I was lucky to attend Mid Ohio ALMS race this weekend and see the Pratt & Miller Vette Team in action.

This got me thinking how the Pratt & Miller team has really inproved and given the Corvette a Image and Swagger that the Corvette lost over the years.

While the Vette got better hardware starting in 1984 it took the C5-R racing program to really give it the respectiblility it deserved in the eyes of the non Vette fan and 4N public.

I now see the Camaro and how it over the years has lost some of it's image and respect. I don't say this to be harsh, but contrary to what we here like to believe there are many who just do not like the Camaro and don't think it is cool to own one.

While the 3rd and 4th Gen had good hardware GM did litte in racing and promotion and as time went on it lost it's swagger. With some Iroc and some showroom stock racing in SCCA the Camaro was just not the race on Sunday against the best the others had to offer and sell on Monday.

This brings me back to today. I would love to see GM work with Pratt and Miller and race the Camaro in races like the 24 at Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring, 24 of Le Mans and kick butts of the best from Europe and Japan. Just beating a Mustang is not going to cut it with the younger crowd any more. If you can take a production based car in some of the highest profile races your going to be showing your car is as good of better and gain respect.

Lets face it the Vette for many years was never considered a real sports car and only for the gold chain set. Now today people the world over understand and appreciate the Vette today. Also racing has made the street car better over the years.

Also I would like to see them employ Jake from Badboys Vettes. He is a Skull/Helmet mascot design with crossed Vette flags for eyes. He was drawn up by a team member while in France. He was first used with the team slogan "Take No Prisoners" on the pit wall. Jake is now on the nose and tail of each race car at every race.

Please look at Badboysvettes.com and see how this non GM anti corperate program is just flat cool. This is not some Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet thing, this is a tough but cool image that would be killer to move the Camaro to respectibility with all enthusiast and not just the retro Camaro lovers who are just hanging on to the old dream.

The C6 and new 5th gen are cars made in the image of the old but shares nothing with them. They have the tools to compete with the best if the unwashed public would just give them a chance. Too many of them for too long have making Mullet jokes that are just not justified. We need a kick butt No Prisoners image to go with this car and people who want to belong to that image.

I could see a Skull/Helmet mascot with Red Bow Ties glowing on the track and taking home the gold over the cars from Europe, USA and Japan. For the Camaro we could name him Max for Maimum Performance.

We need this car to have world wide respect with the upcoming coupes form elsewhere. This is not just a Camaro, Mustang Challanger thing anymore....Even Hyundia has a RWD Coupe testing right now. The coupe market is a hard sell today and if it gets more competitive you have to be the best not only for sales but to just survive.

Also visit prattandmillerracing.com and just see how well all their racing programs have done for GM. The CTSV has done wonders for Caddy and the GTO did well till the car went away.

I would lover to see a Pratt & Miller street Camaro done similar to AMG does for in house limited Custome performance offerings. This would go along with a racing program. In other words own the street car inspired and designed byt the people who race them.

The time is now to move into the future we need to think beyond the past and look for new opritunities to make new ledgends and history!

 

What???

 

I don't know what this post is about, but I've learned that many of our discussions don't lead anywhere because there is nothing that we can think of that GM hasn't or won't think of and we are not in any position to make a difference.

And who or what are Image and Swagger?, or did you capitalize those words for no reason?

 

swagger- tittup: to walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to impress others; "He struts around like a rooster in a hen house"
* browbeat: discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate


He is talking about creating a new image for the camaro. One more based on race heritage. If People see the new camaro beating up on other cars at the race track they will be more likely to want them in theory.

 

Image based on a new car and new racing heritage. My idea is not to paint a buch of new car like an old Pensike car but to race a new car to promote the new car with many who will never give the Camaro a second though.

Attend a race and check how the Pratt & Miller racing team has enhanced the Covette Image and is now a major part of GM's history with their many Championships and race wins here and in Europe.

It is not a theory but reality that winning enhances a cars image.

I would hope GM has somthing planned.

Everyone likes a winner and if you want a winning image you need to win first.

It is a no brainer GM will sell Camaro to Camaro fans but GM needds to attract other buyers who would have not considered the car if you had not gotten their attention.

Ford has already done some GT racing with the Mustang but it has been low profile for now.

I just want to see GM's partner in racing do what they do so well for the Camaro. If you do not know about Pratt & Miller read up on them as you will understand what they can do. They did not have the longest line for posters and autographs at the track for nothing vs Porsche, Ferrari and Audi.

They have made the Corvette cool to many who never though of the Corvette was cool and this translates into sales.

 

I don't know about anyone else but, I've never heard of Pratt & Miller.

 

Racing and it's impact on the brand is an interesting topic.

For example, look at what Pontiac tried to do with the GTO -- it put it everywhere they could (Grand Am, Speed WC, Formula D, etc.). And it did well in many of the series.

However, it didn't seem to help sales much and the GTO died.

Pontiac is trying the same thing with the GXP.R in the Grand Am series (built by Pratt & Miller, by the way, if I am not mistaken), and it is doing quite well. Yet, is that helping to sell any more G6's? Somehow, I doubt it (especially since the race car is RWD).

What about the CTS-V's success in World Challenge -- is that selling any more Cadillacs?

Also, with the Camaro, you might run the risk of getting too close to the Vette, which will always be the top-dog Chevy race car, so it can't step on the Vette' toes either.

