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Illustrated Corvette Series No. 134
2009 ZR1 LS9 Engine
"GM's Civilized Monster Mouse"
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Howdy!
Spring has finally arrived in New Jersey and once again things are getting green. After you get all the yard work finished, reward yourself and detail your Corvette!
Here's what we have to share with you this month...
* Illustrated Corvette Series No. 134
The 2009 ZR1's Supercharged Intercooled LS9
"GM's Civilized Monster Mouse"
* New Ron Fellows Print:
A new parchment paper print, plus a full-color print in the works!
* Vette Videos:
1. Wil Cooksey SMOKIN a Z06!
2. SWEET '63 Fuelie Roadster
3. Classic '63 Sting Ray Commercial
4. Brits having WAY too much fun flogging the Corvette & Viper
* Let's Play Corvette Odd-Ball:
What's the fastest Corvette on record?
* New Corvette-Gear store items:
Affordable Framing
* Rumor Mill:
Speculating the C7 Corvette
Let's HIT IT!
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The Latest Illustrated Corvette Series: ICS No. 134
2009 ZR1 LS9 Supercharged, Intercooled Super-Engine
"GM's Civilized Monster Mouse"
An automotive marvel of aluminum & titanium!
This is actually Part II of my ZR1 coverage. The 2009 ZR1 is such an amazing Corvette that I could not do the car justice in one installment. ICS No. 133 covered the overall basics of the '09 ZR1. ICS No. 134 just covers the supercharged, intercooled LS9 engine.
Zora Arkus-Duntov proposed an all-aluminum engine as part of the "Q-Corvette" engineering study car in '57. It took 10 years before we saw aluminum heads on the '67 big-block L-88. Then in '69 we saw the all-aluminum ZL-1. This was a leap that had everyone astounded. Imagine, 427 L-88 big-block power with the weight of a small-block Chevy. WOW!
It seemed too good to be true, and in a sense, it was. Only two ZL-1 Corvettes were built and sold, although Chevrolet sold lots of ZL-1 s as crate engines that showed up in Can-Am race cars and a few Camaros drag raced by Grumpy Jenkins. But at $4,718 ON TOP OF the $4,781 base price of the '69 Corvette, the engine option cost almost as much as the car! It was more of an exercise is, "see, we did it!" on Chevrolet's part.
Fast forward to '97 with the introduction of the new C5 Corvette. The new LS1 engine was all-aluminum! From there, things just kept getting better and better. '01 saw the arrival of the LS6 Z06 engine, followed by the '06 LS7 Z06 engine. The only place left to go from the LS7 was to either turbocharge or supercharge the engine. A prototype turbo engine was built, but caught fire and burned the mule Corvette to the ground. Needless to say, the turbocharger idea was dropped faster than a hot exhaust header.
When word leaked out that GM was seriously entertaining a Roots-type supercharged engine, most of us thought, "Well, where's the huffer going to go?" When the veil was finally pulled, a lot of us were left like Gomer Pyle, "Well surprise, surprise, surprise!" The clever folks in the Corvette Engineering Department hid the small, but highly efficient Roots-type supercharger INSIDE the engine in the lifter valley area and topped it off with an intercooler. That's just "too cool"
So, The Illustrated Corvette Series No. 134 just covers the amazing LS9 engine. As of this writing, the "official" price of the '09 ZR1 hasn't been published, but everyone is expecting a price tag of OVER $100,000. Now, considering that the base '08 Corvette price is between $46,000 and $54,500, the 100K-plus projected '09 ZR1 price is right in line with the nearly 2X price of the '69 all-aluminum ZL-1. However, there's a whole lot more to crow about with the '09 ZR1.
Will the '09 ZR1's LS9 engine be the base engine for the upcoming C7 Corvette? Stay tuned Vette fans!
To see a much LARGER version of the above image, just click the image
The article will appear in the August 2008 issue of Vette Magazine on the very last page.
You can order the ICS No. 134 parchment paper print directly from
The Illustrated Corvette Series website and simply use the PayPal payment buttons for payment.
Or you can order with a credit card by calling us TOLL-FREE at: 1-800-858-6670.
You can also read the complete story HERE.
There are two versions of this month's series installment.
Below is the alternate layout.
To see the LARGE VERSIONS of this month's prints, just click the images.
Both versions are available HERE.
