Motion Phase III GT takes top honors at Eyes On Design Show
07-07-2011, 07:21 AM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Motion Phase III GT takes top honors at Eyes On Design Show
http://www.carguychronicles.com/2011...-supercar.html
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
1970 PHASE III GT: MR. MOTION’S SUPERCAR!
The ex-Joel Rosen 535-horsepower GT Corvette, now owned by Dan & Nancy McMichael, wins top honors at the prestigious Eyes On Design Show.
The 24th Annual Eyes On Design Show, which supports the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, is held at the historic Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, MI. and is one of the premier events on the Concours/Show circuit. This year’s Designing For The Future themed show featured more than 200 invitation-only vehicles, ranging from pre-war grand classics and exotic sports and GT cars to muscle cars, customs, hot rods and motorcycles.
A limited-production Baldwin-Motion Phase III Corvette designed and built by Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen and now owned by the McMichaels, Indianapolis, IN, above, Don Wood photo, won the highly coveted Honorary Chairman’s Best Of Show Award. It was presented by this year’s Honorary Chairman, Corvette supercar builder, Ken Lingenfelter. The GT, one of approximately a dozen built between 1969 and 1971, is fully documented along with the history of Baldwin-Motion and MOTION, in MOTION Performance, Tales Of A Muscle Car Builder, http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Perform.../dp/0760335389
On February 6, 1970, within days of Chevrolet opening its Corvette order bank, Thomas Squires, Los Angeles, CA, ordered a loaded ’70 Phase III GT from Joel Rosen. Squires’ air-conditioned 535-horsepower Daytona Yellow Phase III GT invoiced at $12, 980.00 and was the first GT built in 1970. The GT in the McMichael Collection, above, Anders Odeholm photo, is actually the second of two Daytona Yellow GTs built for Squires! The first burned to the ground at Baldwin Chevrolet while waiting for shipment to Squires. It was parked next to a new Chevy that caught fire and it spread to the GT. By the time the fire was brought under control, very little of the GT was salvageable.
Rosen replicated the second Daytona Yellow GT per the original invoice, including its blueprinted open-chamber, aluminum-head 454 LS6 big-block with four-bolt mains, steel rods and crank and forged 11.0 pistons, below, Anders Odeholm photo. Phase III engine goodies included an Edelbrock manifold, L88 Holley 850-cfm four-barrel, .580-inch-lift cam, Phase III CD ignition and chromed Hooker headers and side pipes.
Squires’ order specified an M40 automatic with Hone auxiliary overdrive and 4.88 Posi gears. When engaged, the Hone effectively reduces gearing, resulting in a livable 3.42 cruising ratio. Rosen beefed the transmission using a custom valve body and high-stall-speed converter.
During pre-delivery tests, the air-conditioned GT ran 0 to 60 mph sprints in under-five seconds, high-11-second quarters and a top end around 150 mph. This level of street-strip performance could not have been possible without the overdrive. Rosen had become quite attached to Squires’ GT Corvette because of its outstanding performance and real-world streetability.
“In 1985 I started a five-year search to locate Squires’ GT, one of my favorite Baldwin-Motion cars,” said Rosen.
He tracked the GT to the Warner Brothers lot where it had spent much of its life as a movie car. In early-1990 Rosen followed a lead that brought him to Mooreland, MN and a customized Corvette. An outline of Phase III striping was barely visible under crude black paint and, although very rough, it was mostly complete. Best of all it had the right VIN! Six months later and after exhaustive negotiations, Squires’ Phase III GT was back in Mr. Motion’s garage.
The job of returning the yellow GT to its glory days was entrusted to Randy Bianchi and John Waleck at Palm Beach Motors in Alpine, NJ. Fortunately Rosen kept copies of original build sheets, shop work orders and invoices, enabling Randy and John to restore the GT to the way it looked in October 1970. They currently run automotive specialty shops of their own in New Jersey. Bianchi builds street rods in Closter and Waleck restores Corvettes and musclecars at Artisan Coach Works in Hopatcong. Waleck recently restored Adam Tuckman’s ’71 GT, the most expensive and last-built GT,
http://www.carguychronicles.com/2010...se-iii-gt.html
Like the GT Corvette prototype in 1969, the freshly restored Daytona Yellow Phase III GT, above, Don Wood photo, was shown to the media for the first time at the New York International Auto Show. On April 7, 1993 it debuted with nine new concept and production vehicles, including the Vector WX3 Roadster, Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and Infinity Q45. An auto show press release dated February 26, 1993, made the following reference to the Daytona Yellow GT:
“Making a special New York Auto Show reintroduction is a rare example of a Baldwin-Motion 535-horsepower Phase III GT Corvette, first introduced at this show in 1969.”
