This was awesome. I truly don’t understand the mentality of some people. Here we have a gentleman who looks to be intelligent enough but has found himself in a very precarious situation. He has what looks to be a 1995-1996 Corvette that is in very nice shape. His problem? It’s located in his pole barn that is surrounded by rising water… not good. So, as opposed to doing it the right way and either towing the car out, or simply raising it up on jack stands, the owner decides to do a Bo and Luke Duke and jump it out of the barn. You can probably guess what happens next…

Love your Z06, but long for the carbon ceramic brakes and magnetic ride active damping system of the ZR-1? Wish the Z06 had more carbon fiber and less fiberglass? Tired of seeing other Z06s at the grocery store, and want to drive something a little more exclusive? Then get down to your Chevy dealer, pronto, to get in on the Z06 Carbon. Chevy’s only building 500 of them, so you’d better act quickly.

The new ALMS season is set to kick off at Sebring on March 20, and Corvette Racing will debut their new ZR-1 based race cars in the GT class (called GT2 at the 24 Hours of LeMans). Gone for 2010 is the GT1 class, which has been ruled by the Corvettes since the late 1990s. In the 2009 season, Corvette was the sole remaining entry in the GT1 class.

“Finally,” thought Cletus, “I can use that newspaper box in front of my house for somethin’ good.”

Source: You Drive What?

Over the last few years’ values in the collector car market have gone up and down more times then Oprah’s scale. Cars that were once in the six-figures are now in the five-figures with more market flux to come. Buyers who are new to the market can easily become confused and it is very easy to get taken advantage of by sellers who are less than honest.

I get emails constantly inquiring as to what cars to pick up as future collectibles. I also get asked my opinion on what the best bang for the buck is amongst these automobiles. After doing a bit of research, I’ve put together a list of automobiles that I would classify as having “Future Collect-ability”. These are cars that can be purchased right now and are priced between: $8,000 – $20,000.

Hennessey’s massive ZedR1-bred Camaro first hit the scene back in June, and were are no less impressed with it today than were then. All the explanation of our fanaticism can be gleaned directly from its simplistic name: HPE700 LS9 Camaro. While it might be difficult for even your wildest fanboy to imagine, Hennessey Performance Engineering managed to eke a staggering 700 horsepower out of the Camaro, thanks entirely to the ZR1 LS9 engine sitting under the hood.

Underpinned by a 6-speed manual Camaro SS, the 2010 HPE700 expounds upon an already impressive performance record by swapping the standard 426-hp LS3 V8 with the new ‘Vette’s famous LS9 supercharged 6.2L. With the monstrous upgrade, output soars to 725 bhp at 6,400 rpm and 741 lb-ft at 3,200 rpm and supposedly allows the HPE700 to sprint past the 0-60 mph mark in a mere 3.5 seconds. If 700 horses seems to modest for your lofty run-what-you-brung aspirations, however, Hennessey also offers both a 800-hp Twin Turbo and a 1000-hp Twin Turbo upgrade package, the latter which you will be able to enjoy the full potential of exactly once before your imminent demise.

Thanks to the vigilant Corvette fanboys at the SmokinVette forum, I’m happy to furnish you with enough raw ZedR1 footage to kill at least 5 minutes at work, possibly more depending on whether or not your able to watch all the related videos.

C’mon, it’s Friday, no one’s watching – just slap some head phones on and hunch over your screen. I promise you it’s worth the risk.

Geiger, the long time tuning firm of German persuasion which specializes in refining coarse American cars for sophisticated European palettes, has offered up their G-treatment for the latest and greatest slice of pure Americana–the Corvette ZR-1. But all is not beer and skittles (if you didn’t know already). Geiger subjected the Corvette to some “diverse tuning measures” to the tune of some 72 additional horsepower, bringing the grand total to 710HP at the crank, meaning–in their own words–that “propulsion only ends at a speed of 342 kilometres per hour.” That’s 212 mph to us chili-doggers here in the colonies. But don’t go thinking all this tuning has resulted in some stellar sub 3-second 0-60 time. The Geiger GTS is actually .2 seconds slower to that mark than the stock version. And we’ll give you two tortured rubber reasons why.

The fact is, performance wise, Geiger is intruding into Brabus territory by producing an obscenely powerful version of a car that is already too strong for its own good. Most cars simply cannot apply 677 ft-lb of torque in a productive manner, unless your intent is to produce half a mile of gooey rubber stripes.

So then, what about that svelte Euro-styling? Meh we say. Out back, it’s all Modena. And up front, it’s sort of like a Sabertooth Tiger–intimidating up close, maybe, but from a distance it just looks silly. And a bit pretentious. Geiger says the styling is “reminiscent of the large Gran Turismos of the 60’s and 70’s,” but we’d rather they not turn quite possibly the world’s biggest supercar bargain buy into a Ferrari Daytona knock-off.

But tell me: Would you replace Daisy Duke’s cut-offs with a floor length evening gown so your out of town relatives would approve?

Those GT’s had style, but so does the ZR-1, oodles and oodles of it. And all the GTS does is steal that brawny American charm we all know, and sometimes even love.

For more info, a full hi-res gallery, and a taste of German-to-English translation goodies, check the press release after the jump:

Corvette Paces LeMan Competition

Winning this year’s edition of the world’s most prestigious sports car race had special significance for Corvette Racing because it marks the end of team Corvette C6R’s run in GT1 racing. Corvette Racing begins its transition to a global GT class in 2010 that is chiefly based on current GT2 regulations.

Hennessey Performance Engineering is keeping themselves busy fulfilling our insatiable lust for blowing excessive amounts of horsepower out of (or rather, into) our cars, having recently announced their plans to offer a leaner, more focused version of Chevy’s venerable ZR-1 Corvette for 2010. Hennessey makes the point that Porsche 911 owners have the option of upgrading to a GT3 RS for track day sessions, and Viper owners likewise have the ACR. But what for ZR-1 owners with speed in their veins and holes burning into their wallets?

Well, that’s where the Z700 comes to the rescue. More details and hi-res pics await you after the jump.