The C4 Gathering 2018

[Vette Guy]

All,

It’s Time for the Gathering! We are getting excited as the upcoming Gathering at the National Corvette Museum is getting closer. Registration for the ZR-1 / GSR / Gathering is now open on the National Corvette Museum’s website, and ends Monday May 7th. All event sign-ups are available on the same link (MSP Track, Karting and Banquet). Lodging is still available under the ZR-1 Net / GS Registry’s block of rooms at the Holiday Inn University Plaza, block code ZR5, or simply click the below link ZR-1 Net / GSR Registry. Included with our block is breakfast at the hotel’s café – If you have previously booked without using the ZR5 code, please contact the hotel and let them know you are with the ZR-1 Net Registry. Also, if you have any problems, please feel free to contact myself or Ted Feder (events@zr1netregistry.com)

There will be multiple road trips and seminars, but we’d like to highlight a few items:


Track Day at the Motorsports Park: No matter what your skill is on a motorsports track, we can accommodate you! There will be multiple run groups for beginners, intermediate and advanced drivers. The morning prior to our time on the track, we will conduct a driving session at the National Corvette Museum in order to make you a safer and better prepared driver for the event. Want to know what it’s like on the track? Take a short ride with Mike Rivet (Former Pro Escort Series race driver) and I around the NCM’s Motorsports Park track during a prior year’s touring lap session. Mike will also be instructing at the NCM prior to our track event.



Karting at the Motorsports Park: Think you’re a great driver? Let’s really go all out and find out who is the fastest on the Motorsport Park’s ¼ mile Karting track. This is great fun for everyone, from those who want to see what Karting is all about, to those who can’t get enough of the smell of gas and burning rubber! We’ll meet up at the Kartplex, form into racing teams, and let the fun begin! Can’t get enough? There are multiple sessions throughout the afternoon for those who want to spend more time on the track – you will not be disappointed!



Black Widow ZR-1s: The 25th Anniversary of the Black Widow Corvette will be celebrated. These special Corvettes will be on display within the National Corvette Museum, as well as seminars conducted by key members of DRM Motorsports, MerCruiser and Lotus to share with us the aggressive endeavor of creating a RPO concept 475HP ZR-1 for Chevrolet in 1993. Find why these special cars are so historically important to the history of the C4 Corvette ZR-1, and how they came to be. More importantly, if accepted as a RPO, they would have been the most powerful naturally aspirated Corvette ever made; more powerful than today’s Corvette, 25 years later.



Attention DRM-500 / 600 Owners: I’m looking to get in contact with all DRM owners. If I have not already identified your GSR as a DRM and spoken with you, please contact me.



Questions: If you have any questions regarding the event, please feel free to contact Karen Renfrow (270-467-8804) or Bryce Burklow (270-777-4506) regarding event registration at our National Corvette Museum; or the ZR-1 Net's Events Chairman, Ted Feder, at events@zr1netregistry.


Safety: Lastly, if you are registering to participate on the Motorsports Park track, please prepare now to ensure your GSR is prepared, both for the trip and the track. I can’t emphasize enough the need to flush brake fluid annually and that tires are in good condition. We want to ensure everyone has a great time on the track, and a good trip home.



We look forward to seeing you at the Gathering! Travel safe.

[WARP TEN]

Sorry Mark but we have babysitting duties for grandchildren scheduled for that weekend. Hope everyone has a great time and I will try to make it next year. I will be at Marc Haibeck's BBQ on Sunday May 27 however.--Bob

[Vette Guy]

Bring them along! Likely sit two, maybe three in the hatch!

We'll miss you Bob, but hope to see you next year!

Regards,
Mark

[Bob Eyres]

When will we have a schedule for the seminars?

Will the seminars be recorded and posted here, or on the NCM's YouTube site?

[BlackSheepz]

You guys are Killing me!

