12 August 2011

A Pair Of Basking Sharks


It's a Corvette Friday. best don the shark repellent.


This is the car that had 560 hp, when Ferrari was hardly trying to get 200 hp out of a 3 litre engine. The veritable grandmother of the muscle cars, this Chevrolet Corvette C2 ('vette-speak for 2nd generation) has undergone a thorough gym workout by the  Atlantic Racing team.
In the 60s, this Isurus icon was equipped with Chevy's Mark IV 427ci big-block V8, including the legendary L88 aluminium cylinder heads which produced 560 bhp. But the 7-litre V8 has been worked on further: 650 bhp is the end result of the tweaking, while the weight drops to 1240 kg. Transmission is the Rochester 4-speed which ensures the passage of furious horses with a T10 reinforced clutch.
The car is still used, even today, in anger; in 2007 it won the European GT1 Historic Championship, with a victory at Monza.


The blue car below (a '65) ran on almost all the major US circuits. After two years of preparation, Roger Christianson used it the first time at Riverside in 1971, and 72, won the B / Production SCCA (Columbus Sports Car Club region) class.

Under the bonnet, the small block has iron cylinder heads with Jesel steel valves, MSD ignition and a dry sump. The 'box is a Tex Racing 4 speed, and the mighty blue C2 also has a triple disc clutch and adjustable dampers.
Full marks for the shutter jockey for the great pics of both cars (taken at Monthléry in 2011).


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