Bloomington Gold
First Callaway Speedster at Bloomington
Today America's premier Corvette show, Blooming Gold, finished up in St. Charles, IL, USA. Leo Fliman drove to show with the sole purpose of finding the Special Collection, a display of the most desirable Corvettes drawing from the model's iconic history.
This collection had all the ideal collector Corvettes including several that stood out on their own. It's hard to pick just one, but the Yellow Stingray known simply as the ZL1 is our choice. Only two or three correct ZL1s are known to exist and each has the potent all-aluminum racing engine developed for the Can-Am series. Some racecars were upgraded to include the potent ZL1 including John Greenwood's Corvettes.
GM Heritage brought along several of their showcars including the very first EX122 Motorama prototype and CERV I, an experimental car used by Duntov to test suspension setup.
Also on display were numerous privately owned cars such as Corvette Grand Sport #1, several early Z06s, L88 racecars and multiple Callaways. All these are included in our feature gallery of Bloomington Gold by Leo Fliman.
Bloomington Gold Preview
Mecum to auction Harley Earl's String Ray
This upcoming weekend is Bloomington Gold, one the world's premier Corvette events. Held just outside of Chicago and with the NCRS, this show sets almost all Corvette restoration standards. The absolute highlight of the weekend will be a 25th Anniversary Special Collection that will have ''The largest concentration of the Rarest & Fastest Corvettes in history.''
One car that's worthy of inclusion into such a display is Harley Earl's 1963 Sting Ray. This car was upgraded substantially by GM Design and will be offered at Bloomington by Mecum Auction, Inc. It will go under the hammer along with an impressive roster of other Corvettes on June 27th.
Earlier this year we ran into a project similar to Earl's car but made almost 10 years earlier. This GM Styling Design features the the same sort of aesthetic upgrades both inside and out. We also have over 80 special Corvettes in the database.
Oschersleben's 10th FIAGT Weekend
Start of GT3 race #1
Last weekend's FIA GT races marked the tenth anniversary of Motorsport Arena Oschersleben's championship rounds. This year the main race was decided on the first turn when the top three cars spun out, leaving PK Carsport's Corvette of Mike Hezemans and Anthony Kumpen the lead for the rest of the race.
This result will probably be one of the last wins for a Corvette in GT1. At the end of the year, the FIA will phase out GT1 for a new group of cars which will be both heavier and less powerful. Currently, the Nissan GTR FIA-GT1 and Matech-Ford GT1 comply with these new rules and they won't be contenders for any victories until 2010.
Oschersleben also held two rounds of the impressive FIA GT3 races. All four Alpinas were present as were four Matech-Fords, two of which got nose jobs mid-week. The first race was won by Hexis Racing's Aston which led for the duration. Sunday's race was decided on the last lap and went to Fischer Racing with their Matech-Ford GT3.
Oschersleben's 10th FIA GT weekend is delivered to us from Dirk de Jager who was present for all three days. During the main race it rained half way through, producing some tremendous sights.
Hennessey and 9ff Hotrods
Hennessey HP550E, first blown Camaro
Seems like Hennessey will be best known for his Camaros in 2009/2010. His latest project just finished and it is the first Camaro to use his supercharging system. Called the HPE550, it produces around 550 bhp at the crank and posts incredibly good acceleration times with Hennessey's preferred drag radial tires.
We also received a message from 9ff telling us they've added their newest car into the database. It's called the BT-2 and it takes the Porsche 911 GT2 to the limit. If you would like to add a car to supercars.net try this form.
We finish with two cars from the Greenwich Concours that we've been anxious to learn more about. The first is this Neri & Bonacini Studio GT, which is rare, completely original and an ideal 1960s supercar. Our second feature from the show is the only 1955 Imperial Convertible. The name might not sound like much, but if you consider Imperial didn't begin making convertibles until 1957 and this one was built for the chairman, suddenly it gets much more interesting.
Peugeot Win Le Mans 1-2
Peugeot of David Brabham, Marc Gene, Alex Wurtz
The 77th 24 Hours of Le Mans just ended with the Peugeot #9 of Brabham, Gene, Wurz at the front. They were followed a sister Peugeot and together they broke Audi's serial dominance at Le Mans. Two of the new Audi R15s suffered crashes which you can see here and here. The remaining R15 was driven by Capello, Kristensen, McNish to third place overall. Tom Kristensen said that compared to the Peugeot, the Audis ''don't have the straight line speed.''
In his Pescarolo-entered Peugeot, Benoit Treluyer had a monstrous crash in the middle of the night but was lucky to escape without major injury. This was the fourth Peugeot of the race and was Pescarolo's best chance at winning Le Mans.
