This month saw Liverpool Football Club winning the Champions League Final and
Jurgen Klopp and his team celebrating along the streets of Liverpool. On the same day
it was Cars N Coffee Liverpool - yes, it was certainly a battle to see who were the die
hard football fans and who were the car enthusiasts on the day!
The car dealers & manufacturers came in force this month. Thanks to Carly Hallsworth
with the Tesla Model X and Robert Lacy in the all new Jaguar I-Pace going head to head
on the electric rivals. Let’s say we are embracing new modern technology for us mature
motorists and vice versa with the young, educating them with the old vehicles.
BAC (Briggs Automotive Company) MONO - the single seater supercar built in Speke
Airport made yet another appearance with the engineers and designers. It was great to see
interactions with industry and enthusiasts in one motoring meeting.
If you’re into your cars, then there must be a car on your wish list that you owned! Well
one fellow Cars N Coffee Liverpool member did and in 1978, Dave who was a successful
New York City worker decided to buy his dream American muscle car. A beautiful 1978
Chevrolet Corvette C3 known to many as the “Sting Ray” or “The Coke Bottle Corvette”.
He ordered it brand new and collected it from the factory showroom in Detroit- Michigan
where the Corvette was originally built. This car was a special edition model named the
‘Anniversary model’ which normally came in a split colour silver and black. Dave was
very specific, ordering this car in all one colour black plus a manual gearbox which is
very rare (as most Corvette or any American car would have normally been automatic
transmission). Oh, not forgetting a factory option 8-Track tape player system.
Remember 8 Track?
Here is some brief information about the Chevrolet Corvette (C3) for many that aren’t
familiar. It was an all American fibreglass sports car that was produced by Chevrolet
for the 1968 through 1982 model years. It set new sales records with 53,807 produced
for the 1979 model year. The C3 is the third generation of the Chevrolet Corvette, and
marks the second time the Corvette would carry the Stingray name, (patterned after the
Mako Shark II concept car) though only for the 1969 - 1976 model years. Can you see the
resemblance of the wide flat nose (helped by the introductory new designed headlamps
“pop-up” lights) shape of the Sting Ray? The arrival of the 1978 Chevy Corvette would
happen just a few months after the 500,000th model rolled off the St. Louis assembly line.
That milestone was the benchmark of Corvette’s success - the 1978 model would mark
a second milestone – Corvette’s Silver Anniversary - Dave’s car. The anniversary model
marks Corvette’s 25th year of production. The traditional crossed-flag emblem is replaced
with a special anniversary emblem. The special edition of the Corvette is the Indy 500
Pace Car replica – silver and black. Mechanically she’s a fiery 5.7-litre small-block V8
with amazing sounds. Astonishing driving sensations that only the American cars of back
in the days can give you.
Road & Track took a 1978 L82 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in just 6.6 seconds, 127 mph (204
km/h) flat out, and covered the quarter-mile in 15.3 seconds @95 mph. This car is a true
testament to Dave! The car remains all original - especially the bodywork and paint, bar
the wear and tear parts such as tyres, radiator, brakes, etc. What we found so fascinating
was not only that the car was kept in such good order but the car followed the family to
Canada in later years, eventually coming to Liverpool where she lives now.
If you are a frequent reader, you will know how diverse the vehicles are from month
to month. Our chosen two star cars to grace the entrance to Chung Ku Restaurant was
Julian Loose ’s ongoing built show car Audi R8 and Steve Smith’s Volkswagen mk2 golf
Rallye show stopper. The chosen charity this month was The Megan Hurley Foundation -
Manchester Bombing, which raised an incredible £255.85 in the three hours.
A big thanks to all our motoring members, amazing friends and supporters. The next
Cars N Coffee will be on Sunday 30th June 2019 at Chung Ku Restaurant. Join us for
a Coffee Origin, a Char Sui Bun and the ALL NEW steamed Hotdog bun!!! Safe happy
motoring :)
For more information: visit www.carsandcoffeeliverpool.co.uk or www.chungku.co.
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