Tuesday 27 December 2016

You Can Own Pieces of Mid-Engine Corvette History Past and Present

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Mid-Engine Corvette History Heads to Auction

Pretend for a moment that you received a holiday stocking stuffed with large-denomination currency. If you’re at a loss regarding how to invest your windfall in something both significant and satisfying, our counsel is to buy Corvette. Not just any Corvette but one or both of the two automobiles on sale with direct ties to the upcoming C8 mid-engine Corvette.

Selection one is a 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia Spider. The careful reader will notice this is not a Corvette. But considering this very car was used for benchmarking by the Corvette engineering team, this is a highly significant Ferrari.

This 458 Italia will roll across the block at Manheim’s Detroit auction house in Carleton, Michigan, on December 28.  This rosso example of fine Italian craftsmanship will be sold to the highest bidder in Manheim’s lane 21, just after a 2017 GMC Acadia and immediately before a 2016 Chevrolet Cruze, as part of GM’s year-end consignment of 794 vehicles.

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A GM confidant confirmed that this Ferrari was indeed one of several sports cars studied over the years to prepare for coming Corvettes. Another source reported that the rear diffuser was damaged in shipping, necessitating its replacement.

Views of the car on the Manheim website suggest that it’s now in pristine condition with 3883 miles on the odometer, half a tank of fuel, and an original MSRP of $330,831. The list of optional equipment includes Daytona-style seats, sports exhaust, the essential Scuderia Ferrari fender shields, and carbon-fiber dashboard inserts. Manheim lists an estimated (wholesale) market value of $225,000.

Frankly, that’s stocking change compared with the second piece of Corvette-related history up for grabs at the January 14–22 Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The 1960 CERV I (first Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle) surely will bring several million dollars.

This one-off was constructed by Corvette chief Zora Arkus-Duntov after his Corvette SS road racer cooked driver John Fitch’s feet at the 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1957. Looking ahead to a possible Indy 500 entry, Arkus-Duntov concluded that moving engine heat behind the driver would be a wise move for his open-wheel single-seater.  Tested first at Pikes Peak, then at California’s Riverside Raceway by Dan Gurney and Stirling Moss in 1960, the mid-engined CERV later lapped GM’s Milford Proving Grounds five-mile circular track at 206 mph. Both supercharging and turbocharging were examined during the car’s experimental life and it pioneered the use of rubber-bladder fuel cells.

GM donated this vital piece of Corvette history to the Briggs Cunningham Automotive Museum in Costa Mesa, California, in 1972. Against the General’s best wishes, it fell into private hands years ago with the price rising every time the car sold. An undisclosed reserve price and a buyer’s commission apply to January’s sale. Bidding online is permitted at http://ift.tt/SIu8yn. We cordially offer safe, fast test-driving assistance to CERV I’s new owner.

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