Skorpion - american sport car

It's fun to drive a SKORPION it's a big new thrill. The extremely light weight, very low center of gravity, and efficient streamlining give it performance characteristics which are surprising. It holds the road like a snake, hangs onto corners as though in a track, almost seems alive, it's so alert.

It's fun to build a SKORPION, too. Planning it, bringing together the components, and building it, is absorbing to anyone interested in good motor cars, and almost from the start you can ride it, test it, tune it, even before the body is put on, and all through the process of assembly. All this, too, for approximately half the cost of the most popular imported sports cars not a bad way to use spare time.

Basis of the SKORPION is the Wilro fibreglas body, light, tough, quiet, rustproof and dentproof the ideal material for a rugged sports car. The body is sold as a kit, com­prised of a complete set of body sections, and other body items which are special on this job. There is no framing in the body, the skin is the whole thing. Body panels are assembled by the customer on chassis which he builds or buys. Wheelbase is 80", track 42", wheels and tires are 4.50x12. Curb weight of complete car is approximately 1050 lbs.

While chassis using various small engines up to the size of the Ford V-8 "60" may be custom built by the customer to these dimensions, the simplest installation is the Crosley, inasmuch as in this case the stock chassis fits the SKORPION body completely without alteration except for lowering as described below. It has also been found that the stock Crosley engine, driving this very light car, pro­vides remarkable performance for ordinary use, while in its modified form for road racing, it makes a good com­petition job.

Complete assembly drawings and directions for making the Crosley chassis conversion are supplied with each body kit to be so used, of course. It is not a difficult job. All Crosley working parts power plant, final drive, axles, suspension, steering, etc. are left entirely unchanged, a de­cided advantage from the service standpoint. Briefly, the usual procedure is as follows:

First, the chassis is procured. This may be bought new, but as an economy measure it is usually provided by pur­chasing a used Crosley car, any body style, of 1947 or later year. The body is lifted off, chassis reconditioned and test-driven.
Chassis is now ready for "conversion" for the SKORPION body. This involves lowering the midsection of the frame, the radiator, steering column and other controls to the very low position of this job, mounting a light channel out­rigger frame and brackets for attachment of the body. Usually the brakes are converted to hydraulic. We supply a brake kit for this operation, at $40.00 per set. If weld­ing must be paid for, an allowance of approximately 6-8 hours should be made for same. We are now ready for mounting of the fibreglas body itself, which is solidly attached by only eight bolts. Balance of the project involves finishing operations such as filling in the floor, firewall and instrument panel, in­stalling windshield, lamps, hardware, accessories, then wiring, and painting. Kits are supplied in lacquer prime, ready for color coats. It is apparent that the Crosley conversion outlined above is a pretty easy job for anyone mechanically inclined. It goes along quickly even when done by one person, is soon completed when jointly undertaken by a pair or a little group of enthusiasts. Naturally, the construction of special chassis to accommodate other engines takes longer and requires pretty basic mechanical experience, but to those who undertake it on this basis, it, too, is fun of course. To assist in determining possible chassis layouts for these special cases, we are able to supply at the nomi­nal price of 50c per copy, a scale drawing showing the silhouette of the SKORPION body, on which the customer may lay out the frame, engine, final drive etc. which he may wish to build.

Collectors want Corvettes

When Chevrolet first introduced the Corvette in 1953, it WHS a somewhat rocky start for the vehicle billed 03 "America's only true aporls car." Just 300 Corvettes were produced in tho car's inaugural year. The huso-model sticker price wns $3,513. The car wns not n profit-maker and wouldn't be for several more years, but Chevrolet moved aheud with production, Since thin time, the "Vettc" - as cnr enthusiasts usually refer to it.- has achieved success nnd become n populnr collector car. As the cnr's SOlh tmniversnry approaches, many car enthusiasts are looking bnck on the early models with n sense of nostalgia. Vcttes of the 1950s and '60s hove become classic collector Vehicles, bul n number of more modern models are poised for collector status. In an interview appearing in Old Cars magazine, expert vehicle appraiser Gnry Enck " gave his) suggestions for Corvettes to consider for future . collcclibility. While recognizing that the 1972 and older Corvettes nre the most valuable, Etick said car enthusiasts should not ignore the significance of the relatively low output of more recent models. One of Ihe many reasons for' the desirability of the early Corvettes is their scarcity, in model-year 1954, 3,6
The 1975 Corvette I'linverlible is also worth a look us prodviction ofthis beauty was limited to 4,029. In the past, collectors of Con-cites or other special-interest curs have tended to purano vehicles that have a special difference about them. "There arc some color combinations that make cars rnreunusual color combinations like tho 2000 Millennium Yellow Corvette,11 said Enck. "People are still paying the premium for that color because of its limited production." But more important to collectors than limited-edition colors are limited-edition models. The 199b' Grand Sport and the Collector's Edition in silver arc examples of such models. Only 1,000 Grand Sports were made, and out of that, only 190 were convertibles. "One of those is an immediate collector car," said Enck. "I had one with just 13 miles on it. The phislic was still on the seats. The last time that car was sold it was bought around $50,000, which was near a new Corvette price at the time," Production of the silver "96 Collector's Edition was limited to 5,000. Enck predicts that cnr should he up and coming in the collector market. Both of those vehicles are also the lust year of the Corvette C4 body. „ "Any time there is a last of something or the first of something, they have a tendency to become valuable," said Enck. That means the 1997 Corvette, though it has scarcely begun to age, is a candidate for collcctibility aa well. As the first year .of the C5 body, it will be desirable. Enck is also enthusiastic about the newZ06. That car is going to have a high price tag," he said. "You sec people selling them for well above the manufacturer's suggested retail price. It will continue to be sought after, and it is a limited production car." Any Corvette produced an a collector target - such as the ZR- 1, the Indianapolis Pace Cnr, or the Silver Anniversary - has to be a low-milengc, completely original cnr lo maintain prime collector appeal.
The vehicle's documentation and numbers will play in its value at some point. "Today, people buy cars thinking that they are going to be valuable some day and hoping lo live long enough to see that," said Enck.
Not all of the cars produced as collector editions find an enthusiastic audience among collectors. Ono example is the 1978 Limited Edition Pace Car Corvette, examples of which come on the market quite frequently, "Yon hear of a 10,000-mile or u 500-mile Pace Car that somebody paid .the moon for and is waiting for that value to come back," Enck «ald. "They were hot for a few months when they were new, and then they died." One car that Enck believen will not become collectible for some time is the 1982 Collector's Edition: The car is painted an unpopular color and is too commonly found.

