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Historic Motorama II
Corvettes line the Detroit River, next to the GM Ren Cen world headquarters for GMnext Day

Stats

• Total miles: 5489.4
• Miles to: 1908.2
• Miles home: 2272.9
• Avg. speed: 60.1
• Avg. mpg: 31.0
• Total states: 13
• Failures: 1954 threw a rod. 1958 carb fire. 1961 electrical. 1963 vapor lock. 1965 trans-shifter. 1967 dropped a valve. 1970 rocker arm stud came off.

Trip to

Three days:
Boise, Idaho to Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming to Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri to Bowling Green, Kentucky

Motorama II

Tuesday 09-09-08
We arrived at the National Corvette Museum (NCM) about 3:00pm their time. Flew our Boise state colors on the car. Found our club’s brick on the walk. We shopped at the store and toured the museum. We received our credentials and had a tour of the new construction. All of us signed our names on the pillars to the new conference room. One pillar had all of the years of cars and names of owners. The other pillar was free signed, wherever we found room. (intermittent rain)

Wednesday 09-10-08
We arrive at the NCM, chat for a while, then proceed to line up in (4) groups. (1) C-1 & 2. (2) C-3. (3) C-4. (4) C-5&6. We departed, heading toward St. Louis. We stopped for lunch, and then we stopped at the last rest stop before St. Louis to preassemble before going in to the city. This is where things start to go arey. A few C-3’s start out, then as the C-1’s get ready to leave, the 1958 catches fire (carb fire). After we get the fire out, there is an emergency meeting called. It seems that someone in city hall got their information wrong, and because of an important Cardinals-Cubs baseball game, we couldn’t rendezvous at the Arch as we had planned (even though everything had been cleared previously). Another story we hear, is that the clerk got the day wrong, from the 10th to the 17th. It was decided to go straight to our hotel for the night and start fresh tomorrow. We had a meet & greet with the local corvette clubs. (light rain in the morning). Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois (Collinsville).

Thursday 09-11-08
We departed the hotel at 7:30am, heading to Griot’s Garage. There had been advanced notice the caravan would be there. The sponsor provided lunch for us, but the newspaper stated that there would be refreshments provided, and the crowd thought it was meant for everyone. The staff was overwhelmed. We had a good time at the store and a lot of members purchased items for their rides. Our next stop of the day was Ray Skillman’s Classic Car Museum (20 minutes away). By the time we arrive, it is raining again. The museum will sell most of these automobiles, for the right price, as it is also a dealer. We tour the museum, and then depart for Pedigo Chevrolet for dinner. After dinner we move to our hotel in Carmel, Indiana. (raining). Illinois, Indiana (Carmel).

(my thoughts…the Brickyard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) was hosting motorcycle racing this weekend, so we were not able to access the venue)

Friday 09-12-08
I call this "the day from hell". We departed the hotel heading north. It is still raining. Our first stop is to be the Tire Rack for tours and lunch. (this is where the directions go south). Due to unclear directions, we (and others) miss a crucial turn and go on a sightseeing drive into the countryside for a while. (due to heavy rain and misdirection my stress level is high). We finally make it to the Tire Rack. At least three of the caravan avail themselves of the opportunity and get new tires. We have the tour and lunch, and then we are allowed to take a lap on their test track. Mind you, it is still raining. Taking the corners at elevated speeds scares the crap out of my wife. She let me know, in no uncertain terms, how she felt (stress level very high). After leaving the Tire Rack, we are to visit the Studebaker National Museum, but again the directions are incorrect. This time they omit a street that we are to turn on. We miss the turn, so we circle around and arrive from the opposite side. (stress thru the roof). After the tour, we have a meeting, and find out that due to the Notre Dame-Purdue football game we will be leaving town in the opposite direction to avoid the crowds. The good news is that we will have a police escort and we will not have to stop for lights. The bad news, there are only two officers, one in front and one at the rear (I think). It only takes a couple of miles before the caravan gets separated at red lights. (stress level off the charts). We finally find the freeway and get out of town and on to Corvette Central. Simple directions, stay west on SR 12 and turn right on Three Oaks. Only problem, Three Oaks is actually Elm. We end up visiting the countryside once again!!! (stress explosive). Heading back, we encounter others in the caravan visiting the same countryside. We finally make it to our destination, have our tour and dinner, buy a few items and depart to the hotel. The directions are good, until we get off the freeway. It seems that in Michigan, you can’t make a left turn at the corner. You go a half a block past, make a u turn (referred to as making a Michigan left) and go back and make a right turn to turn left. Go figure. The directions said turn left and then turn left. We went in circles for a while. By the time I find the hotel the stress level is “don’t even talk to me if you want to live”. (It poured all day long). Indiana, Michigan (Battle Creek).