Shortly after its restoration, Steve Coonan photographed the GT for the cover story, MR. MOTION’S PHASE III GT, in June 1993 VETTE. “Part of the Phase III GT’s mystique is its rarity, but observers also noted the interesting historical parallel to the Callaway Corvette: The Baldwin-Motion Phase III GT could sustain speeds in excess of 150 mph without the benefit of modern tire technology--almost 20 years before the Callaway turned a tire in anger,” wrote VETTE’s John Hunkins.
In addition to the Phase III GT, the McMichaels also own MOTION Maco Shark and Can-Am Spyder Corvettes, and the last Baldwin-Motion car built - a 1974 Phase III L88 Corvette. Dan and Nancy showed their stunning Baldwin-Motion Gen II Phase III 454 Camaro, below, Don Wood Photo, with the GT at Bob Ashton’s 2010 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals (MCACN) in 2010 and last month at Eyes On Design. Ashton is also involved with EOD Show.
“Dan’s a great guy and we talk all the time. He’s like family. Whenever we want, Judith and I have an open invitation to fly to Indianapolis, play with some of the finest cars we built, and share a great meal with Dan and Nancy, below, Don Wood Photo, at their landmark Rathskeller restaurant. We’re really happy that so many of our cars have found wonderful homes.”
For the complete history of Baldwin-Motion and MOTION and the latest 427 & 454 SS & Phase III Camaros, Please visit, www.OfficialBaldwinMotion.com
Eyes On Design events provide financial support and raise awareness for aid to the visually impaired through the work of the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. For more information, please visit, http://www.eyesondesigncarshow.com
1970 PHASE III GT: MR. MOTION’S SUPERCAR!
The ex-Joel Rosen 535-horsepower GT Corvette, now owned by Dan & Nancy McMichael, wins top honors at the prestigious Eyes On Design Show.
The 24th Annual Eyes On Design Show, which supports the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, is held at the historic Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, MI. and is one of the premier events on the Concours/Show circuit. This year’s Designing For The Future themed show featured more than 200 invitation-only vehicles, ranging from pre-war grand classics and exotic sports and GT cars to muscle cars, customs, hot rods and motorcycles.
A limited-production Baldwin-Motion Phase III Corvette designed and built by Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen and now owned by the McMichaels, Indianapolis, IN, above, Don Wood photo, won the highly coveted Honorary Chairman’s Best Of Show Award. It was presented by this year’s Honorary Chairman, Corvette supercar builder, Ken Lingenfelter. The GT, one of approximately a dozen built between 1969 and 1971, is fully documented along with the history of Baldwin-Motion and MOTION, in MOTION Performance, Tales Of A Muscle Car Builder, http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Perform.../dp/0760335389
On February 6, 1970, within days of Chevrolet opening its Corvette order bank, Thomas Squires, Los Angeles, CA, ordered a loaded ’70 Phase III GT from Joel Rosen. Squires’ air-conditioned 535-horsepower Daytona Yellow Phase III GT invoiced at $12, 980.00 and was the first GT built in 1970. The GT in the McMichael Collection, above, Anders Odeholm photo, is actually the second of two Daytona Yellow GTs built for Squires! The first burned to the ground at Baldwin Chevrolet while waiting for shipment to Squires. It was parked next to a new Chevy that caught fire and it spread to the GT. By the time the fire was brought under control, very little of the GT was salvageable.
Rosen replicated the second Daytona Yellow GT per the original invoice, including its blueprinted open-chamber, aluminum-head 454 LS6 big-block with four-bolt mains, steel rods and crank and forged 11.0 pistons, below, Anders Odeholm photo. Phase III engine goodies included an Edelbrock manifold, L88 Holley 850-cfm four-barrel, .580-inch-lift cam, Phase III CD ignition and chromed Hooker headers and side pipes.
