Month: June 2009

Volkswagen of America and Ford Motor Corporation were announced today as full-line corporate leaders in Strategic Vision Inc.

[More]

J.D. Power & Associates recently conducted an Initial Quality Study, focused on the quality of all vehicles produced for the U.S. market. Reports concluded that the big three have improved their vehicle quality by 10% since last year.

In fact, the GM Bowling Green Assembly Plant received its very own Bronze Award honors for its quality inspection. The assembly plant ranked 5th place internationally for overall vehicle quality! This Corvette and Cadillac XLR plant only averaged 43 vehicle issues out of every 100 vehicles produced (or a rating of 43 PP100). The industry average for initial quality problems was 108 per 100 vehicles produced.

Though 43 faults may seem quite high, this score was only surpassed by THREE plants, which included:

• Toyota’s Japanese plant (29 PP100)
• Honda’s Ohio plant (41 PP100)
• GM’s Ontario plant (42 PP100)
• Ford’s Kentucky Truck plant (43 PP100) and
• GM’s Bowling Green plant (43 PP100)

“High quality generally translates into reduced re-engineering costs and lower warranty expenses during a vehicle’s life cycle. High quality also enhances an automaker’s reputation for reliability, which is a critical purchase consideration for many consumers,” says David Sargent, J.D. Power and Associates’ vice president of automotive research.

Corvette proves, once again, to be the ultimate pure-American quality super car!

[ The Auto Channel ]

Fifty-six years ago today, the very first production Corvettes were completed and rolled off a temporary assembly line at Chevrolet’s Customer Delivery Center in Flint, Michigan. All the Corvettes were hand-built and for the first time in a mass produced vehicle, a revolutionary material called fiberglass was used instead of steel to make the body panels. [More]

Fifty-six years ago today, the very first production Corvettes were completed and rolled off a temporary assembly line at Chevrolet’s Customer Delivery Center in Flint, Michigan. All the Corvettes were hand-built and for the first time in a mass produced vehicle, a revolutionary material called fiberglass was used instead of steel to make the body panels. [More]

It’s always fun when you see a guy riding a classic Corvette hard. In this video from last weekend’s Bloomington Gold parade, the owner of this Riverside Red ’67 Coupe decides to show how a real burnout is done. [More]

We’ve heard a lot about General Motors in headlines recently, but very little of the news has been good.

Mecum concluded their two day Bloomington Gold auction on Saturday afternoon. It will be a memorable auction not for what sold, but for what didn’t sell. Only 108 of the 286 Corvettes sold which translates to a 38% success rating. However, many of the featured Corvettes didn’t reach reserve which makes us wonder if buyers were holding back or if sellers were asking too much. [More]

Today is the 43rd anniversary of my father’s purchase of a Tuxedo Black 1966 Corvette from Rohrer Chevrolet in Camden, New Jersey. If you are a new reader of CorvetteBlogger, my original post on this topic from June 2007 will tell you a lot about me and my love of Corvettes. It also gives me a chance to pay tribute to my day who I lost in 1982.

Read the original post: 41 Years Ago Today A Young Man Buys A 1966 Corvette…

 

Corvette Racing came to a lull when GM decided to cancel production on a Corvette-based prototype… the C7R LMP1.

The vehicle was expected to be apart of the LeMans “Evo” class, a combination of both the GT1 and LMP1 classes. Competition for this class would have included the Porsches, Ferraris, BMWs, Aston Martins, etc. However, plans for such Evo class were cancelled due to cost constraints and LMP1 teams failing to comply.

Vehicle models of the C7R LMP1 can be found on display within the Pratt & Miller facility in New Hudson, MI. We are only left now to dream about Corvette having had the opportunity destroy the competition at LeMans.

GM road-racing boss, Steve Wesoloski, comments on the lost Evo class. "I’m not giving up," Wesoloski said. "Overall [race] wins are still my target." He continues to inform that Le Mans organizations are working with GM, Porsche, Aston Martin and Ferrari to produce a class that allows all four companies to compete.

Will GM agree to take part? Will they have the ability to deliver a new racing Corvette? Stay posted.

[ AutoWeek ]