Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

[Duke W.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

Since this Thread is titled "...with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines"; and the opportunity to ask those of you who have commented on race history, or if you are reading and watching...please add any constructive thoughts on your viewpoint about the 1988-1990 Corvette Challenge Cars.

Eric Patty
NCRS # 8355

That's a pretty broad subject, and it's covered in publications like "Corvette Racers" by Gregory Von Dare published by Motorbooks International.

The engines were basically "blueprint stock" with open exhaust and were built as close to equal as possible and sealed to prevent tampering. PROMs that controlled the fuel and spark maps were used to make final adjustments to equalize engine performance.

They also ran a spec tire and and basic suspension components were all the same, but I think teams were free to run different alignment settings within an approved range.

That was an excellent super competitive series.

Duke

[Duke W.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

The M8s were truly outrageous. The series had no restrictions on anything...

Oh yes they did! They had to have "doors" of specified minimum size and a "passenger seat."

Beyond that it was pretty much unlimited with a few exceptions. High mounted movable wings attached directly to the rear suspension uprights were banned after '69 ultimately including Jim Hall's Chaparral 2J ground effects car, the FIA stating that the Lexan skirts articulated to the suspension constituted "movable aerodynamic devices" that were banned with the high wings.

With some definite help from Chevrolet it's amazing what that small Team McLaren was able to accomplish. Ford mounted an effort in the engine department, but never came close to fielding something competitive.

The openness of the series encouraged innovation, which was great, but if something got "too innovative" like the 2J it got banned.

Like modern political campaigns where whoever spends the most money on TV ads usually wins, Porsche came in with super big bucks and blew everyone else away. If SCCA had banned turbochargers the series could have probably gone on for a few more years, but would likely have been ultimately killed off by the '70s "gasoline crises" in the interest of "conserving energy".

Duke

[Tim G.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

We will be at Road America in two weeks. Last year one of the Shadow CanAm cars did a back flip at the crest of the hill on the front straightaway.

[Mark H.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

Speaking of Can-Am, Pete Lyons has written several books about it, but this is his best one: https://www.amazon.com/Can-Am-Cars-D.../dp/1935007114

I bought it when it first came out in 2010 and thought at $99.95 it was a bit pricey. Looks like I got a bargain.

[David G.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

Um, I believe that would be called an "Unfair Advantage".

[Jim L.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

That’s funny Jim. I loved the book. I actually have 2 copies.
Dave

Dave, you may be the first and, till now, only person to "get" the reference.

[Chris H.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

Penske/Donahue.....Unfair Advantage.....always pushed the rule book boundaries.

[Larry E.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

Hay Duke: Here is a Ad I think you will like>The Chevrolet Brothers Manufacturing Company was established in 1921, and was headquartered in Indianapolis. It specialized in aftermarket cylinder heads & speed equipment for the Model T Ford. The company also built high performance race cars based on the Model T platform.

[Mark H.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

The Chevrolet brothers and their Frontenac's were pretty competitive in the early days of the Indy 500. Louis Chevrolet ran his first Indy 500 in 1915 in Cornelian. I have no idea what kind of car that was. In 1916 Louis and Arthur both ran in Frontenac's, neither finished. Finally in 1920 Gaston won the 500 in his Frontenac. Unfortunately, Gaston was killed in November of that year at a board track race in Beverly Hills. A Frontenac was the winner again in 1921 with Tommy Milton taking Gaston's place. Louis entered six cars in the 1922 race, but only one finished, in 11th place driven by the one and only "Cannonball" Baker. That was the last time Frontenac's ran the 500.

[Duke W.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

I've heard of the "Fronty" Ford 16V DOHC head for the Model T engine, but didn't know it was manufactured by Louis Chevrolet. Were did the name Frontenac come from?

When DOHC engines came into vogue a few decades ago, they were nothing really new. The first was a 16V DOHC head designed by a Swiss engineer in 1905 for 2L I4 Peugeot engine. It made about 60 HP at 3000 which was excellent for the era. Better materials have allowed engine speeds and power to more than double for road engines of the same basic configuration and nearly quintuple for racing engines.

Duke

[Mark H.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

I've heard of the "Fronty" Ford 16V DOHC head for the Model T engine, but didn't know it was manufactured by Louis Chevrolet. Where did the name Frontenac come from?

Duke

The only Frontenac I could find was a guy that was governor of "New France", now Quebec, in the late 1600s. Maybe the Chevrolet brothers tapping into their French heritage looking for a name for their product. Kind of ironic that they had a business making cylinder heads for Fords and about 30-35 years later Zora would do that same thing with his Ardun heads for the flathead.

[George J.]

Re: Racing Quiz For "Duke"; Of course with Chevrolet Corvette Based Engines

The only Frontenac I could find was a guy that was governor of "New France", now Quebec, in the late 1600s. Maybe the Chevrolet brothers tapping into their French heritage looking for a name for their product. Kind of ironic that they had a business making cylinder heads for Fords and about 30-35 years later Zora would do that same thing with his Ardun heads for the flathead.

Mark, there is a Frontenac Street in Detroit. There were other things that used the name including restaurants, buildings, etc. It makes sense that they may have named a company as such.

George