Squires’ order specified an M40 automatic with Hone auxiliary overdrive and 4.88 Posi gears. When engaged, the Hone effectively reduces gearing, resulting in a livable 3.42 cruising ratio. Rosen beefed the transmission using a custom valve body and high-stall-speed converter.
During pre-delivery tests, the air-conditioned GT ran 0 to 60 mph sprints in under-five seconds, high-11-second quarters and a top end around 150 mph. This level of street-strip performance could not have been possible without the overdrive. Rosen had become quite attached to Squires’ GT Corvette because of its outstanding performance and real-world streetability.
“In 1985 I started a five-year search to locate Squires’ GT, one of my favorite Baldwin-Motion cars,” said Rosen.
He tracked the GT to the Warner Brothers lot where it had spent much of its life as a movie car. In early-1990 Rosen followed a lead that brought him to Mooreland, MN and a customized Corvette. An outline of Phase III striping was barely visible under crude black paint and, although very rough, it was mostly complete. Best of all it had the right VIN! Six months later and after exhaustive negotiations, Squires’ Phase III GT was back in Mr. Motion’s garage.
The job of returning the yellow GT to its glory days was entrusted to Randy Bianchi and John Waleck at Palm Beach Motors in Alpine, NJ. Fortunately Rosen kept copies of original build sheets, shop work orders and invoices, enabling Randy and John to restore the GT to the way it looked in October 1970. They currently run automotive specialty shops of their own in New Jersey. Bianchi builds street rods in Closter and Waleck restores Corvettes and musclecars at Artisan Coach Works in Hopatcong. Waleck recently restored Adam Tuckman’s ’71 GT, the most expensive and last-built GT,
http://www.carguychronicles.com/2010...se-iii-gt.html
Like the GT Corvette prototype in 1969, the freshly restored Daytona Yellow Phase III GT, above, Don Wood photo, was shown to the media for the first time at the New York International Auto Show. On April 7, 1993 it debuted with nine new concept and production vehicles, including the Vector WX3 Roadster, Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and Infinity Q45. An auto show press release dated February 26, 1993, made the following reference to the Daytona Yellow GT:
“Making a special New York Auto Show reintroduction is a rare example of a Baldwin-Motion 535-horsepower Phase III GT Corvette, first introduced at this show in 1969.”
Shortly after its restoration, Steve Coonan photographed the GT for the cover story, MR. MOTION’S PHASE III GT, in June 1993 VETTE. “Part of the Phase III GT’s mystique is its rarity, but observers also noted the interesting historical parallel to the Callaway Corvette: The Baldwin-Motion Phase III GT could sustain speeds in excess of 150 mph without the benefit of modern tire technology--almost 20 years before the Callaway turned a tire in anger,” wrote VETTE’s John Hunkins.
In addition to the Phase III GT, the McMichaels also own MOTION Maco Shark and Can-Am Spyder Corvettes, and the last Baldwin-Motion car built - a 1974 Phase III L88 Corvette. Dan and Nancy showed their stunning Baldwin-Motion Gen II Phase III 454 Camaro, below, Don Wood Photo, with the GT at Bob Ashton’s 2010 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals (MCACN) in 2010 and last month at Eyes On Design. Ashton is also involved with EOD Show.
“Dan’s a great guy and we talk all the time. He’s like family. Whenever we want, Judith and I have an open invitation to fly to Indianapolis, play with some of the finest cars we built, and share a great meal with Dan and Nancy, below, Don Wood Photo, at their landmark Rathskeller restaurant. We’re really happy that so many of our cars have found wonderful homes.”
For the complete history of Baldwin-Motion and MOTION and the latest 427 & 454 SS & Phase III Camaros, Please visit, www.OfficialBaldwinMotion.com
Eyes On Design events provide financial support and raise awareness for aid to the visually impaired through the work of the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. For more information, please visit, http://www.eyesondesigncarshow.com
07-08-2011, 03:10 AM
#4
Le Mans Master
until i seen the rear tail lights
08-14-2011, 10:54 PM
#6
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
This website seems to like the Phase III's...
