Team ZR-1

ooh please, you have over what 7,400 plus posts here alone in less then 2 years and make it look like you and the others publishing photo shots for a high profit are some type of valid business.

Anyone who knows Corvettes or even cars knew just by looking at the hood that it was a phony.

Most of us knew it and just laughed it off as a good joke

You make it sound like your not what you are, post some images with them ruined with with your names plastered on top of the image like you just broke a spy story. That Priddy is the worst is how they ruin the photo with their domain plastered on it.

Sounds like your just miffed because you did not think of this stunt but we all know many of the so called spy shots are phony.

Who really cares what a "could, might, maybe" is, we either see a real car and like it or not, spy shots are for the kiddies but real people see what you do no different then those taking spy shots of Britney Spears crotch. Get over it and learn about Corvettes before jumping on clearly pranks

<span style='font-size:20pt;line-height:100%'>SPY SHOOTS BACK</span>

<span style='font-family:Courier'><span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>-An Editorial by Chris Doane (CD/BP)</span></span>

For the uninitiated, read the story of VetteGate here. - Flybrian

It is not uncommon for the prototypes we see in spy photos to be deceiving. Some cars may be comprised of fake body panels, others may be covered in rolls of tape that appear to be inspired by a zebra. Sometimes even the entire shell of a current model car is shoehorned over a chassis that’s still in development.

On Friday afternoon, word started getting around on several automotive websites that something was awry with a few current spy photos of a silver corvette purported to be the Blue Devil “super vette.” When these photos first hit the web some weeks ago, I knew something wasn’t quite right with them. The most glaring issue was the lack of a manufacturer license plate. To me, something also didn’t look quite right with the camouflage material. As it turns out, an online automotive magazine, Winding Road, fabricated a mock-up of a test car and drove it around the metro Detroit area.

I’m struggling to see the point of this stunt. I’m sure I will get responses like “Lighten up, it was a joke,” but hear me out. If you read the story in the Jan 2007 edition of Winding Road that tells the tale of the fake prototype, the point of the ruse was to deceive other publications into running the photos. The story also chides "Irresponsible speculation has been put forth by Corvette fanatics, magazine editors and competing manufacturers."

If I had to guess, Autoweek, Motor Trend and The Car Connection aren’t laughing. All of these outlets published the photos of the fake car on their websites believing it to be an authentic GM prototype. It was, after all, a fairly convincing forgery. Needless to say, this obviously doesn’t make those outlets look good in the credibility department. Some of you may think these media outlets don't have any credibility to begin with. That’s fine if you think that, but we’re talking solely about this particular incident.

I know competition gets fiercer by the day among the various automotive publications, but purposely tricking your competitors borders on something that is less-than-professional journalism. It’s certainly not a trend I want to see continue to the point where we have magazines warring with each other much like election time, TV attack ads. In the end, however, whether this stunt is equally or more “irresponsible” than printing speculation is up to all of you to decide.

The bigger issue for me, however, is that the fake corvette hurts the credibility of people like myself, Brenda and others who make their living shooting prototypes for everyone’s enjoyment. It didn’t take long after the fabrication was revealed for people to start asking if the photos of the black powertrain mule that I photographed back in October were fake as well. Let’s answer that right now. No, they are not fake. We have very credible information that this black prototype I shot is a development car for the “super vette” program. For all those worrying that the program is a pipe dream, rest easy. It’s very real and it’s very loud. The black car I shot wore a typical blue “Michigan Manufacturer,” license plate, was with a large group of other GM test cars and was driven by a person I know to be a GM engineer.

Needless to say, we certainly don’t want people in the automotive world getting the idea that we fake our spy photos because that is something we NEVER do. If our clients thought we were giving them fabricated photos, we obviously wouldn’t be in business very long. We were even offered photos of the fake silver corvette test car by someone via email, but we passed knowing something wasn’t quite right with the car. I’m sure it may sound a little funny to hear someone who spies on large corporations for a living talking about his ethical business practices, but we do play by the rules. That is something even the OEMs themselves would tell you.

