1970 Chevelle SS Marketing Photos

[Lee Stewart]

Chevrolet Camaro XP-14 Caribe Sportsman Show Car '1968

[Lee Stewart]

1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z28/RS ''Hurst Sunshine Special'' Prototype

[Xplantdad]

Charley...didn't you own that Camaro at one point? Didn't you do a trade towards a ZL-1...maybe number 18?

[al8apex]

before photoshop there was airbrush

that 68 Camaro appears to be a coupe that was "changed"

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

[BBefore the 1959 Stingray Racer Concept Car was turned into a pure show car it was red and raced by Dr. Dick Thompson. It made its debut at Maryland's Marlboro Raceway on 18 April 1959, finishing in fourth place. It went on to win an SCCA National Championship in 1960.

I definitely prefer the silver; seems like it shows off the body lines more on these cars.

K

[Keith Seymore]

This one is Milford Proving Ground as well. That twisty section of road course is called the "Seven Sisters" (because there are seven turns). Naturally it is used for ride and handling work.

There are sections of (local) public roadways replicated on the Proving Ground. Pontiac Trail, Hyne Road, and 12 Mile Rd come to mind. 14 Mile between Mound and Dequindre used to be particularly rough (the sections of concrete had shifted, causing a repeatable predictable beating) and I know for sure that some shock tuning went on there mixed in with the civilian traffic. Mr Lutz famously replicated the Nurburgring course where the off road portion of the Truck Loop used to be.

Lastly - I wanted to comment on the little adhesive letters on the windshields of some of the cars. These may be specific to the Marketing groups as they administrated the photo sessions (or designations of vehicles during a Long Lead/Short Lead press show) but we also use them to designate vehicles during Engineering road trips. Powertrain Cooling, HVAC, Brake Test trips, etc usually have several test vehicles, plus a lead vehicle and a chase truck with technicians and tools. The location is chosen based on what you are trying to accomplish (ie, Death Valley for heating/cooling, Kapuskasing for cold weather, Pikes Peak for altitude and braking, Towns Pass/Davis Dam for trailering up long grades, etc). Participants, consisting of engineers, engineering managers, and guests (quality or marketing reps, or even secretaries participating as a "benefit") are rotated through the various seating positions usually in a prescribed manner, to make sure everybody gets a turn to drive and sit in the back seat. Relevant data is taken while the vehicles are driven and, ideally, reviewed that evening during a working dinner meeting.

One of my favorites was a Corvette test trip where, rather than stick the letters on the rear window of the vehicles, they used the Manufacturer's plates to designate the test vehicle from behind (ie, "12M-001", "12M-002", etc).

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Lastly - I wanted to comment on the little adhesive letters on the windshields of some of the cars. These may be specific to the Marketing groups as they administrated the photo sessions (or designations of vehicles during a Long Lead/Short Lead press show) but we also use them to designate vehicles during Engineering road trips. Powertrain Cooling, HVAC, Brake Test trips, etc usually have several test vehicles, plus a lead vehicle and a chase truck with technicians and tools. The location is chosen based on what you are trying to accomplish (ie, Death Valley for heating/cooling, Kapuskasing for cold weather, Pikes Peak for altitude and braking, Towns Pass/Davis Dam for trailering up long grades, etc). Participants, consisting of engineers, engineering managers, and guests (quality or marketing reps, or even secretaries participating as a "benefit") are rotated through the various seating positions usually in a prescribed manner, to make sure everybody gets a turn to drive and sit in the back seat. Relevant data is taken while the vehicles are driven and, ideally, reviewed that evening during a working dinner meeting.

One of my favorites was a Corvette test trip where, rather than stick the letters on the rear window of the vehicles, they used the Manufacturer's plates to designate the test vehicle from behind (ie, "12M-001", "12M-002", etc).

K

Here in SE Michigan it is fairly common to see a string of similar camoflauged vehicles flying down the expressway lined up like ducks. If you can't tell what manufacturer or nameplate the vehicles are just based on the overall size and shape you usually can tell by what type of chase/support vehicles are employed - but - not always. I know for a fact that during the Dodge Viper development they used Chevrolet Suburbans as chase vehicles in an attempt to make observers and the media think that the test cars were the next generation of the Chevrolet Corvette.