Not really a surprise, as the posting is from a certain Martyn Schorr...
http://www.carguychronicles.com/2011...m-baldwin.html
http://www.carguychronicles.com/2011...m-baldwin.html
Saturday, August 13, 2011
SS-427 CORVETTE: PHASE III FROM BALDWIN-MOTION!
The ex-Otis Chandler 500 horsepower Corvette is the centerpiece of Kevin Suydam’s spectacular Corvette and musclecar collection.
“Lurking in the dark like some hunchback, this Corvette’s sole purpose seems to be the removal, by force of speed, of pink slips from unsuspecting naifs.”
That is how author-photographer Randy Leffingwell describes this ‘69 Baldwin-Motion Phase III SS-427 Corvette, “Joel Rosen’s Saturday Night Special”, in American Muscle Cars, his coffee-table book on Otis Chandler’s legendary Museum.
Today this stunning, unrestored 14,451-mile white-trimmed, LeMans Blue Corvette resides in another sensational collection, surrounded by the quickest, fastest, rarest and most exotic examples of factory-built and low-volume “dealer/tuner” muscle machinery. Kevin Suydam’s collection is considered by true Musclecar aficionados to be the best of the best. Photo, right, Kevin, right, with Chronicles Editor, Marty Schorr at the Collection.
Originally built for Richard Eyajan in 1969, this Corvette started life as a 427/435 tri-power Stingray and, because of its exposure in the Chandler collection and coverage in American Muscle Cars, has become one of the highest profile Baldwin-Motion Corvettes. It’s also featured in MOTION Performance, Tales Of A Muscle Car Builder.
As a teenager in Kodiak, AK, Kevin Suydam learned about high-performance cars by reading every car magazine available. He dreamed of owning a Baldwin-Motion car even though he had never seen one in person.
“Of all the Chevrolet dealer-built specialty cars, Baldwin-Motion products, especially the Phase III versions, offered the ultimate in performance plus maximum-impact image. When I graduated high school in 1970 and moved to Seattle, WA, I bought my first real high-performance car,” said Suydam.
It wasn’t until the early-1990s that Kevin Suydam got seriously interested in collecting Baldwin-Motion cars. His first purchases were a 1969 SS-427 Camaro and a Phase III SS-427 Corvette, both still in the collection. The Baldwin-Motion Corvette was part of a two-car package from Chandler’s Museum that also included the ultra-rare, black-striped white ZL1 Corvette powered by an all-aluminum 427.
Originally delivered by Baldwin Chevrolet to Ohioan Richard Eyajan, the Phase III Corvette was invoiced at $7,672.45. The conversion from 435 horsepower factory tri-power to single four-barrel Phase III status included a Weiand high-rise alloy intake manifold, 850-cfm dual-feed Holley (L88) carburetor, dual electric fuel pump, Motion Phase III cam and valve train, Motion-Mallory Super-Spark ignition and tuned headers plumbed to the factory side exhausts. Also installed were Super-Bite suspension and traction bar, LeMans alloy fuel filler, L88 scooped hood, fender flares, slotted and polished mags, GT mirrors, SS-427 emblems and signature paint treatment.
With its original matching number 500 horsepower big-block, close-ratio M21 four-speed and 4.11 Posi gears, this unique Corvette still delivers ground-pounding performance. However, because of its low original miles, Suydam doesn’t drive the car very often.
“One of the reasons I don’t take the Corvette out often is that its thundering exhaust note often sets off alarms of cars parked along the road,” joked Suydam!
The single largest collector of Baldwin-Motion cars, Kevin Suydam, considers his Phase III SS-427 Corvette to be one of the most important cars in his spectacular collection.
“While my 1967 L88 (one of 20 built) and 1969 ZL1 Corvettes are the most valuable, historically-significant production cars in my collection, the Phase III SS-427 Baldwin-Motion Corvette is the centerpiece. It represents the first low-volume, modified or tuner Corvette that could be ordered new from a Chevrolet dealer. While surely not as sophisticated as a Callaway Corvette, the Phase III Stingray predates it by decades.”