On a lighter note, the Winding Road crew did a pretty good job making a convincing mock-up. If I’d seen it go past me on the road, I would’ve turned around to shoot it. I just wouldn’t have sent the images out after I got a good look at it on my computer screen. The spy photography business puts me in the unique position of being able to shoot first and ask questions later.

Overall was this meant as a joke? Yes, I think so. I hope so. Were there some unforeseen negative effects? Unfortunately, yes. Hopefully Winding Road and I can agree to disagree on the staging of this prank. I’d hate to lose them as a client. Especially since I’m selling a kidney tomorrow... how else can I afford the plane ticket to Australia to photograph those Camaro prototypes?

-- Chris

[email protected]

Chris Doane is a spy photographer who works with Brenda Priddy & Co. scanning the globe for the latest, greatest cars that have yet to hit the showroom.

Brenda Priddy is the queen of the long lens and one of the most accomplished spy photographers in the world.

In the interest of full disclosure; Autoweek, Motor Trend, The Car Connection and Winding Road are all our clients.

-------------------------------------

Response by BRENDA PRIDDY - Courtesy of Autoblog

AB: What was your reaction to hearing that the Corvette prototype in these spy photos was faked?

Priddy: I was a bit disappointed when I heard about the "prank". Frankly, my major concern was that our actual "spy photos" would lose their value - their creditability. I've already had dozens of e-mails from readers questioning our Blue Devil / Stingray photos, which are in fact actual General Motors' prototypes.

AB: Do you think the prank will negatively effect your business in any way?

Priddy: I think publications will be more careful with "reader's photos" -and several may no longer want to deal with them anymore. It will be harder for the guy down the block to sell a pictures to XXXX Magazine in the future, as the publications will likely only want to deal with the professionals in the future - hoping to avoid such issues.

AB: Why didn't your company buy photos of the Vette in question when they were offered to you?

Priddy: Let's just say that we carefully examine each and every image that arrives in our mailbox. And although we want to distribute more images than any other company, we tend to be rather selective on the photos that we agree to work with.

AB: What do you want auto enthusiasts know about the way you take and screen spy photos before they're sold?

Priddy: When "spy photos" are offered to us by other photographers - professional or amateurs - I ask a lot of questions. Basically I want to make sure that the pictures weren't taken "on the other side of the fence" - and I want to make sure that no laws were broken - such as trespassing. Depending on the circumstances, I tend to ask a lot of questions! As for the photos we personally take - again, we never trespass. Nor do we ever touch the vehicle, or break any laws while getting the perfect shot.

IMHO, Let's see When Hill was in the caddie group in 1980's the quality went in the dumps When he took over Corvette most Team Corvette guys either quit or transferred out When Hill showed up tests were done in a way to make it look like the pushrod was better then the LT-5 and killed off the ZR-1 The C5 has been a mess, quality low, failures high and most failures such as battry leaking acid onto electronics, clutch pedals sticking to the floor, transaxle leaking, etc never got fixed in any C5 model year Even the C6 has the same failures and more. C6, hmm supposted to be next generation when its nothing more then a warmed over C5. Z06, well C5 Z06 claimed its higher price was due to its performance where the base C6 has same or better performance and costs less saying all those who bought a Z06 are now told their car is the same worth as base C6. New Z06 - same game as they played with the ZR-1 where the car lists for $65.000 and dealers are allowed to charge over $100,000 that looks mostly like a C6 that is $30,000 less in cost Good deal hill is a goner, from his BS hype to firing the Amercian drivers for the C5R and replacing them with non Amercian drivers and for me I got his number way back in 1995 when he told me that I was weird in buying a new ZR-1 and racing it for he said "people buy a Corvette to carshow them and your not a normal. They also voided the whole cars warranty because as they stated I drag raced the car 2 times and used redline fluids in the ZF trannie. I know for a fact the ZR-1 was ready to meet the 1996 smog requirements since I knew the guys at Lotus and they had everything done yet Hill's claim ZR-1 was killed off since it would not meet EPA for 1996. Look at the C6, failing electronics, undersized battry systems, car not starting when gas pumps have pass keys for auto paying, transaxle cases breaking apart, piston slap, lots of MN6 trannie gear failures, etc, etc Yea, bye bye hill, glad to see you go and maybe if Corvette nameplate continues we can get back to our roots.