 

If its not NASCAR the majority of Americans will never see it. (or care about it)

 

You and me both.

I think that races like the 24 hr LeMans do give the Vette prestige but then again, the Camaro is supposed to be the cheaper alternative. LeMans is meant for the top dogs not the "budget" muscle cars.

I think the 4th gen sales suffered due to lack of a promotion by GM. I never saw a single TV ad for them except what I found on the net.

If they were promoted as well as the 5th gen is being promoted now, with movie cameos and Maxim magazine ads etc., they would have done a lot better. Instead, I remember reading ads in Motor Trend magazine bragging about the size of the slurpee cup holder which seemed to target more teens than older enthusiasts.

 

Here is the work Pratt & Miller has done for GM. Welcome to the best racing factory back effort GM has done in years if ever.


Shot with Canon EOS-1D Mark II N at 2007-07-23

The Corvette Champion Racer that most people know of.


Shot with Canon PowerShot Pro1 at 2007-07-23

The Speed Challange CTSv Champ that is seen often on TV


Shot with Canon EOS-1D Mark II at 2007-07-23

The Champion GTO before it died with the car with only a year and a half racing


Shot with Canon EOS-1D Mark II at 2007-07-23

The new GXP R, this car is a stop gap till Pontiac has a new GTO, Yes it has already won in it's first season

 

I'm sure we'll see the 5th gen in more than one venue of racing.. but if you think about it... that's not the demographic they need to broaden the appeal of the car to.

women across the board and younger drivers are two big segments.

 

Here is the mission statment of Badboys Vettes and Jake The C6-R mascot.



"Take No Prisoners"

It's simple. Racing is central to Corvette. Without racing and all that it brings - competition, technology, and teamwork - the Corvette would have been just a footnote.

Racing is what transformed the fledging Corvette into a true Sports Car. Racing continues to keep the Corvette from becoming the flabby boulevard cruiser so many sports cars become - or always were.

We don't care about cup holders or heated seats. We care that Corvette Racing is out to beat its competition and win. Every time. We care that the DNA in every street 'vette out there is linked to this credo.

How cool is it that against world class competition of Astons and Ferraris and at tracks like Le Mans, the 'vette kicks major ***? It's the ultimate sports car overachiever - and inspiration for us all.

The Corvette is a lot more than just racing. It's always had that combination of incredible style and bad boy swagger that other sports cars only wish they had.

But it's racing edge, above all its other great attributes, rules. This site is dedicated to that.

------------

So this is our story.

We were at Le Mans in 2004 and we met the Corvette Racing team. We noticed that the team had unofficially embraced skull icons as a symbol of the take-no-prisoners mentality of those intense 24 hours. "TAKE NO PRISONERS" was actually scrawled on the wall of the Corvette pit.

We thought that the team should have its very own skull icon and we sketched our idea over beers on a cocktail napkin.


Shot at 2007-07-23

The C6.R "Mascot" made its debut on C6.R's b pillars the next year at the 2005 Le Mans race. They've been on the C6.R's ever since. What can we say except that we're extremely happy & proud to have our design on the coolest racecars in the world.





If you change Corvette to Camaro, Change the compitition to Mustang, Charger, Porsche and BMW. This same program can give the Camaro a modern racing history to back up it performance claims. Too often we have only seen the Camaro back up its claims in Car And Driver and not on the track.

The last real racing effort was the Morrison Cook SCCA Show Room stock racers in the 3rd gen cars 1986. Before that was Jim Hall 1970 and before that Penske in 1967-1969.

Today it take more than a few back racers running the 1/4 mile to prove a cars abilities. The last NHRA effort was in funny car and was that rally a real Camaro?

There are classes and series where the Camaro can really shine.

It Ain't Bragging if You Back it Up!

The one thing a program does like this is gives a image that is more than just resting on past history. The original Camaro history was built by racing!

The Vette and CTSv are both seen as ligitimate performance cars in the worlds eyes now. The GTO program came too late in the life of the car and the GXP-R is just getting started and is too soon to tell.

Pontiac never did promote their racing as well as Chevy has the Vette.

Heck my Kids little electric powered Corvette is a C6-R in full Pratt and Miller decals. And any guess what car he wants to grow up and own?

The younger drivers today are looking to imports and were do they race? Road Racing and Drifting. To win them you have to go where they are at be ligitimate and win.

I too exect GM to race the Camaro but I just hope they do a better job than they have in the last 25 years. I just saw the excitment at the track and know how much the C6-R has done for the Vette and would lover to see the same done for the Camaro. Ford is racing the Mustang with mixed results. It has won but it's series is not as high profile and Ford has not promoted it very well.

If you want heritage you have to do something and it would be nice if that something was not 37 years ago.

 

While Camaro does have its roots in road racing, I'm not sure enough Americans are into any of the road racing or GT series to make it profitable for GM to make such an investment/commitment.

Now if NASCAR changes up Busch to be a distinct series with different cars and angles it towards Camaro, Mustang, ??? , then I could see a significant investment.

Truth be told, I'd much rather see GM invest in a F1 entry myself.

BTW... nice logo.

 

I know what it means, I was being an *** .

 

I doubt GM will ever buy the IROC name back, but the racing sure helped promote the third gen Camaro's. The IROC-Z's sold pretty well and are probably the best looking Camaro's to me.