A lot of the durability testing is now contracted to outside suppliers, like Rousch, and done on public roadways. I can sit on my front porch and see pairs of vehicles (usually Dodge trucks, Darts and full size passenger cars) fly by, or pass them on my commute home along I-75.

K

[Billohio]

All very interesting. Thanks to Lee and Keith

[Keith Seymore]

As the asst engineering manager for the program, I was invited to participate in the Long Lead Press show for the GMT820D (the 800 version of the Denali) introduction.

The show was held in Santa Barbara California (we stayed at the hotel where JFK and Jackie Kennedy honeymooned) and there was a media ride as part of the show. We (Engineering) were supposed to ride along with these media folks and give some commentary about the trucks and answer any questions they might have.

Well, there is one thing you should know about me: In one of life's little ironies, I (...the consummate car guy...) get car sick. Cars, airplanes, boats - you name it - I've actually made myself queasy wheeling around in my desk chair. It's just one of those things you learn to live with.

This trip was no different. After about two hours of riding with this guy I got really bad. Not "...hey, I think I need a little break..." sick, but "...pulling over to the side of the road to throw up NOW..." sick (I'll bet he was impressed). It was pretty bad.

When we got to our next stop, which was the lunch stop (...yay...) I talked to the trip captain. I told him of my plight and said "...I really don't think I can go on. I'd like to go back to the hotel."

He said "well, that would be fine. These two (a guy photographer and a lady, who was to be his driver) are heading back and you can ride with them - but - they have to stop and shoot some photos on the way. Is that ok?".

I thought that would be ok and waited for them to finish their lunch (I didn't care for any). When they were done we headed over to this green Denali and I asked, delicately, "...do you suppose I could drive? I usually feel better driving than riding". Neither had any problem with that so I hopped up into the seat and off we went.

We drove for a little while, through the southern California countryside, when we came to this little "two lane" road. I say "two lane", but really it was so narrow it didn't have a centerline stripe or any markings. There was a kind of a sweeping lefthand turn, over a little rise, and then a switch back the other way. The photographer explained what he wanted his lady driver to do - but - she balked, saying she didn't feel comfortable doing that. In desperation he turned to me and said "...can you drive?". By then I was feeling pretty normal and, excited at the proposition, I said "sure!".

So, the deal was that I was supposed to get a run at the hill, beep the horn just before entering the rise (so he would know I was coming) and then he'd snap the pictures as I went rolling by. We did our first pass, and I thought it went pretty well, and he said "...think you can go faster?". I said sure and picked up the pace a bit for the next round. He said "...think you can go faster yet?". I said sure (heh heh) and tried again. By the end of the session I was wide open throttle over this little hill and through the turns. It felt gooooood and, after about twenty shots he thought he had some satisfactory material captured.

We left that location and headed to the next spot, which was a straight section of roadway up a slight grade. There was a truck lane and we wanted me to drive steadily up the hill, about 50 mph in the right lane, and he would shoot from across the road. We did a couple and then he asked "how fast were you going on that last one?" I replied it was probably about 55. He sternly said "I said 50! (I was surprised he could tell). We did this one about twenty times as well, and then headed back to the hotel.

As we parted company he thanked me and commented that these would be used for display around the buildings and in the conference rooms. He said that if any turned out such that you could tell it was me driving that he would send me one.

Well - they did and he did. A couple weeks later I was delighted to find these two photos in my mailbox. I never did see them on display anywhere except for where they are proudly displayed in my barn.

My favorite part: his ONLY instruction to me as his driver was: "...hands at ten and two. And don't stick your tongue out. I shot a whole roll one time and the guy had his tongue sticking out. Had to throw out the whole thing".


K

[Keith Seymore]

A couple more stories related to Long Lead/Short Lead Press shows at MPG:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/au...=top-news&_r=0

http://www.motortrend.com/classic/ro...e_lt_2_review/

My office mate (at the time) participated in the event on Black Lake. My involvement in the above was (a) making Dave Miller aware that such a thing existed, and (b) connecting him with some of the other participants.

Mr Miller was so dedicated to accurately reproducing the car that, when he found out the original car was a yellow vehicle painted orange, he found a yellow donor vehicle so that he could do the same.

K