Chevrolet presented the very “First Retailable Unit Built” Corvette ZR1 for auction at Barrett-Jackson on Saturday, January 19, 2008, with all proceeds from the auction to benefit the United Way. The VIN was publicly declared to be number “001” in a unique series within the U.S. DOT standard 17-digit VIN format. The car presented on the block (as an illustration) was 1G1YY26EX850022EX.
Call me an auction junkie, but on one of the few Saturdays that I wasn’t covering a collector car sale, I went to Princeton, Minnesota, for a truck and heavy equipment auction. Along with trucks, tractors, front-end loaders, construction equipment, and other hardcore guy stuff, Wayne Pike Auction Company also sells consigned cars and light trucks. Once in awhile something more interesting than a rusty ’89 Taurus with 204,000 miles turns up. Just when it looked like a ’68 Mustang Read More
Although Chevrolet introduced the Corvette to great acclaim at the 1953 Motorama, few realized it would, in time, become America’s iconic sports car.
The sporting transformation didn’t come until 1956, a year after Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov inserted a 265-ci V8 into the previously sluggish 6-cylinder-powered fiberglass two-seater.
For 1956, Arkus-Duntov improved the car’s handling and braking system. He and veteran driver John Fitch took honors in the flying mile at Daytona Speedweek, and Ray Crawford and Max Goldman finished Read More