Imagine, you would never get cut off in traffic behind the wheel of this um shark,

That was one of the cars in Death Race 2000.

It is very well made. I saw it in person at the Corvette Museum, when they did the "Corvettes of the Movies" theme. Got some pictures of it as well, they too big for me to easily upload at the moment...

Did you see it as it was in the movie, a vette body on a vw bug pan or did you see the revamp with the full blown rear engine on the Tornado trasaxle in the rear?
All the cars in that flick were veedub kit cars,lol they had manta montages, sterlings, well I guess the giha still had the stock body on it, ...maybe Tom cruise will star in death race 3000...:+
Cheers, T.

I didn't look closely at the frame. I had assumed that it was a real Corvette. The blown engine on the back of it was a fake (I looked closely at that).

It was parked next to the "Corvette Summer" car, which is very poorly made.

Sometimes I repeat things I read in car mags or online which far from makes it "gospel"
Years back in a kit car mag was a story on the grassroots veedubs,
which in part corresponded with an article in a Sterling GT new letter,
Basically what it said was that the producers of death race wanted to do full customs on a budget so veedub kitcats were the answer,
I know which cars are Manta Motage, Sterlings and of course the Ghia,
the story said the "vette" was just a "bug", theres even a scene in the flick were carridine tells the girl to adjust the timing, she opens a hatch on the rear deck...
A c-3 vette has the same wheel base as a bug...weird huh?
The full blower engine part comes from a car show ad I saw in a mag that read something like this " See the Death race 2000 Corvette, with rear mounted blown v-8"
So wheres theres smoke theres fire...
I admit I use to really get excited over the Corvette Summer car,
I guess it really got me fueled on customs,
Since I hooked up on the net I learned some info on the car and the man who built it,
Seems Korky out west built it, in the flick the gold car is just the red car before they shot the candy red on..
I always did think that was a weird shade of gold.
Although people insist there's more than one, I have never seen any proof.
It used harley gears and chain to swap the steering over to the left,
I recall it being for sale in the back of Hot rod for around 10 grand.
Last I heard Mid america corvettes owner it and were thinking about restoring it due to it being in sad shape.
Vanacors will sell you their version of that hood scoop, it's not as big and all the vents face rearward,
After study I believe the tilt nose is just a cut up Ecklers tilt nose, the scoop isn't even 'glassed on.
In a way the nose isn't as radical as our makos,
David, have you ever been called corvette summer with your car?
like it or hate it, people don't seem to forget it.

Okay I'm off to do some car work...
Cheers all,
T.

No, it has mostly been called the Batmobile. I actually had one person say it looked like the DeathRace 2000 car... I don't know how?

I didn't have my digital camera with me when we saw them at the NCM. I went and bought a disposable for it. The quality is crappy. I only have 3 photos of the DR2K car, but don't have anything where I can see the frame (I do of the CS car).

I've always wanted a Corvette Summer car. You mean I could have gotten it for 10K? Damn I'm sorry I missed that.

The "story" I heard is Mid America bought it from a car museum
just a few years back I've heard they got it dirt cheap and I've heard they paid a truck load of money, I personally think it's somewhere in between...
Now step back in time,
The first time I saw it for sale in a mag they called it Mark Hammels" car and said it came with many show sponcers, it was listed at 12,500.00 OBO, A freind of mine even called and was told it wasn't a driver, good for showing only...
The next time I saw an ad it was the same except the price was 9500.00
So when I said 10 grand I just split the two.
Here's a bad scan ( before I could work the scanner)
Of the last ad I came across it's from around 1990 give or take a few years...
Note the price made a huge jump.
I bet that has to do with the trend of custom vettes in general rasing in prices.

OK, here goes,
This sounds like bs, but maybe you guys know me well enough to
believe me.
I have driven the Corvette Summer Car.
I have pictures to prove it.
Here's the draw back. You don't know what I look like, so how
do you know its me.
I am posting this from home, but tomorrow, I will upload the pics and
I can answer a bunch of stuff about the car.
Yes, there were two cars, one did not run.
Time to eat, gotta go,
more tomorrow.

