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no need to call people names I didn’t !! I guess you are one of the people that convince yourself that they were well built .. up until 67 Dontov and GM were on the right pace as a solid muscle car. Than he designed the C3 body style which had beautiful body lines but they all knew was just a cover up for a terrible engineering stand point .. the executives at GM and Dontov knew that but also knew they would sell a lot of cars because it looked good and the public would fall for it .. they all laughed straight to the bank . Why do you think a bailed out in 75 he new the party was over and couldn’t push the BB anymore . Sports car not a chance not even close
I don’t know who this Dontov guy is you keep talking about is but I would guess that Duntov bailed in 1975 because he was 66 years old and wanted to retire.
no need to call people names I didn’t !! I guess you are one of the people that convince yourself that they were well built .. up until 67 Dontov and GM were on the right pace as a solid muscle car. Than he designed the C3 body style which had beautiful body lines but they all knew was just a cover up for a terrible engineering stand point .. the executives at GM and Dontov knew that but also knew they would sell a lot of cars because it looked good and the public would fall for it .. they all laughed straight to the bank . Why do you think a bailed out in 75 he new the party was over and couldn’t push the BB anymore . Sports car not a chance not even close
I wasn't name calling I was simply stating a fact. Next year at my local car show I can't wait to park next to all the other cars in the sports segment whoops I mean muscle car segment...with all the other muscle cars....that triumph spitfire, that triumph gt6, mgb , the midget, that one sprite that shows up every year
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
The Merriam Webster definition of a sports car:
A low small usually 2-passenger automobile designed for quick response, easy maneuverability, & high speed driving.
I don’t know who this Dontov guy is you keep talking about is but I would guess that Duntov bailed in 1975 because he was 66 years old and wanted to retire.
The Merriam Webster definition of a sports car:
A low small usually 2-passenger automobile designed for quick response, easy maneuverability, & high speed driving.
Does anyone have any insight to why GM engineers developed the vacuum system in the C3? Weight savings? Cost savings? Reliability? Cool factor??
Me and a buddy have been discussing and cant find anything on the internet helping solve the mystery....
My theory is they did it to **** people off and drive us crazy. A friend of mine has a 74 Vette. He has been fighting vacuum leaks and the lights refusing to act right since day one of ownership.
Harley Earl is the father of the Corvette. The Corvette was his idea pure and simple. He was influenced after World War II watching Jaguars and MG's run road-racing courses like Watkins Glen. He felt America needed its own sports car and he convinced GM to develop its own, inexpensive two-seater sports car (read that Grady, a SPORTS CAR!)...quoted directly from the National Corvette museum
Harley Earl is the father of the Corvette. The Corvette was his idea pure and simple. He was influenced after World War II watching Jaguars and MG's run road-racing courses like Watkins Glen. He felt America needed its own sports car and he convinced GM to develop its own, inexpensive two-seater sports car (read that Grady, a SPORTS CAR!)...quoted directly from the National Corvette museum
Sorry, that was my lame attempt at humor. Just trying to point out it’s Duntov, not Dontov. Your point is well taken!
Couple other benefits:
Vacuum motors can be very strong (breaking ice), and fast-acting. Faster than most gear-driven motors. And they weigh a ton less. Plus they are generally dependable with fewer parts (in the vacuum motor) to fail.
For the wiper arm cover, being able to break winter ice and open quickly would be two big benefits.
In industrial settings where large air dampers are used, they still go for pneumatic damper actuators. Mainly for strength and speed. Vacuum actuators can stroke very quickly compared to a gear-driven electric motor.
Harley Earl is the father of the Corvette. The Corvette was his idea pure and simple. He was influenced after World War II watching Jaguars and MG's run road-racing courses like Watkins Glen. He felt America needed its own sports car and he convinced GM to develop its own, inexpensive two-seater sports car (read that Grady, a SPORTS CAR!)...quoted directly from the National Corvette museum
as I mentioned earlier Dontov and GM wanted to compete with other PROVEN sports cars at a cheap price and the poor engineering showed , especially the C3 generation.. they all knew they were building a inferior car compared to other sports cars but also new the public would buy them because they looked good. As Johnathan Astoria one of the head engineers once said “ they were only built to last 5 years “ the main goal was to pump them out and sell sell sell for corporate gain .. if they were a sports car why didn’t they track run against Ferrari, Jaguar, and Porsche because they new they didn’t have a chance against a Superior well-built, planned out sports car
And buying a new Corvette every few years has certainly become the habit of many of GM's customers, so the 5 year life shouldn't surprise you. More used cars for us! Too bad GM stopped making sports cars when they killed the manual transmission.
as I mentioned earlier Dontov and GM wanted to compete with other PROVEN sports cars at a cheap price and the poor engineering showed , especially the C3 generation.. they all knew they were building a inferior car compared to other sports cars but also new the public would buy them because they looked good. As Johnathan Astoria one of the head engineers once said “ they were only built to last 5 years “ the main goal was to pump them out and sell sell sell for corporate gain .. if they were a sports car why didn’t they track run against Ferrari, Jaguar, and Porsche because they new they didn’t have a chance against a Superior well-built, planned out sports car
The corvettes were raced against the likes of the cars you mentioned, infact Corvette won it's class at Le Man's for the first time in 1960! It was a private team and not factory sponsored per say but there was some back door dealings. The reason why they weren't factory sponsored was due to the ban on racing for all manufacturers. Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster and the 1957 NASCAR Mercury Meteor crashes into the grandstands, the Automobile Manufacturers Association placed a ban on factory-supported racing and as far as DUNTOV goes he wanted nothing but better for the Corvette as evidenced by his document, "Thoughts Pertaining to Youth, Hot Rodders and Chevrolet", Duntov's views on overcoming Ford's lead in use by customizers and racers, and how to increase both the acceptance and the likelihood of success of the Chevrolet V8 in this market. In 1957 Duntov became Director of High Performance Vehicles at Chevrolet. After helping to introduce the small-block V8 engine to the Corvette in 1955, providing the car with much-needed power and demanded a 4 speed for 57.
And in my pictures above, picture 1 is of....shock horror gasp ... Porsches! A 907 and 910 and in the second and third pictures a 911 and a 917.
Now Porsche has won the Le Man's the most at 19 wins, Audi comes second with 13 wins, Ferrari after that with 10 wins....and then Corvette with 9 wins.
Seems the Corvette for all intent, purposes and design as a sports car can hang with the big boys. Battling a Ferrari 512M for position onto the Mulsanne Straight 1971 Le Man's 1969 I88 "The Rebel" 1st Place Overall Paul Whiteman Trophy Races Daytona International Speedway 1969 * 1971 IMSA GTO Champion * 1972 Daytona Endurance GT Champion * 1972 Sebring 12 Hours GT Champion * Holds Record for Highest finishing position of any production line Corvette at the 12 Hours of Sebring....
And by the way the 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for ....sports cars! Not muscle cars, no pony cars..sports cars....no GTOs, Chevelles, mustangs, firebirds, Cameros, olds 442s, Buick GS, no javelins etc just sports cars I suggest you read this book.
There goes another one of *name deleted's* arguments!
There goes another one of *name deleted's" arguments. But --- notice the deleted hidden headlights on the Corvette racer! LOL! Even Chevy couldn't make 'em work! /s That or not enough vacuum from the cam they were running.
There goes another one of *name deleted's" arguments. But --- notice the deleted hidden headlights on the Corvette racer! LOL! Even Chevy couldn't make 'em work! /s That or not enough vacuum from the cam they were running.
It was a requirement from Le Man's and fia and improved aerodynamic efficiency.
