More really rare GM concept cars.
Jun 27, 2023 15:14:40 #
Feat your eyes on these one-of-a-kind jewels.
The first shown is a 1971 Pontiac Pegasus. Bill Mitchell, design chief at GM, was talking with some Ferrari folks one day and he told them about this car. They got all wound up and talked Mitchell into sticking one of their top engines in it. He agreed, so this car got a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona V-12 stuck in it. It originally came with one of GM's auto transmissions in it. It didn't work well with Ferrari's high-strung engine so they popped in a Ferrari 5 speed stick.
The second car is a 1968 Chevy Corvette Astro 11. It's a mid-engine car with a hi-po 427 in it. It drove much more like a Can-Am racer than a street car.
The third car is a 1963 Corviar Monza SS.
The first shown is a 1971 Pontiac Pegasus. Bill Mitchell, design chief at GM, was talking with some Ferrari folks one day and he told them about this car. They got all wound up and talked Mitchell into sticking one of their top engines in it. He agreed, so this car got a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona V-12 stuck in it. It originally came with one of GM's auto transmissions in it. It didn't work well with Ferrari's high-strung engine so they popped in a Ferrari 5 speed stick.
The second car is a 1968 Chevy Corvette Astro 11. It's a mid-engine car with a hi-po 427 in it. It drove much more like a Can-Am racer than a street car.
The third car is a 1963 Corviar Monza SS.
Jun 27, 2023 15:26:23 #
Jun 27, 2023 15:28:57 #
Jun 27, 2023 15:53:35 #
Jun 27, 2023 16:34:23 #
Jun 27, 2023 16:42:18 #
Jun 27, 2023 16:42:56 #
Jun 27, 2023 16:55:57 #
UTMike wrote:
Rare jewels indeed, Tom!
If GM had made the production '71 Pontiac Firebird look that good, they would probably still have to make them to satisfy demand.
Jun 27, 2023 17:06:43 #
Jun 27, 2023 18:12:06 #
Incredible cars nicely shot. The first one might as well have a Ferrari badge on it. I'm not a Corvette fan but the mid-engine design is interesting. Then there is the Corviar. I had a 64 Monza Spyder turbo. Once they solved the swing rear axel problem with the '63 model it was probably the best handling American car of its time. It wasn't Chevrolet's fault that the average American driver had no idea how to handle the inherent oversteer of a rear engine car. Americans crashed an inordinate number of Porsche's but they didn't make the headlines.
Jun 27, 2023 18:42:30 #
Curmudgeon wrote:
Incredible cars nicely shot. The first one might a... (show quote)
Jack, you are absolutely right on all counts. Well, I might talk to you about putting a Ferrari badge on the Pontiac. Aside from the engine and transmission, it's all GM. But then, the engine and transmission do constitute the heart of a car. Want to split that one?
My dad bought one of the first Coviars for his company....I think it was a 1960. He wanted me to take it out and see what I thought about it. I took it out to one of my favorite roads. I promptly proceeded to pirouette that car for one and a half loops. Thank God i didn't hit anything. My first time in a rear drive car. When I got my first Porsche ( 1982 Carrera SC ) I treated it like a coiled cobra. I had learned my lesson.
Your Monza Spyder turbo was indeed a great car. If you find one now that's been well maintained and has a sound body, bring big bucks if you want to buy it.
Jun 27, 2023 19:41:44 #
black mamba wrote:
Jack, you are absolutely right on all counts. Well... (show quote)
OK I'll split the difference with you on the badge but first let's talk about a Ferrari badge. With the bonnet up you are looking at a Ferrari engine. Enzo didn't sell one of those to just anyone. The body design just screams Ferrari and the Ferrari Racing Red just reenforces the image. No one would think anything but "Its a Ferrari" looking at it from the outside and very few would know the difference even if they crawled underneath the car.
One of my dad's long time friends lived next door to Phill Hill and Phill told me the difference between oversteer and understeer: You are coming into a hard left hander and fail to break in time a car that understeers will go through the fence frontwards, a car that oversteer will go through the same hole--backwards. A cardinal rule for driving cars that oversteer is NEVER take your foot off in the middle of a corner.
Jun 27, 2023 23:10:20 #
Curmudgeon wrote:
OK I'll split the difference with you on the badge... (show quote)
Darn, Jack, you just won't turn me loose on the Ferrari thing. I give up. By the way, Ferrari wanted their engine in that car bad enough that they gave to Mitchell ....no charge.
Jun 28, 2023 05:52:34 #
Jun 28, 2023 08:27:56 #
Wow! I wish my '63 Corvair Monza looked like that! As Curmudgeon pointed out Americans were't used to the cornering issues with a rear-engined car but I loved it. Once you broke those rear wheels loose, the car was like a big weight swinging on a string and you could do donuts all day long. Luckily, I was smart enough to practice that maneuver in an empty parking lot rather than in traffic and I never once came close to flipping it over as Ralph Nader claimed it would do.
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