I believe you,
I listen to everyone...The Truth Is Out There (<>..<>)
I also can't wait to see how what you know of the car/cars compares to what the friend of Korky the builder told me....
IF there were two, where's the second one now and why doesn't it run?
If there were two that could shine light on the different priced ads I've seen....

Here's the pics.
This was taken at the Corvettes at Carlisle show a couple of years ago, right after Yeager acquired the car.
Yup, thats me backing it into the space.

I had the file size too big, lets see what happens now...........

How about this

Heres the last one

The car was in pretty rough shape. As you can tell from the pics, the car now sports later glass tops. The steering column is home made looking and quite loose. It has a sprocket on it which a chain travels across the car to another one on the steering box shaft, which was modified. The car was rough under the hood with no inner fenders and a bunch of busted stuff. Mark Hammel must be a dwarf, because the steering wheel almost hit me in the chest. I did not notice any camera mounts nor wires. I had always admired the car and when I saw it, I started talking to the guy who was setting the car up. I told him all of the stuff I knew and asked him if I could get in it. He said, I need to move it, you can do it for me. Oh boy! I got to really inspect the car close up and personal. It was a thrill for me. Kinda neat. It was supposed to be built on a 73. Having a 73 shark makes it kinda special. Take away the movie history and you have a car that was once nice but the years weren't kind to it.

It was my favorite customized Corvette for years. In fact, when I got my '79 in '97, I was going to build a clone of the CS car. Then I bought the movie and watched it over again, and found out that I hadn't remembered the look of the car right. I had only seen the movie once or twice and that was back in the early '80's.

I think I paid something like $75 to buy a new copy of the movie on VHS.

You can buy Corvette Summer from Amazon.com for $19.99 now.

Here's the link.

Death Race 2000 can be bought for $9.99.

I had that movie on tape before I should have, watched it all the time,
Memory is a weird thing, I didnt pay attention to it for years and remembered it looking better than it really does,
Things always look better on film...
I never did care for the rear flares they just dont blend right to me,
It would be an easy car to clone, I still say the front clip is ecklers tilt, the rear lights they were so cool to me, would be easier to do than the ones im doing in mine, ...hum...lol
The buddy of the builder told me the harley gear/chain steering is down right scary and in some mag story I gues that new owner is a heavy dude and just about doesnt fit behind the fixed steering ...
Luke Skywalker is a little guy....
All and all I still blame that car for my obsession with custom vettes,
BTW....why didnt you get annie potts to take a spin with u?
You know in the flick were skywalker is hichiking to find the car , well the little ride sign he's holding up is written on the back of a Korkys Kustoms flyer...lol
Ok, back to the hinges....

Tyla wrote: Did you see it as it was in the movie, a vette body on a vw bug pan or did you see the revamp with the full blown rear engine on the Tornado trasaxle in the rear? All the cars in that flick were veedub kit cars,lol they had manta montages, sterlings, well I guess the giha still had the stock body …

That was one of the cars in Death Race 2000.

It is very well made. I saw it in person at the Corvette Museum, when they did the "Corvettes of the Movies" theme. Got some pictures of it as well, they too big for me to easily upload at the moment...

I did too!! got to actually SIT in it!! got pics somewhere! will have to look and see!

2Sharks wrote: The car was in pretty rough shape. As you can tell from the pics, the car now sports later glass tops. The steering column is home made looking and quite loose. It has a sprocket on it which a chain travels across the car to another one on the steering box shaft, which was modified. The car was …

Heres the last one

I got some pics of me in the Corvette Summer vette too!!

Nice to have ''connections'' at the NCM!!
http://www.corvetteforum.net/c4/alchemist/thumb.gif

djunod wrote: It was my favorite customized Corvette for years. In fact, when I got my '79 in '97, I was going to build a clone of the CS car. Then I bought the movie and watched it over again, and found out that I hadn't remembered the look of the car right. I had only seen the movie once or twice and that wa …

See if your connections there can ping you when the Manta Ray comes back on display. I need to see that car in real life. Maybe it will be at Carlisle again...