[Rich-Tripower]

If it wasn't for Zora A-D the five Grand Sports built would have never seen the light of day. They went through many incarnations, I particularly like the 377 four cammer (that never really saw the light of day either). They were downright dangerous when they got 427 power. One driver said the things would pull the front wheels off the ground in fourth gear if you weren't careful. The metal cage that made up the cage around the passenger compartment only weighed 27 pounds! Driver safety wasn't the most important factor apparently. Surprising no one ever died in a crash in one.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by sdbob

I bought the YENKO book.Interesting story how the gs vetted program started and it's passing.I think a guy named Grady was vip at Gulf who helped program and when he asked for more help to develop gs ,GM esp Chevy they bulked and he pulled $$$$.

Originally Posted by Rich-Tripower

If it wasn't for Zora A-D the five Grand Sports built would have never seen the light of day. They went through many incarnations, I particularly like the 377 four cammer (that never really saw the light of day either). They were downright dangerous when they got 427 power. One driver said the things would pull the front wheels off the ground in fourth gear if you weren't careful. The metal cage that made up the cage around the passenger compartment only weighed 27 pounds! Driver safety wasn't the most important factor apparently. Surprising no one ever died in a crash in one.

Like them also...



AJ Foyt?



Another


Were these roadsters part of the same program and/or spinoffs?

[Alvin]

[Alvin]

James Garner

[Alvin]

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Rich-Tripower

If it wasn't for Zora A-D the five Grand Sports built would have never seen the light of day. They went through many incarnations, I particularly like the 377 four cammer (that never really saw the light of day either). They were downright dangerous when they got 427 power. One driver said the things would pull the front wheels off the ground in fourth gear if you weren't careful. The metal cage that made up the cage around the passenger compartment only weighed 27 pounds! Driver safety wasn't the most important factor apparently. Surprising no one ever died in a crash in one.

When I left the assembly plant and transferred to engineering, the guy I replaced (Jim M) was retiring and had worked for Duntov at one time.

He said it was fairly typical to be working quietly at your desk, at the GM Tech Center, and then hear some god-awful beast fire up and go "rump-rump"ing out of the building. If you happened be standing in the aisleway he'd run you down. You had to be very careful crossing the straightway on the test track because he could come out of nowhere.

Because Duntov was Belgian born, and of Russian - Jewish descent, he had a pretty thick accent when speaking English. Jim said Duntov would check in on their projects, asking "...how err yu du-ingggg...", to which they would give long, detailed explanations on their plans and progress.

He would dismiss them by saying "...du da best you caannn...".

I often use this same greeting and sendoff with the guys I work with (which, of course, requires that I tell them this story). They seem to get a kick out of it.

K

[Keith Seymore]

Found this while googling for something else.

This is the Corvette ZL1 "mule" car, used for the 1969 long lead press show, held on the Vehicle Dynamics Pad (aka "Black Lake") at the Milford Proving Ground.

They ended up building two production ZL1 Corvettes (one of which was driven as a company vehicle by my college friend's dad) and a qty of 69 Camaros.
K

[Keith Seymore]

Same car, from my files.

K

[Keith Seymore]

And my connection with the car:

Post #78, 79 and 80:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...l1#post3327906

I was able to point the owner to some of the engineers who were present that day and that could help him in his efforts to re-create the car:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/au...=top-news&_r=0

http://www.motortrend.com/news/1969-...e-lt-2-review/

K

[MikeNoun]

That there is an awesome photo of the "then and now" '69 ZL-1.

I have some original engineering sheets for the Estes 1968 Corvette ZL-1 Test Car (#88071).

I think the topic of the pilot line 1963 Corvette build came up some time ago. I found my folder with all the pics. I thought this photo was the most interesting. I tried to zoom in but it's very hard to read. It's basically an instruction sheet on the assembly of the rear body structure.

Mike

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by MikeNoun

That there is an awesome photo of the "then and now" '69 ZL-1.

I agree. The original was taken at Black Lake; the newer version looks like it was taken at the end of the paved pits at Milan Dragway, probably while they were doing the other photos for the article.

I love those then/now comparisons. I've tried a few of those but didn't get them framed up quite as accurately as theirs.

K













I guess it's pretty obvious now why I like those aluminum wheels so much!