GM lent Team VETTE this ’12...
GM lent Team VETTE this ’12 Grand Sport convertible for our trip to Amelia Island. Here, it lazes at the entrance of the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island hotel, which hosts the Concours each year.
The annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance honors some of the country's top collector vehicles and typically draws a veritable who's who of the automotive world. Held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Golf Resort in Amelia Island, Florida, it offers the perfect venue to inspect some of the rare street and racing machines--including Corvettes--that have contributed to the design of today's cars. Each year Concours founder and chairman Bill Warner selects an appropriate celebrity to serve as the show's Grand Marshal. This year he chose "Quick" Vic Elford, a former factory Porsche racing driver who accumulated many victories during his career. Of note to Corvette fans, Elford piloted the amazing Vette-powered Chaparral 2J "Sucker" car during the 1970 season.
Thanks to GM, we drove a red '12 Grand Sport convertible to this year's event. Even we were surprised by how many people approached us to ask about the car. Seven years into its production run, the C6 Corvette continues to draw plenty of admiring looks and positive comments.
On Sunday we found a large number of significant racing Corvettes arrayed upon the resort's immaculate golf course. Our first stop was Zora Arkus-Duntov's Corvette SS. This rare prototype made its racing debut at the 1957 Sebring 12-hour race. Two were built--a test mule and this SS race car. The mule was later converted into the Sting Ray Racer and campaigned by GM designer Bill Mitchell. The race car was driven by John Fitch and Piero Taruffi, and it completed 23 laps before being withdrawn due to a mechanical failure. Shortly after the race, GM banned factory racing and the SS never saw action again.
Fortunately, Duntov's racing passion was not diminished by the ban. He secretly worked behind the scenes with many race teams to provide the parts needed to beat the competition.
Jim Hall, a Texas oilman, was a big beneficiary of Duntov's help when he was developing his Chaparral race cars. The Chaparrals featured state-of-the-art construction and aerodynamics that turned them into world-beaters. Many of these design ideas came from deep inside GM engineering.
On display at Amelia were the Chaparral 2D and 2J. The 2D was Corvette powered and featured a modified two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. This car won 16 races in 1965 and captured the overall victory at the 1965 12 Hours of Sebring. Sitting nearby was the 2J "sucker car," which employed two snow-blower motors mounted at the rear to help suck the car to the ground. The 2J was banned for using unfair technology after its first racing season.
Continuing on, we spotted noted Corvette restorer Kevin Mackay standing next to the Leldon Blackwell L88 race car, which he'd recently returned to as-raced condition for current owner John Sloane. The Blackwell Vette is yet another example of a vehicle Duntov managed to support even while GM's motorsports ban was in place. Thanks in part to his efforts, this big-block monster won numerous races around the globe.
Sitting close by was an '01 C5-R that was driven by Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell. It has been carefully maintained and is currently part of the GM Heritage Center collection.
A special section was set aside for factory "styling" cars, and a number of noteworthy Corvettes were featured there. These included the '61 Mako Shark, the '68 Astro II, and the CERV III, all of which were on loan from the Heritage Center. Sprinkled among these historic Vettes were a number of lesser-known--though no less impressive--styling C2 coupes and convertibles, along with one C3 that was built for Bill Mitchell before he retired.
As in previous years, the event offered an exceptional cross section of important cars from around the globe and throughout history. And while it's not strictly a Corvette show, the collection of Corvettes on hand at Amelia is invariably impressive. Factor in the natural beauty Florida's northeast coast, and it's easy to see why many consider the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance to be among the year's most compelling events.
1 On Sunday a huge collection...
1 On Sunday a huge collection of the world's finest cars was arrayed on the Ritz-Carlton golf course for inspection. This year's crowd was so large, it obscured many of the vehicles in this shot.
2 Veteran factory Porsche...
2 Veteran factory Porsche driver Vic Elford was this year's honored guest. Elford won many races during his career, including the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He was usually behind the wheel of a Porsche when he crossed the finish line.
3 The '57 Corvette SS was...
3 The '57 Corvette SS was Zora Duntov's vision of a world-beating race car. Its first and only race was the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring, where it proved extremely fast but only lasted for 23 laps. It now resides in the Indianapolis Speedway Museum.
4 Elford drove the remarkable...
4 Elford drove the remarkable Chaparral 2J "sucker car" in two races in 1970. Its innovative design featured an enclosed body with movable Lexan skirts that formed a vacuum under the car. Two rear-mounted snow-blower engines literally pulled it to the ground. Elford reported that the faster he went, the more grip the car had. It was banned at the end of the 1970 season.
5 Kevin Mackay, owner of...
5 Kevin Mackay, owner of Corvette Repair, unveiled his latest L88 restoration at Amelia. The car was built and campaigned by Leldon Blackwell from Saint Petersburg, Florida, and is now owned by John Sloane.
6 This '01 C5-R is owned...
6 This '01 C5-R is owned by GM and resides in the Heritage Center collection. It's an excellent example of the all-conquering fifth-generation Corvette factory race cars.
7 The '61 Mako Shark show...
7 The '61 Mako Shark show car was designed by Larry Shinoda under the direction of Bill Mitchell. Mitchell, an avid fisherman, wanted the paint to look like a mounted shark that hung in his office. The design team secretly removed the trophy shark from his office and painted it to match the finished car.
8 This '63 Corvette styling...
8 This '63 Corvette styling car was built for retired GM Design VP Harley Earl. Earl used the car at his West Palm Beach home and paced the 1964 Daytona 500 with it. It now resides in the Mecum Auction collection.
9 Jim Hall was a wealthy...
9 Jim Hall was a wealthy Texas oilman who happened to have an inside line to GM's skunkworks. His Chaparral 2D won 16 of the 21 United States Road Racing championship races in 1965, along with that year's 12 Hours of Sebring. The car is powered by a 415hp Corvette small-block and a two-speed Powerglide automatic. It's now a part of the Jim Hall/Petroleum collection.
10 The '68 mid-engine Astro...
10 The '68 mid-engine Astro II Corvette was built in 11 months by GM design. The car featured a backbone frame taken from a '63 Pontiac Tempest. A 427ci big-block coupled with a two-speed automatic transmission provided motivation.
11 Chevy honcho Bunkie Knudsen...
11 Chevy honcho Bunkie Knudsen was so impressed with Earl's '63, he ordered one for himself. It's finished in Crimson Firefrost with a white-and-red interior. Many features on the car became regular production items, including the side exhaust, the instrument cluster and the distinctive hood stripe. This special Corvette is part of the Acacia Collection.
12 This '64 Corvette was...
12 This '64 Corvette was built as a display car for the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. It features an enlarged front grille, side exhausts, dual sport side mirrors, a hood cutout for the fuel-injected engine, and 15 coats of candy-apple-red lacquer paint. It's now part of the Mid America Motorworks collection.
13 Like Duntov, Corvette...
13 Like Duntov, Corvette Chief Engineer Dave McLellan wanted to build a mid-engine Corvette. The result of his efforts--the '90 CERV III--was the most advanced of the CERV prototypes, thanks to its 650hp LT5 engine and all-wheel drive.
14/STRONG> In 1976, the GM...
14/STRONG> In 1976, the GM design staff created this white coupe for Mitchell's upcoming retirement. It was initially fitted with an aluminum ZL1 Can Am engine, but this motor was not emissions compliant and had to be removed. It was later found at Smoky Yunick's garage and reinstalled in the car. Marilyn Flint now owns this incredible C3.