2 CIRCLE CITY CORVETTES Issue 2017-12 Circle City Corvettes Newsletter CREATED FOR THE PROMOTION AND ENJOYMENT OF THE CHEVROLET CORVETTE. December 2017 President s Comments I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. December is the month for enjoying family and friends and trying not to be naughty so Santa will come by your home with a new Corvette on Christmas. Well we can all dream!!! We will have our annual Christmas Party on 16 December at Judy and Russell s party barn in Ashford. The fun will begin at 5PM and last until the last Dirty Santa gift is given away. There will be no Club meeting in December so please try and join the fun at our annual Christmas Party. A special thanks to Judy and Russell for letting us use their great party barn for our party. I truly appreciate it. We had some great events in November. We had a great showing at the Annual Peanut Festival Parade. The Corvettes looked awesome in the parade and the club members enjoyed a fun lunch together afterwards. Thank you all for supporting this annual event and it is a great way to show our support for the local community. We also had a fun Corvettes and Coffee in Dothan on 18 November. We will have the December Corvettes and Coffee on 16 December in Enterprise at the Panera Bread. I realize that we are all really busy during this time of the year but just try and join us for the Corvettes and Coffee on the 16 th. The friendship and camaraderie is really great at this event. I am planning some fun events for 2018 so keep an eye on your email for these upcoming events. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and safe New Year. Save the Wave. Carl
CIRCLE CITY CORVETTES Issue -12 2 Nov. 11 Peanut Festival Parade The Corvettes carried the Festival Queens and afterwards all enjoyed lunch together. Nov. 20 Donation to SEAL Child Advocacy Center Nov. 18 Corvettes & Coffee at the Dothan Panera Bread Co. It was a $500 donation presented by Steve and Diane Lewis..
CIRCLE CITY CORVETTES Issue -12 3 Monthly NCM and Corvette News 15 Interesting Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette
CIRCLE CITY CORVETTES Issue -12 4 The Chevrolet Corvette is one of America s most beloved sports cars. A vehicle that signifies American muscle, the model has spanned seven generations, and has won almost countless awards as a highly sought after collectible vehicle. Rare Corvettes are among the most valuable vehicles in the world, and it s not hard to understand why: American collectors and those international as well are in love with this icon of American sports cars. If you re a Corvette fan, you probably know quite a bit about the car, whether it s 0-60 times, horsepower, or, if you ve been shopping, available colors and options, but do you know it all? We ve discovered 15 interesting facts about the Chevy Corvette American sports car. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #1: The Chevy Corvette was 2014 s North American Car of the Year Chevrolet completely remade the Corvette Stingray, and in 2014, the car was named the North American Car of the Year at the North American International Auto Show. The new Corvette is noted to be more nimble and powerful than previous generations and a standard engine that goes from zero to 60 in 3.8 seconds, but with decent gas mileage at 17 miles per gallon in the city, and 29 miles per gallon on the highway with a cylinder shut off system for highway speeds. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #2: Prince wrote a song about it Prince wrote Little Red Corvette after dozing off in a backup singer s car following an all night recording session. He says the lyrics came to him in bits and pieces during cat naps, but eventually, he finished the song without sleeping. It was Prince s first big hit. Chevrolet capitalized on the popularity of the song in 2001, when they put up billboards with a red 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray that simply said, They don t write songs about Volvos. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #3: A red 1967 Chevy Corvette L88 is among the most expensive vehicles in the world In January 2014, a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 sold for $3,850,000. There were only 20 1967 Chevy Corvette L88s produced and only one of them was red. This rare, incredibly valuable vehicle was incredibly popular at Barrett-Jackson s auction in Scottsdale. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #4: The Sting Ray wasn t the only interesting concept Corvette While the classic Sting Ray and the newly reintroduced Stingray have been popular, Corvette created other interesting concepts including the Mako Shark, Mako Shark II, and Aerovette. Both Mako Shark concepts influenced later production designs of the Corvette. The Aerovette was approved for 1980 production, but the mid-engine Corvette was never mass produced. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #5: The Corvette innovated the use of fiberglass on vehicles While vehicles in 1953 were typically made of steel, the Corvette was constructed out of innovative fiberglass. At the time, fiberglass was believed to be fragile and dangerous in accidents, but after a test that involved the Corvette rolling over with limited damage, Chevrolet stuck with fiberglass and the Corvette came to be known as the American sports car of the future.
