- Admin
- #1
Some people may think that interest in the Corvette hobby may be waning, but based upon everything I saw at this year's Corvettes at Carlisle event, the Corvette hobby is alive and well!
At around noon time Saturday, Lance Miller and his staff received word that Corvette registrations for the event had nearly reached their record attendance in 1982. The place was PACKED! I can honestly say that walking around the fairgrounds, it's been a long time since I've seen that many Corvettes on the show field.
The weather was awesome each day with the exception of Friday where we saw some passing showers. However the sun was out full blast, temps in the 80s, and the humidity was low which was much appreciated!
As a guest VIP this year, I got to choose one Corvette out of the show field that I liked the most. This usually proves to be a difficult challenge for me because there are so many of them that catch my eye, however, I can only pick one. On Saturday, I chose a 1969 resto-mod Corvette with the most incredible candy apple red metallic paint job I've ever seen. It was like looking into a reflecting pool. I took a walk up the hill that overlooks the entire Fairground and this one Corvette jumped out at me in the sunlight down below. Unfortunately, my cell phone battery was dieing so I wasn't able to grab any pictures of it.
One of the highlights for me was getting a chance to see the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray in all available colors. I also got a chance to sit in one of them, and let me tell you...I was totally impressed.
Back at the unveiling in January, we were not able to sit inside, but this weekend, everyone was climbing in and out of them. The quality of the interior, design and fit & finish were nothing short of amazing.
Several members of Corvette Engineering were present as was Corvette Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter, and Corvette Product & Marketing Manager - Harlan Charles. Corvette Engineering held 15 minute seminars including questions and answers every hour on Friday and Saturday. The GM tent was packed all weekend and Corvette Engineering did an awesome job answering questions from the audience. Tadge Juechter and Harlan Charles also conducted a couple in-depth seminars on the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray in front of the grandstand, discussing a lot of the technology that went into the C7 as well as how the car was conceived and engineered along the way.
The most common questions asked from the audience? "What about the Z06!?" "What about the ZR1!?" The definitive response? "We're here to discuss the Corvette coupe and convertible. We're not here to discuss future products."
Walking through the crowds, I can honestly say most people really liked the most controversial part of the new Stingray: the rear-end and tail lights. There were still a few nay-sayers, but overall, opinions were positive.
Below are some photos of a 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray I caught sitting in the middle of the show field:
Below is the 1963 "Asteroid" Corvette. The paint job is unbelievable!
From Corvette at Carlisle web site:
Overall, this year's Corvettes at Carlisle was another awesome event!
At around noon time Saturday, Lance Miller and his staff received word that Corvette registrations for the event had nearly reached their record attendance in 1982. The place was PACKED! I can honestly say that walking around the fairgrounds, it's been a long time since I've seen that many Corvettes on the show field.
The weather was awesome each day with the exception of Friday where we saw some passing showers. However the sun was out full blast, temps in the 80s, and the humidity was low which was much appreciated!
As a guest VIP this year, I got to choose one Corvette out of the show field that I liked the most. This usually proves to be a difficult challenge for me because there are so many of them that catch my eye, however, I can only pick one. On Saturday, I chose a 1969 resto-mod Corvette with the most incredible candy apple red metallic paint job I've ever seen. It was like looking into a reflecting pool. I took a walk up the hill that overlooks the entire Fairground and this one Corvette jumped out at me in the sunlight down below. Unfortunately, my cell phone battery was dieing so I wasn't able to grab any pictures of it.
One of the highlights for me was getting a chance to see the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray in all available colors. I also got a chance to sit in one of them, and let me tell you...I was totally impressed.
Back at the unveiling in January, we were not able to sit inside, but this weekend, everyone was climbing in and out of them. The quality of the interior, design and fit & finish were nothing short of amazing.
Several members of Corvette Engineering were present as was Corvette Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter, and Corvette Product & Marketing Manager - Harlan Charles. Corvette Engineering held 15 minute seminars including questions and answers every hour on Friday and Saturday. The GM tent was packed all weekend and Corvette Engineering did an awesome job answering questions from the audience. Tadge Juechter and Harlan Charles also conducted a couple in-depth seminars on the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray in front of the grandstand, discussing a lot of the technology that went into the C7 as well as how the car was conceived and engineered along the way.
The most common questions asked from the audience? "What about the Z06!?" "What about the ZR1!?" The definitive response? "We're here to discuss the Corvette coupe and convertible. We're not here to discuss future products."
Walking through the crowds, I can honestly say most people really liked the most controversial part of the new Stingray: the rear-end and tail lights. There were still a few nay-sayers, but overall, opinions were positive.
Below are some photos of a 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray I caught sitting in the middle of the show field:
Below is the 1963 "Asteroid" Corvette. The paint job is unbelievable!
From Corvette at Carlisle web site:
Special ordered new as a paint delete car by legendary speedboat racer Bob Nordskog, this '63 Corvette was delivered straight to the King of Custom cars George Barris of Barris Kustoms. The new C2 Corvette got a radical transformation and redesign from Barris. The car was given an extended nose cone that had headlights positioned behind the bladed grille, custom headers exiting behind the front wheels, removed the split window, filled in the rear tail panel and opened up the rear wheel wells to accommodate big wheels. The paint job was out of this world and was painted in a heavy metallic copper finish that would blind you in the sunlight. This helped give the car the name "Asteroid" since it looked like it was on fire and moving at 1000 mph sitting still!
The interior design was just as wild. It was finished in a pearl white Naughahyde complimented with copper accents to match the exterior paint. This Corvette was built with dual personalities and was as fierce at the car shows as it was racing down the quarter mile. It was powered by a 352 cubic inch motor with 13:1 compression and fed through six chrome Stromburg 97 carburetors. Everything under the hood was either painted gold metallic or chrome plated and was the topper for an already over-the-top car.
Overall, this year's Corvettes at Carlisle was another awesome event!