Porsche were happy to have Team Essex win the LMP2 class with a large lead over the second-placed Lola. During a long safety car period they took advantage and changed the rear end of the car in the night. The Lola Coupes however were always in the garage for gearbox and other problems.
GT1 was won by the factory-entered Corvettes and it was a fitting result for their last GT1-class race. Next year Pratt & Miller will shift their program to a customer-driven GT2-spec car. The slowest GT2 class was dominated by a Ferrari 1-2-3 with Risi Competizione taking the win. All these cars can be found in our feature gallery.
Sarrazin and Peugeot earn Pole at Le Mans
Peugeot arrives for scrutineering
Just minutes ago the final qualifying round at Le Mans finished with Stephane Sarrazin and Peugeot Motorsport at the top. Despite the ACO's attempt to keep times below 3:30, Sarrazan achieved 3:22.888 which will put the regular lap pace somewhere around 3:25.
Right under the leading Peugeot was Alan McNish who achieved 3:23.650 earlier in the day at the end of the first qualifying session. When asked about trying to chase the Peugeots his response was ''we didn't fight.'' Perhaps the starting position of a 24-hour race is more symbolic than relevant.
Today we have a small preview gallery featuring the two teams that will produce the eventual overall winner. The race starts in 39 hours on Saturday at 15h00 CET. After the 24 is done, we will showcase the rest of the field.
2009 Greenwich Concours
Ed and Carroll Windefelder's Delahye 135M
With two separate days and an open-door policy towards modern supercars, the Greenwich Concours is our kind of event. Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom organize the show and make excellent use of the Roger Sherman Baldwin Park near downtown Greenwich. It's tight, but the show includes nearly 300 cars including another 80 or so for the Bonhams Auction.
With so many subjects, it was easy to find interesting and rare cars this year. Most were from the local area, but many had come from the corners of America. The first day focused on American cars and included a ton of Packards. It was won by Joseph Cassini III and his colorful Auburn 12-161. Other highlights included an Imperial Cabriolet Prototype, Don Yenko's Corvette Z06 and a Camaro 427 COPO 9561.
Day two was reserved for European cars and we anticipated the arrival of a Neri & Bonacini prototype from 1968. Since it was built, the car has only been shown twice and it appeared completely original at Greenwich. A well chosen Delahaye 135 with art deco coachwork by Figoni et Falaschi was awarded Best of Show. Interesting groups included a ring of Morgans to celebrate their centennial and a huge class of Aston Martins.
With so many cars, we decided to focus on the main highlights from this year's show in our gallery. The Bonham's Auction is included. They sold Clark Gable's Packard for $250,000 USD and a 356B/2000GS Carrera 2 for $380,000.
Two Auction Stars
Harmonious lines of the Bugatti Coupe Aerodynamique
As promised, today we have Ettore Bugatti's very own Type 57C. This extraordinary car started out as a competition roadster before the factory workers fitted a unique aerodynamic coupe body for Ettore. The car remained at the factory until its closing, becoming one of the most upgraded and well known of all Bugattis.
Fortunately, Ettore's Coupe has escaped the temptation of restoration and retains its valuable originality. In this condition it will be offered as a highlight lot at Gooding & Company's Pebble Beach Auction. They have been kind enough to supply some fantastic photography until we can get closer to the car in August.
Our second treat is Clark Gable's Packard from 1938. This was one of the first Darrin Convertible Victorias made. Its design was so successful, Packard decided to offer Convertible Victorias as a standard body in 1940. But unlike the production version, Gable's car has an extended hood and other detail differences. As one of the best Packards ever made, Bonhams will offer this car at Greenwich this weekend as part of their Automobilia and Motorcar sale.
Tuning News 2
Front Corner of the Prindiville Murcielago
We have many new cars to chose from this week, but the Prindiville Murcielago from last month's Top Marques Show is an easy choice to start with. Prindiville says they are recreating the era of custom coachbuilding by replacing almost every panel on the their Lamborghini. The kit features an oversize rear diffuser and two huge winglets infront of the rear wheel.
Other cars from Top Marques which have new info include the Innotech Corvette, Aznom-Caterham Seven Superlight and the Savage Rivale Roadyacht GTS.
Last week we focused on the Mini's 50th anniversary, and now we have details on the WC50. It's basically a John Cooper Works car with bi-Xenon headlights which is much better than the pokey Camden and Mayfair models also released for the anniversary.
Other new cars include the 890 bhp Geiger Corvette Z06 biTurbo, UK's Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-400, a Birkin edition of the MTM Bentley Continental and the Brabus E 500 Coupe.