My wife is having surgery that weekend so we aren’t going to make it this year. We debated moving it so we could go but it is something that needs to happen so we kept the appointment. (Nothing crazy, or life threatening, but necessary.)

And the Haibeck picnic on the 27th? That’s the weekend of the Indy500! I have to work that weekend!

Seriously though take a ton of pictures We look forward to living vicariously through all of you at the gathering, and hoping the best in terms of scheduling for 2019!

[Riviera]

Originally Posted by Bob Eyres

When will we have a schedule for the seminars?

Will the seminars be recorded and posted here, or on the NCM's YouTube site?

Hi Bob. If you go to the NCM site and look under events you can access the C4 Gathering and the preliminary schedule of events. The 2nd Karting Session has been cancelled.

[MarkSS]

"MerCruiser and Lotus to share with us the aggressive endeavor of creating a RPO concept 475HP ZR-1 for Chevrolet in 1993. Find why these special cars are so historically important to the history of the C4 Corvette ZR-1, and how they came to be. More importantly, if accepted as a RPO, they would have been the most powerful naturally aspirated Corvette ever made; more powerful than today’s Corvette, 25 years later."

I love the Black Widow cars... but LS7????

[Vette Guy]

Hi Bob,

We've been requested not to share the seminars from the Gathering - that's the lure of coming to the Gathering event. I'm amazed each year how much more I learn about the ZR-1 and C4s in general, and I consider myself pretty smart on our C4/ZR-1 history.

Last year with Doug Rippie was pretty....WOW.... We learned how to make C4s fast. Drivetrain makes your ZR-1 go fast, but the chassis is mostly overlooked when we talk about fast cars. Doug showed us how he made his Escort / Corvette Challenge / World Challenge so fast. Wow! That's why I value most of the DRM 500/600 ZR-1s so high over many other tuner cars... and it has nothing to do with coil-overs as some might think. ......Doug will be there again this year, and for the price of a drink, you might get a few golden C4 nuggets out of him!

First I've heard about the Karting - it is still on the registration schedule as well as the Motorsport Park's calendar - I'll call and find out if something has changed. We had a full 2 sessions last year, unless they are changing the venue.

With regard to the agenda, it is posted on the NCM's website. The big items:

Getting together - the absolute best part of the Gathering!!!

Okay, the schedule (big items):

Wed Evening - Beer / Pizza Reception at the U-Plaza.

Thursday morning, Driving Instruction by Escort Series Pro Driver Mike Rivet and HPDE instructor Ray Davis from the GSR. I'll throw in my $.02 in there too as I hold a racing comp license and currently run in the vintage sprint series. This is all about how to make your car go fast safely - this is our 4th year conducting the seminar, and last year was standing room only. Then we'll head over to the track by noon to get the required safety briefing, and begin our touring laps throughout the afternoon. Perfect as you'll actually have the opportunity to practice what we've been taught in the driving seminar..... Touring Laps are run in skill groups, and I believe everyone who has run with us as not been at all disappointed. Take a peek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIsgvb9USUo
If you would like an instructor to ride with you, one may be available!
Following our time on track, we'll head down to Franklin, KY for Dinner. It's quite a sight. Last year we had cars pulling off the highway to take photos of all of us coming down the highway. It was a pretty cool experience, and dinner with everyone was great. I recommend sitting with someone you don't know, and make a new good friend!

On Friday morning, we'll have a seminar with Marc Haibeck on Tuning the LT5, where we'll walk you through the basics of tuning, such as the process of tuning and all the software and equipment needed. A few attendees requested time from Marc to show them what tuning is all about - we've made it a full seminar, and I'm sure it will be well attended. It's always awesome to have the opportunity to speak with Marc out of the shop and learn from him.... hard to do when Marc is back at the shop.... he has a business to run, and the honored responsibility to keep our LT5s going (faster!) In the afternoon, we'll head back over to the MSP track for the Karting sessions. These aren't slow by any means, and the track is a full 1/4 mile. I have to say that driving these cars will give you a great workout. Again, be as competitive as you want - we'll form teams, race against each other, and have a ton of fun! Friday evening is dinner on your own, then we'll convene at the U-Plaza where we'll kick the keg from Wednesday night, and talk about our time on the track, and buy drinks for our guest speakers until they share a few untold stories to us regarding how they were able to get things done.... such as pillaging someone's ZR-1 in the parking lot of Daytona International Speedway in order to put a certain ZR-1 race car back on track to finish the IMSA endurance series race.

