General Motors is celebrating the Chevrolet Centennial this year – and treating us to some nice historical footage, like this three-minute video celebrating the Bowtie brand’s motorsports heritage. While Chevy’s racing involvement in recent years has been mostly focused on NASCAR and its Corvette Le Mans program, the marque enjoys a wealth of history in almost every racing series.

Among the treats in this promotional piece are a few seconds of Bruce Larson’s USA-1 Camaro Funny Car and Jim Hall’s famous Chaparral 2 sports car, vintage NASCAR action from the era in which the term “stock car” still meant something, and there’s a mention of Juan Manuel Fangio’s stint as a Chevy driver in 1940. Of course, patron saint of Chevy Racing, Dale Earnhardt makes an appearance, as well.

Although the video teases us with some cool old footage, it also relies on still photography and the “Ken Burns effect” – a lot. It would be great to see some more racing clips and less static shots of cars like the 1978 Indianapolis 500 Corvette Pace Car. In fact, we’d love to see GM commission a longer documentary about Chevrolet’s racing history, one without as much heavy handed promotion of the company’s current products. Check it out after the jump and decide for yourself.

Continue reading Chevy recalls a century of motorsports excellence

Chevy recalls a century of motorsports excellence originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Pebble Beach Concours might be the most prominent event during the Monterey Car Week, but the hottest ticket in town is to the Quail Motorsports Gathering. Set on the picturesque lawn of the Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, the event follows the mantra of “less is more” – fewer people and fewer cars, all in the name of exclusivity. The result is that you don’t have to rub elbows with fellow spectators to look at the cars, every one of which is spectacular.

As with many other events this week, Jaguar played a large part of the Quail. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the E-Type, some incredible examples were on display, and even a few of the race cars from Laguna Seca took a trip down to Carmel Valley to make an appearance at the show.

Legendary American race car driver Phil Hill was also honored with 2011 marking the 50th anniversary of his Formula 1 championship. On display were a Ferrari TR/59 that he drove at Riverside in 1959, as well as the 1950 Jaguar XK120 that he piloted to victory in the very first Pebble Beach Road Race.

Additional highlights included a a class dedicated to the Ferrari Superamerica and a Bugatti Veyron gathering.

You can see all of these cars and more in the high-res gallery above.

2011 Quail Motorsports Gathering originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 21 Aug 2011 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are always at least a few Shelby Cobras at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, mixing it up with Shelby Mustangs and Corvettes, but for 2012 there will be quite a few more. Laguna Seca has announced that the Cobra has been selected as the featured vehicle for 2012 in honor of the car’s 50th anniversary.

Like with the Ferrari 250 GTO that celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, it’s likely that many of the other events during the Monterey Car Week will be honoring the Shelby Cobra as well. We wouldn’t be surprised if the Cobra was also honored at the Quail Motorsports Gathering or given a separate class at Pebble Beach. Either way, if you’re a Shelby or a Cobra fan, start making plans to be in Monterey next August.

You can read more about the announcement in the press release after the jump, or get a taste of what’s coming next year with our gallery of Cobra photos above.

Continue reading 2012 Monterey Motorsports Reunion to feature 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra

2012 Monterey Motorsports Reunion to feature 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s difficult to choose where to be on Friday during the Monterey Car Week. Various car shows vie for our attention, including the Quail Motorsports Gathering, Concorso Italiano and Legends of the Autobahn. Deciding where to spend our time on Saturday, however, is easy. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is the place to be, with the Monterey Motorsports Reunion hosting hundreds of vintage race cars at the famous 2.24 mile racetrack.

Jaguar was this year’s featured marque, highlighting the 50th anniversary of the E-Type. We generally think of the famous Jag as a beautiful road car, but it was a fierce competitor on track as well. An entire race category was dedicated to the E-Type, which made for an incredible sight.

Of course, not all of the race groups were Jaguars, and some of our favorite regulars were back at the track for another year. We always enjoy seeing the Shelby Mustangs and Cobras battle it out with the Corvettes, the IMSA racers, and of course the ever-competitive Trans-Am cars of the late 1960s and early 1970s. We only wish we could stay at the track all weekend to see every race.

Couldn’t make it out to Laguna Seca for the Motorsports Reunion? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Just browse through our high-res photos in the gallery above.

2011 Monterey Motorsports Reunion originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier this year the Monterey Motorsports Reunion announced that Jaguar would be the featured marque for the 2011 event. Dozens of Jags will be featured in many of the races, including the C-Type, which will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of its win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the XK120, D-Type and E-Type.

In addition to the cars on track, the Monterey Motorsports Reunion will display a collection of historical Jaguars in the paddock. Perhaps the most notable example will be the 1950 Jaguar XK120 that Phil Hill drove to victory at the very first Pebble Beach Road Race, an event that later relocated to Laguna Seca and evolved into today’s Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Also on display will be a 1951 C-Type (again, driven by Phil Hill), an SCCA championship-winning 1974 E-Type, a 1978 Trans-Am XJS and the XJR-9 race car that won Le Mans outright in 1988. We’ll have photos of the cars during our live coverage of Monterey Car Week next month, but until then ,enjoy the gallery below or read more about the gathering of historic Jaguars after the jump.

Historic Jaguars to go on display at Monterey Motorsports Reunion originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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