To see a much LARGER version of the above image, just click the image
All
of our prints measure 11" x 17", are printed on tan parchment paper,
are signed by the artist and cost $19.95, + $4.95 S&H. For an additional $10 you can have any of our prints personalized! An excellent gift for that hard to buy for Corvette person in your life.
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New Ron Fellows Special Edition
Corvette Print:
Plus, a color version in the works!
The '07 Ron Fellows Special Edition Z06 Corvette turned out to be one hot commodity. Chevy's salute to the driver that helped put the C5-R and C6.R Corvettes solidly in the American Le Mans Series winner's circle is a real beauty.
Even though mechanically the car is the same as a "regular" Z06, the ascetics are just spot on. The Z06 has just enough lumps, bumps, scoops, and spoilers to telegraph to everyone on the road that this is no "ordinary" Corvette. The understated color combo of Arctic White and the burgundy front fender stripes with Ron's signature and upgraded interior trim is a delight.
When I covered the car in The Illustrated Corvette Series No. 125, it was from the perspective of Chevrolet's offering of two special edition Corvettes that year - the Ron Fellows Edition and the Indy 500 Pace Car Special.
The arrival of the Ron Fellows Special Edition Z06 kicked off a storm of specialty products, including: high-end leather jackets, t-shirts, die-cast cars, floor mats, Zippo Lighters, electric guitars, and more I'm sure.
After observing the popularity of the car, I decided that it needed its own parchment paper print. Also in the works is a full-color print of the car. Hopefully, it will be complete and available in early June '08. When it's available, you'll read about it here!
To check out MUCH LARGER versions of the above print, just click on the image.
To order your Ron Fellows Special Edition Z06 Corvette print, go HERE! |
Vette Videos
Classic sights & sounds of Chevy's
Plastic Fantastic!
Welcome to our growing collection of YouTube and GoogleVideo
links to some interesting Corvette videos. I have 4 Vette Videos to share with you this month.
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Bowling Green Plant Manager Wil Cooksey
SMOKIN in a 2008 Z06!
Or, "How to completely use up a set of Corvette rear tires in less than two minutes!".
Not only does Wil LITERALLY burn through a set of tires at Carlisle, he also damages the rear fender!
To watch the video, CLICK HERE.
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NICE '63 Fuelie Corvette
A VERY NICE presentation of a '63 Fuelie Roadster.
To enjoy this Vette Video, CLICK HERE.
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63 Corvette Sting Ray Commercial
In '63 this was just another long car commercial. But 45 years later, it's a period piece. Love that sound track and "announcer" voice over.
To enjoy this Vette Video, CLICK HERE.
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Brits Flog the Corvette & Dodge Viper SRT-10
Watch these two chaps flog the pants off a new Corvette and Dodge Viper SRT-10. These guys are having WAY too much fun. I WANT their jobs!
To enjoy this Vette Video, CLICK HERE.
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Let's Play, "Corvette Oddball!"
Quirky Vette Factoids
Question:
What's the fastest Corvette on record?
Answer: That honor goes to the 1988 Callaway Sledgehammer. How fast, you ask? How's 254.76 mph with the late John Lingenfelter behind the wheel? Yea, better him, than me!
Callaway has the distinction of being the only aftermarket company to have their creations listed on the Corvette order sheet with an official GM RPO order number. From '87 to '91 RPO "B2K" was available at your local Chevy dealer for an additional cost of $19,995 in '87 and $33,000 in '91.
This wasn't the 250-plus MPH version mind you. It was the platform that the Sledgehammer was built upon. You would think that a racing Corvette would have this honor, and not an air conditioned daily ride machine.
The car was completely maxed out with twin turbochargers, 880 horsepower and 772 lb-ft of torque. Weighing in at a hefty 3671-pounds, Callaway's rolling traffic violation machine could rip 0-60 mph in just 3.9-seconds, 0-100 in 9.4-seconds, the quarter-mile in just 10.6-seconds and reach a terminal speed of 250-plus mph... all with the A/C on.
Here's a short 9-minute video with one of the Callaway engineers. This is a great explanation of an amazing Corvette. To watch the video, CLICK HERE.
PS - Any thinking person would ask, "And where does one drive a Corvette to 154-mph?" Lingenfelter drove the Sledgehammer to that record speed on a 7.5-mile course at East Liberty, Ohio. NOT on a public highway.