Saturday we'll have a morning seminar with Marc Haibeck regarding C4 performance issues, then photos of all of us, membership meeting of the ZR-1 Net Registry, then the main attraction - the Black Widow - featuring Gary Cline, Doug Rippie, Graham Behan and Greg VanDeventer. With this group, you'll get the no kidding insight of how this incredible project occurred, and the trials and tribulations to getting MerCruiser's race engines (already producing for Tommy Morrison and Kim Baker) into 8 ZR-1s as a proof of concept for a limited 100 car RPO that would have make a 50-state legal 475hp LT5 available to enthusiasts back in 1993. It would have destroyed it's Viper competition during that time period. Upon the conclusion of the seminar, we'll go out into the boulevard for a guided tour of the Black Widow ZR-1s. (remember, DRM made these ZR-1s fast, so ask a lot of questions!).

We'll conclude the event with the banquet, and have asked our guest speakers to tie in to the theme of the event with the evolution of LT5 performance.... how R&D did MerCruiser and/or Lotus do to find another few hundred HP out of the existing engine platform, and how did these engines find their way to the race track? How did Doug Rippie and John Lingenfelter find their way to becoming the great LT5 tuners? They were both super busy with their shops and setting records at every corner. You will be surprised to learn their relationships came to be, and discover the people whose work led to the ZR-1 filling pages of automotive racing / performance / enthusiast magazines and television shows for years after the initial hype of the ZR-1 diminished. The last part of the evening will be the conclusion of the silent auction where we will have some fantastic items provided by our sponsors of the Gathering event - DRM Motorsports, Jerry's Gaskets, Haibeck Automotive, ZF Doc, etc., as well as the live auction of 2 event banners - which I think are spectacular. Oh, did I mention that we will have specially minted pewter Black Widow coins available for ZR-1 member attendees of this special event. I can't tell you how much time and effort has gone just into the design and CAD relief of the raised plenum incorporated into the design of this special 1 3/4" 3D coin.

So, it's not too late if you have not already signed up to come on out and join us!

Marc, so sorry we'll miss you and Shannon, but we are planning on seeing you at Indy (Vintage races) shortly after the Gathering!

Regards,
Mark

[Vette Guy]

Originally Posted by MarkSS

I love the Black Widow cars... but LS7????

To clarify, the comparison was to today's C7 Corvette (460hp), not the C6 Z06 (LS7 is 505hp). That said, the Black Widow proof of concept cars presented Chevrolet with completed 50-state legal 525hp / 500hp / 475hp and 465hp variants of the LT5 to choose from, which is even more impressive.

Regards,
Mark

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by Vette Guy

To clarify, the comparison was to today's C7 Corvette (460hp), not the C6 Z06 (LS7 is 505hp). That said, the Black Widow proof of concept cars presented Chevrolet with completed 50-state legal 525hp / 500hp / 475hp and 465hp variants of the LT5 to choose from, which is even more impressive.

Regards,
Mark

Interesting!

And, according to Young (HOTB), GM poo poo'ed the Gen III LT5 because 1) it would have to go through emissions certification, and because the LS1 was in final stages of development and (FRANKLY) 475 hp would have crushed the launching of the base C5 offering, and then the argument the LT5 wouldn't fit under the C5 hood (but when they needed room for the C7 ZR1 supercharger, a little "bump" in the hood line...NO PROBLEM!!.


Oh, well.........

Rant over