The Corvette Roof
There have been complaints circulating about the roof panels on late-model Corvettes when they are exposed to hard-core heat and humidity, causing noise, leakage, and other issues. We asked GM, what's the deali, yo?
We were told, "The issue of roof 'delamination' was the subject of a customer-satisfaction program in late 2005. It covered 17,195 mostly '05-model Corvettes. We were aware of 11 cases of roofs partially or completely separating. There were no injuries or crashes due to this. We are continuing to investigate."
Meanwhile, NHTSA has said a recall is in place for some '05-'06 Vettes with painted roofs because the adhesive between the roof panel and the frame may separate.
The Year One Red Runner
The Year One guys are worse than we are when it comes to squinting through the carnage of rusted hulks and seeing the glossy coach underneath. Since they own a musclecar-restoration-product company, it is a hella lot easier for them to restore the stuff than it is for us. Their most recent purchase was a well-rotted '69 Road Runner 383 four-speed car that they are going to build from below the ground up. On the surface, the plan is to have the car appear stock, while underneath the sheen, a 500-inch big-block and trick multihole EFI system will play. Then they are going to go nuts with the newest powered doodads for the interior. -Douglas R. Glad
They Can Do More Than Cheapo Paint?
If you were hanging out at the All-Ford Nationals in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in early June, you likely saw a custom '06 Mustang GT stuffed with Saleen equipment, outfitted with high-tech gadgets, and sporting a color-shifting paint job. You probably got whiplash from your double take as you noticed it was the handiwork of mass-production auto painter Maaco.
The show car was designed to make you hurt your neck in order to promote the company's Cosmollision service; in other words, it's a rolling business card to show what its franchised bodywork and paint outlets can do. OK, maybe not exactly this. The design was brainstormed as a way to let drivers of late-model vehicles know that if they have minor, mostly cosmetic damage and decide to skip the insurance claim, they don't have to drive a beaten-up car. Maaco can likely do the collision repair at an affordable price-and quickly. So, if you read between the lines, the company is saying your fender-bender fix will be a no-brainer compared with building up this Mustang (they worked with Bolt-Onz Luxury and Performance Specialties). It has a height-adjustable suspension, gullwing doors, a Saleen body kit, 14-inch brakes, interior panels color-matched to the body, a 15-inch flat-screen monitor in the truck, and a headliner and rear deck with the color-shift thingy going on, too. Go to maaco.com to learn more.
New Phrase
gas rage
Refers to people who take out their irritation over the $3-per-gallon-and-climbing gas prices on the convenience-clerk guys by screaming or throwing things at them. Yeah, that should definitely help.