like the “The Real McCoy”  

Real McCoy Corvette at Mecum

Auctioned Away For $2.3 Million

In any event, if it was not for the #6901 '56 PJ Prototype "Real McCoy" Corvette, and possibly the success of the Thunderbird, Chevrolet may have never gone forward with the Corvette and, the automobile industry would definitely not be the same today.