Corvette C5 best-looking roadster in the world

CHARTRES, France — With the next generation of the Corvette (aka the C6), due on the market in less than two years as a 2005 model, the folks in my line of work are all atwitter about what it will be like. Speaking from behind the wheel of the current model (aka the CS) in its 50th Anniversary mode, I personally do not care what the next model will be like because this one is just so bleeding sensational. C5 was great when it debuted a few years back, but since then the folks at GM have been upgrading it on a regular basis. They've broken the sensational barrier with the SOth Anniversary version, and the key ingredient to that ascension is not restricted to this model.
That would be the magnetorheological (MR) shocks, which moves active suspension into a whole other dimension. It's called Magnetic Selective Ride Control (MSRC) in GM-speak, and it completely alters the suspension setting about every two centimetres of the car's travel, which means it adjusts to a changing road service faster and more effectively than anything else on the market. There are other cars running active suspension systems that alter the ride on a continuing basis, but none of them can make the extensive changes that MSRC can as quickly. That's the key differentiator. GM says hotshoe drivers can go significantly faster on a controlled circuit in a Vette with MSRC than in one without MSRC, and the experiences' of myself and many of my media Colleagues support that claim. '; I Indeed, many of my media colleagues support the notion that MSRC may be the biggest advance in suspensions in some time. ! On the roads near France's most beautiful cathedral, there is little chance to conduct further research into Corvette's ultimate handling. But there are times when you can experience MSRC's abilities on real roads at sensible speeds, and that gives you a better appreciation of how the technology works in the real world.
Flattens world
Primarily, MSRC makes the real world with its speed limits and oncoming traffic and poorly paved roads a lot flatter — in the suspension sense of flatter, that is. This means the car simply swooshes around curves with uncanny (even for a Vette) easgand precision, and it stays l&vi&wlien you go over whoop-de-dos that would thump your head into the roof in virtually any other car. These are real world charms you can experience every day, and in certain circumstances they can make non-MR vehicles look distinctly 20th Century. For 2003, it must be noted, Magnetic Selective Ride Control is optional on coupe and convertible Corvettes. As wonderful as MSRC is, I still have made the same claim for the current Corvette — i.e., who needs the next model? Despite some niggling concerns in the beginning about its rear lights, the CS is now widely understood to be a glorious looking car. I would say it's certainly the best looking roadster in the world today.
It's possible that the new one will be superior in shape, of course, but any time you're playing at this level and you dick with something important you also run the risk of taking a step or two down the standings. Corvette C5 still turns heads, and ); that of course is its primary job — to make other people look at the car with envy in their heart for the lucky perr son driving it. As in, I've got something you don't have, na-nah-na-nah-pah. Commemorative edition This is especially true of the latest commemorative edition, which'comes in coupe and convertible models and gets SOth Anniversary Red exterior paint, specific badging, unique Shale interior including colour coordinated instrument panel and console, and champagne-painted anniversary wheels with special emblems. It also features embroidered badges on the seats and floormats, padded door armrests and grips and a Shale convertible top. By the way, the memorial model also gets a lot of the extra stuff that will be made standard in 2003 Corvettes — foglamps, sport seats, power passenger seat, dual-zone climate control; and a parcel net and luggage shade uitfte coupe. ; r Special edition cars often look like they're designed by the people whose day jobs involve creating Las Vegas casinos, but Chevrolet has held th^s line quite nicely here, making this mocjel obvious but not garish. No matter what a 50th Anniversary model looks like, it is also the second best performing production Corvette of all time.
The best performing production Corvette of all time is of course also still available in Z06 guise, but without MSRC and those other upgrades for 2003. Sure, the Z06 has power numbers in excess of 400, but the regular Vette's 350 hp at 5600 rpm and 375 Ib-ft of torque (or 360 with the automatic) at 4400 rpm is still beyond the reach of virtually any other car in the real world. Style, handling, creature comfort; and brute power beyond c,ompare;vWho needs the C6?