2 CIRCLE CITY CORVETTES Issue 2017-12 Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #6: Corvette Racing has won nearly 100 races worldwide Since 1999, Corvette Racing has won 92 races worldwide, with 85 in North America and 7 internationally. This includes 58 1-2 finishes, seven 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins, 10 ALMS manufacturers championships, 10 ALMS team championships, and nine ALMS drivers championships. Corvette Racing s first race was the Daytona 24 Hours in 1999, and the team s first GTS was in 2000 at Texas Motor Speedway. However, Corvette has been involved in international road racing for more than 59 years. In 1956, the Corvette won a Class B victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #7: The Corvette Z06 is among the fastest regular production order vehicles available The Corvette Z06, offered for a number of model years starting in 1963, was created to give private racers an option for competition when GM couldn t establish a factory race team. The 2004 C5Z06 and the 2012 C6 Z06 are two just a few street cars to have broken the eight minute time around the Nordschleife. The Nordschleife is part of the Nurburgring complex near Cologne, Germany, and has been nicknamed The Green Hell as one of the most difficult, dangerous circuits in the world. It s rumored that in 1963, a single Z06 convertible was produced. The 1963 Z06 is said to have been driven for approximately 7,000 miles and then stored. Few have seen this legendary Corvette. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #8: The new 2014 Corvette Stingray can reach high speeds in reverse The top speed in reverse for the 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray is an incredible 53 miles per hour. That s fast! We do not recommend testing it out for yourself, but we bet it would be fun to try out on a track. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #9: The 1968 Corvette is the fastest in history The 1968 LT-2 (a prototype 70 engine) has the fastest recorded 0-60 time in all of Corvette history at 2.8 seconds, as tested by Motor Trend. The 1968 Corvette reached 1/4 mile in 10.86 seconds at 124.64 miles per hour. Other close calls came from the 2009 Corvette ZR1. Road and Track tested it at 3.3 seconds from 0-60, and 11.4 seconds at 125.5 miles per hour to hit 1/4 mile. Motor Trend reached similar results for the same model, with 3.3 seconds to 0-60, and 11.2 seconds to the 1/4 mile at 130.5 miles per hour. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #10: The first Corvette had only two options Today it seems like to Corvette comes with an endless array of options, but in 1953, the original Corvette was far less complicated. It had a base price of $3,498, and had just two options for car buyers to add on if they d like: a heater, which cost $91, and an AM radio, which was $145. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #11: The V-8 engine was so popular, Corvette stuck with it In 1955, Chevrolet made the V8 engine available for the very first time. In that year, nearly every car buyer went for the V8, with 90% of customers for the year selecting the V8 option. The people spoke loud and clear to Chevrolet, and the manufacturer decided to offer Corvettes with V8 engines from that point forward.
CIRCLE CITY CORVETTES Issue -12 6 Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #12: The initial production year of the Corvette was early, and very limited In 1953, only 300 Corvettes were built. Chevrolet had accelerated production plans due to an enthusiastic response after more than 1.4 million people came out to see Corvette displays throughout the United States that year, with production starting June 30th, 1953. All of the 1953 Corvettes were assembled in Flint, Michigan, and all of them were white with a red interior. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #13: There have been nearly 2 million Corvettes throughout history Since the Corvette went on sale in 1953, the model has sold nearly 2 million vehicles. In 2012, the Corvette was so popular that it accounted for about one third of all sports car sales in the United States. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #14: The Corvette is named after a class of warships The Chevrolet Corvette was originally code named Opel, but Chevrolet s chief photographer Myron Scott is credited with coming up with the Corvette name. He was inspired by the small, fast class of corvette warships. Facts About the Chevrolet Corvette #15: The first Corvette emblem featured an American flag making it illegal Chevrolet had planned to use an American flag in its iconic crossed flag emblem for the Corvette, but before the 1953 release, discovered that it was illegal to use it. According to National Flag Code, it is illegal to use the flag for advertising purposes, and that includes vehicle emblems. Chevrolet quickly changed gears and decided to use the fleur de lis, a French symbol for peace and purity.
CIRCLE CITY CORVETTES Issue -12 7 Click here for items and information President: Carl Shea Vice President: Seaby Bess Secretary: Floy Bess NCM Ambassador: Charley Robertson Treasurer: Jim Robertson Caravan Coordinator: John Hickman Event Coordinator: Carl Shea Member at Large: Jody Lasiter Member at Large: Bruce Carter Webmaster: Janet Johnson