From what I hear, you guys are going the wrong direction.  I'm hearing 2008 will bring a 6.2l supercharged 'vette to the showrooms.  Why the 6.2l?  The 7.0's cyl. walls are too thin to support the boost.  Anybody with anything more current?

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Yes there will be a LS9 that will have thicker cylinder walls and use the same MAG SC as the caddie CTS-V uses.
I doubt you'll see larger engine in fact GM will move to Displacement On Demand (DOD) which the LS2 was already designed to accept the DOD parts which will give more power and better fuel mileage.

Something smells here, the date at top does not match the date further down.
The 0 mileage, model year, the weight, not a common printout for a mustang dyno, only 11 HP at 50 MPH and the low torque :blink:
Drivetrain loss is only about 11% so the torque in no way would be that low.
Interesting the AFR is not listed either.

The graph lines are also way too smooth, esp above 5,200 RPMs

Who believes what any rag reports esp performance numbers.

GM had 2 Z06s at a NCM event and those Z06s were running mid 12s on average, in fact some C5s ran better times.

Having another 100 HP over a C5 Z06 does not mean much for these cars have little traction.
Many C5s with far less dollars spent for mods are running 450 HP at rearwheels so I'd say unless your have $70,000 to blew wait 2 years before buying this Z06 esp since as with any new engine if anything is wrong in engine dealer MUST yank it out and do a swap and those of us who took a bath buying a ZR-1 would never touch again the early model years again

Anyone hear the rumor that wrist pins are failing with this engine ?
if so sounds like a oil sump problem

I found this at C&D forums.

From MT (Oct. issue):
0 – 60 MPH: 3.5 sec
Quarter Mile: 11.5 sec @ 127 MPH
Braking, 60 – 0 MPH: 104 Feet
Lateral Acceleration: 1.05 G

From C&D (Oct. 2005):
0-60 in 3.6 sec.
0-100 in 7.9 sec.
0-150 in 17 sec.
Skidpad = 0.98g
¼ mile: 11.7 sec @ 125 MPH

Motor Trend: (June 2005) “Ford GT vs. Ferrari F430”
0-60:
Ford GT: 3.6
Ferrari F430: 3.8

1/4 mile:
Ford GT: [email protected]
Ferrari F430: [email protected]

Motor Trend: (June 2003) “Dodge Viper SRT-10”
0-60: 3.9
1/4 Mile: 11.8 @ 123.6

Road & Track: MB McLaren SLR
0-60: 3.5 sec
1/4 [email protected] sec @126.1
0-100: 7.5 sec

Here are some comparison numbers between the Z06, Viper, and GT:

Z06  0-100 in 7.9
GT    0-100 in 8.6
Viper 0-100 in 9.6

Z06  0-150 in 17
GT    0-150 in 19.5
Viper 0-150 in 24.1

Here is a little blurb from MT:

"The most entertaining part of the Nurburgring F1 track is the high-speed kink called Hatzenbach Bogen.  While F1 cars car routinely see 180 mph and 2g lateral loads, the Z06 - without the aid of thousands of pounds of downforce - managed a respectable 120 mph while delivering a 1.0g force, sustained for a second and a half.  It's that combination of unflappable grip and seemingly endless grunt the Z06 manages so well.  Nothing seems too great a task, and only your instinct for self-perservation gets in the way of attempting the impossible." 

The Z06 some AMAZING! Bravo Chevy!

:metal:  :bowdown:  :bowdown:  :chevy:

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