Saturday 09-13-08
We arise late in the morning and relax for a while. It is still pouring down rain. We decide to leave around 11:30am. We have no difficulty and arrive at our base of operations hotel. The ’65 has 4 inches of water in the jack compartment. It seems that most of the early generation Corvettes have leakage problems. I suggest getting some roofing rubber or plastic painter tarp and cover the cars. A lot of plastic tarp and duct tape later most cars are secured for the night.

(my thoughts... I believe this was the day we were going to visit the Milford Proving Grounds or the Pratt and Mlller engine builders. But both options must have fallen through).

Sunday 09-14-08
This is another day that we get to sleep in. At 10:00am we leave the hotel to visit The Henry Ford (Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village). It was an enjoyable day, as we take a leisurely drive to our destination. The only misstep is when we miss our turn into the parking lot. We start to park in the general Ford lot, before we are directed to a private lot, basically for the safety of our precious cars. (there was a fear that maybe some of the Ford employees might try and use their keys to personalize our rides!) There are quite a number of interesting things in the museum, and the village is a recreation of a turn of the century town, complete with authentic houses and businesses from that time. At about 3:00pm we decide to start heading back to the hotel, because the clouds are moving in again. By the time we reach the hotel, guess what, it’s raining again. I had already decided that come hell or high water, the car needed to be washed down, so I proceeded to get the hose and clean it. Little did I know, I picked the day Hurricane Ike came to town to wash the car. I ended up washing it in the middle of a downpour and very windy to boot.

Monday 09-15-08
This morning, we depart for the GM: Powertrain: Performance Build Center in Wixom, Michigan. This is the plant that hand assembles the Corvette LS9, Corvette LS7, and the Cadillac LC3 engines. The LS9 is for the ZR1, LS7 for the Z06 and the LC3 for the STS-V and XLR-V. This is quite interesting, as a single technician builds the entire engine from start to finish. He starts with a bare block and pushes it from station to station until it is complete, then he attaches his nametag on the engine signifying he is the sole builder. The plant is extremely clean and well maintained. After the plant, we drive up to Flint, Michigan to the Alfred P. Sloan Museum for a tour and lunch. Part of the museum is the Buick Gallery and Research Center. Enclosed therein you will find some prototypes and other old cars that are unique in their own right. As we leave this location to go to our final stop for the day, we encounter some light rain showers, but not too much. Our final destination of the day is the Heritage Center where GM stores some of its prized automobiles. There is the '73 Aerovette, the '61 Mako Shark, the '69 Manta Ray, the '72 All Aluminum Corvette, '51 Le Sabre concept, and many other great cars. After dinner, we receive our instructions for the big celebration tomorrow. This place is off limits to the general public and we were pleased to be able to view these fine cars. Included in the display was one of the original 1938 diorama buses.

Tuesday 09-16-08
Today is the big day, GM's 100th birthday. Wake up time is 4:00am, because we leave our staging area at the hotel at 5:15am. We are to leave in three groups for the 20 mile trip to the RenCen (Renaissance Center) GM’s world headquarters in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Group 1 consists of all of the first and last years of each generation (i.e. ’53 & ’62, ’63 & ’68, ’69 & ’82, ’84 & ’96, ’97 & ’04, ’05 & ’08). Group 2 consisted of all other even year cars in descending order ’06 to ’54. Group 3 is all odd year cars in ascending order, ’55 to ’07. Group 1 had the prime location by the fountain on the river bank. Right across the river is Canada. Groups 2 & 3 arrive in order so that the cars are in ascending order from the center walkway out on Atwater Street, which is right in front of the Ren Cen. We are escorted there by GM officials. We arrive about 6:00am and set up and clean the vehicles. The day dawns perfect, blue sky no clouds and no rain. The folks at Gmnext provided breakfast for us at 7:00am. After our breakfast, we are free to wander around the building as guests of GM. (within boundaries). We view concept cars, check out the stage and the reporters, stores that are in the building. A few of us are interviewed. At about 8:00am, we start to gather at our area to prepare for the broadcast. We get to talk to Bob Lutz (Vice Chairman of Global Product Development) about the future of GM, and their plans. We watch the live broadcast and are right there when Bob shows off the 2010 Camaro. Mr. Lutz then leaves to go to the main stage where he unveils the newest GM addition…the 2010 Chevrolet Volt. The broadcast finishes at about 9:30am and we head back outside to chat with onlookers and pedestrians who wander by to view the cars, talk to media, and anyone else who will listen. At 11:00am we go upstairs for lunch and visiting. After lunch we again mingle with people until 2:00pm. At that time we are escorted back to the hotel. With that, Motorama II has officially ended.

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