Back in 1965, Chevrolet’s St. Louis factory produced 8,186 coupes and about double that many convertibles (15,378).
Out of those 23,564 Corvettes, only about 10 percent of them were made with air conditioning (2,423). Not surprising, really, since most cars of that era didn’t have AC either, and furthermore it was the second-highest priced option on the list at $421.80 behind the top-of-the-line 327/375 hp fuel-injected engine at $538.
![[PODCAST] Ken Lingenfelter is This Week's Guest on the Corvette Today Podcast](https://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/2020-2/081220_5b.jpg)
This week on the CORVETTE TODAY Podcast is another automotive giant that needs no introduction, Ken Lingenfelter! We’ve known Ken for more than a few years now and there is not a nicer gent you will meet in the automotive world. Ken’s passion for cars (and Corvettes!) goes way back his days as a teen and once you get him talking about his diverse car collection, he immediately lights up at the discussion.
Following John Lingenfelter’s passing in 2003, Ken stepped in to lead Lingenfelter Performance Engineering and today it’s known as one of the pre-eminent tuning and performance shops in the land.
We’ve been expecting to hear this news and finally today it has been confirmed by Chevrolet that the new 2020 Corvette Stingray will be the official Pace Car of the 104th Indianapolis 500. This marks the 17th race that Corvette has served as the official Pace Car, and the 31st Chevrolet to lead the field.
This year’s running of the Indy 500 will take place on Sunday, August 23 with the race being shown live on NBC.
With no fans allowed in attendance this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the official pace car driver will be GM President Mark Reuss.
![[PICS] 2019 Corvette ZR1 Looks Wicked with Glowing Rotors and Flames Shooting from the Exhaust](https://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/2020-2/081120_16b.jpg)
The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas recently hosted a track event called “COTA After Dark” and one of the stars of the night was a 2019 Corvette ZR1 that was pictured with glowing red brake rotors and flames shooting from its exhaust ports!
Mike Quattlebaum shared a few photos of his ZR1 on the Corvette Forum and we reached out for permission to share his photos here. Mike is no stranger to the track, and he drives primarily a C6 Corvette with BQS Motorsports.
Now that enthusiasts can place their orders for the 2021 model year Corvettes, we wanted to let you know that our friends at Bomnin Corvette in South Florida are currently accepting deposits for the mid-engine sports car.
Yes, with the advantage of hindsight, we admit the 1970s were a terrible time to be a Corvette enthusiast.
But for those of us fortunate enough to have lived during the days of orange shag carpet and coppertone refrigerators, the Corvette was still “our” Corvette, no matter what the horsepower ratings were.
![[VIDEO] New Evidence Suggests Warning Bells Sounded in C8 Corvette's 'Flying Hoods'](https://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/2020-2/081120_7c.jpg)
Having taken delivery of a 2020 Corvette back in March, I’ve followed the various reports of mysteriously opening hoods with great interest. First, I honestly feel terrible for anyone that this has happened to. Not only does an incident such as this cause physical damage, but it could also lead to an accident with significantly greater consequences. I don’t want anything like this to happen to anyone.
![[GRAPHIC] Suppliers to the 2020 Corvette Stingray](https://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/2020-2/081020_21b.jpg)
This graphic from IHS Markit shows a select number of vendors and suppliers to Chevrolet’s 2020 Corvette Stingray and the image was posted in this week’s edition of Automotive News. Thanks to “theamcguy” over at the MidEngineCorvetteForum.com for sharing it.
![[VIDEO] The C8 Corvette is Huge In Taiwan!](https://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/2020-2/081020_20b.jpg)
Well, it may be huge in Taiwan. But actually, I can’t back up that claim other than to say it should be! We’re not sure how newsworthy this is, but for us, it’s always been a point of pride to see our favorite American sports car lauded on foreign media in distant lands.
Proceeds to benefit the National Guard Educational Foundation
It was one of the greatest grand prizes for the ages back in 1988 and today it’s known as “the greatest Corvette barn find in history.”