The Phase III Corvette has been given permanent status in Suydam’s collection and will most likely never be sold. For more information about Kevin Suydam’s Collection, please visit, http://www.corvettes-musclecars.com/gallery2/main.php
SS-427 CORVETTE: PHASE III FROM BALDWIN-MOTION!
The ex-Otis Chandler 500 horsepower Corvette is the centerpiece of Kevin Suydam’s spectacular Corvette and musclecar collection.
“Lurking in the dark like some hunchback, this Corvette’s sole purpose seems to be the removal, by force of speed, of pink slips from unsuspecting naifs.”
That is how author-photographer Randy Leffingwell describes this ‘69 Baldwin-Motion Phase III SS-427 Corvette, “Joel Rosen’s Saturday Night Special”, in American Muscle Cars, his coffee-table book on Otis Chandler’s legendary Museum.
Today this stunning, unrestored 14,451-mile white-trimmed, LeMans Blue Corvette resides in another sensational collection, surrounded by the quickest, fastest, rarest and most exotic examples of factory-built and low-volume “dealer/tuner” muscle machinery. Kevin Suydam’s collection is considered by true Musclecar aficionados to be the best of the best. Photo, right, Kevin, right, with Chronicles Editor, Marty Schorr at the Collection.
Originally built for Richard Eyajan in 1969, this Corvette started life as a 427/435 tri-power Stingray and, because of its exposure in the Chandler collection and coverage in American Muscle Cars, has become one of the highest profile Baldwin-Motion Corvettes. It’s also featured in MOTION Performance, Tales Of A Muscle Car Builder.
As a teenager in Kodiak, AK, Kevin Suydam learned about high-performance cars by reading every car magazine available. He dreamed of owning a Baldwin-Motion car even though he had never seen one in person.
“Of all the Chevrolet dealer-built specialty cars, Baldwin-Motion products, especially the Phase III versions, offered the ultimate in performance plus maximum-impact image. When I graduated high school in 1970 and moved to Seattle, WA, I bought my first real high-performance car,” said Suydam.
It wasn’t until the early-1990s that Kevin Suydam got seriously interested in collecting Baldwin-Motion cars. His first purchases were a 1969 SS-427 Camaro and a Phase III SS-427 Corvette, both still in the collection. The Baldwin-Motion Corvette was part of a two-car package from Chandler’s Museum that also included the ultra-rare, black-striped white ZL1 Corvette powered by an all-aluminum 427.
Originally delivered by Baldwin Chevrolet to Ohioan Richard Eyajan, the Phase III Corvette was invoiced at $7,672.45. The conversion from 435 horsepower factory tri-power to single four-barrel Phase III status included a Weiand high-rise alloy intake manifold, 850-cfm dual-feed Holley (L88) carburetor, dual electric fuel pump, Motion Phase III cam and valve train, Motion-Mallory Super-Spark ignition and tuned headers plumbed to the factory side exhausts. Also installed were Super-Bite suspension and traction bar, LeMans alloy fuel filler, L88 scooped hood, fender flares, slotted and polished mags, GT mirrors, SS-427 emblems and signature paint treatment.
With its original matching number 500 horsepower big-block, close-ratio M21 four-speed and 4.11 Posi gears, this unique Corvette still delivers ground-pounding performance. However, because of its low original miles, Suydam doesn’t drive the car very often.
“One of the reasons I don’t take the Corvette out often is that its thundering exhaust note often sets off alarms of cars parked along the road,” joked Suydam!
The single largest collector of Baldwin-Motion cars, Kevin Suydam, considers his Phase III SS-427 Corvette to be one of the most important cars in his spectacular collection.
“While my 1967 L88 (one of 20 built) and 1969 ZL1 Corvettes are the most valuable, historically-significant production cars in my collection, the Phase III SS-427 Baldwin-Motion Corvette is the centerpiece. It represents the first low-volume, modified or tuner Corvette that could be ordered new from a Chevrolet dealer. While surely not as sophisticated as a Callaway Corvette, the Phase III Stingray predates it by decades.”
The Phase III Corvette has been given permanent status in Suydam’s collection and will most likely never be sold. For more information about Kevin Suydam’s Collection, please visit, http://www.corvettes-musclecars.com/gallery2/main.php