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Got a "Corvette Oddball" factoid that you'd like to share?
Zip me off an e-mail at, lightoak@comcast.net and I'll include it in a future newsletter.
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"Corvette Gear"
What's New!
Framed prints without the pain!.
We
now have 140 framed parchment paper prints of The Illustrated Corvette
Series and The Illustrated Corvette Series II prints in our eBay store.
Having art framed can be a very costly experience. We do it all for you at a very reasonable price.
Our framed prints us a 16" x 20" gold-chrome poster frame with
plexi-glass glazing, and a black mat. The parchment print is signed by
the artist and PERSONALIZED just for you!
Under the illustrations, we can custom title your print to say whatever
is meaningful to you. The personalization could read, "Willie's Dream Car
Z06 Corvette" or "Ralph & Alice's '67 Big-Block Corvette Roadster"
or "Archie & Edith's '57 Fuelie."
Be creative and let us know how you'd like your print personalized and
framed. An excellent gift for that hard to buy for Corvette person in
your life.
We don't have every print from the entire 134 print series yet available, but we do have about 90% of the series.
Just $74.95, including shipping and handling. To check out our selection, go HERE.
Here's the Corvette Gear main store address...
http://stores.ebay.com/Corvette-Gear
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Hot From the Rumor Mill:
C7 Corvette Day Dreaming...
There's a low-level hum surrounding C7 speculation. Heavy emphasis on the word "speculation." So far, what has leaked out is that GMs internal letter/number name for the C7 Corvette is, "GMX731." Now that's a tag we can all get warm about, right? NO! The guesstimated arrival date is somewhere in 2010. If that is correct, it means several things.
The layout and shape of the C7 is probably already nailed down. There is considerable lead time needed to make new tools for the chassis, body, and interior parts. Then the car has to be torture-tested to sort out all the bugs and make sure that the fit and finish is up to contemporary standards. Plus, every part has to pass endurance tests. Then there are crash tests and EPA emission standards that have to be met. If '10 is to be the release date, they are probably refining the car as I am typing this.
We're now in one of those speculative times that happens before every replacement generation Corvette arrives. Because of the Corvette's past flirting with a mid-engine chassis layout, the question has once again surfaced. "Will the next Vette finally be a mid-engine design?" It's a reasonable question since we have been teased with mid-engine Corvettes since the mid-'60s.
The mid-engine speculation grew out of the mid-engine design revolution in Indy Car racing and International Sports Car racing in the mid-'60s. Back in the days when tires and suspensions were relatively unsophisticated, placing the heaviest part of the car, the engine, in the middle was the best way to achieve a 50/50 weight balance.
But what slowly happened was that front engine cars had their engines move incrementally back closer to the center of the car. Now, the C6 Corvette can be considered a "front-located mid-engine design. Add in vastly improved suspensions and tires, and we really don't need to have a mid-engine Corvette. Also, there is the notorious difficulty in working on and maintaining a mid-engine car, as engine compartments tend to be extremely compact.
And what will the C7 look like? I can tell you this for sure - it will look like a Corvette. (No, really!) Chevrolet has a long track record of building Corvettes that are evolutionary, not revolutionary. In fact, designing a new Corvette is said to be on of the most difficult tasks in Detroit. "Why's that" you say. The challenge is this. Any new Corvette design has to look "new" and at the same time it has to look like a Corvette. That means that the design has to look significantly different, without looking so far away from Corvetteness that the public will say, "Are you sure that's a Corvette?" or worse yet, "Hey, is that the new Dodge Viper?" DOGH!
Since mid-2010 is only two years out, be on the lookout for those fuzzy, grainy spy photos from sleuths such as Jim Dune and others, that like to camp out in the trees surrounding GM's test tracks. Also, we're likely to see a few photos of prototypes on public roads wearing those grotesque body covers that can make the most beautiful car look like who did it and ran.
We're entering the fun stage of Corvette speculation, so stay tuned!
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Coming Up In The Illustrated Corvette Series
Here's what's coming up in the series for the next few months in Vette Magazine on the very last page...
No. 135 - 1969 - 1970 Baldwin-Motion Phase III GT Corvette
(May 2008)
No. 136 - John Lingenfelter's LPE C5 Corvette
(June 2008)
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That's all from me for this month. I've got Phase III GT Corvettes to draw! See ya next month.
Scott
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