Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:48am EDT

(Reuters) – General Motors Co said the redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Corvette that goes on sale next year will get a new 450-horsepower V8 engine.

The engine, designated LT1, displaces 6.2 liters and is the fifth generation of GM’s “small block” V8 engine family.

Versions of the LT1 are expected to be used in other GM products, officials said, including the automaker’s redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.

In the new Corvette, the LT1 will enable the sports car to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in four seconds.

The LT1 will be “the most fuel-efficient 450-horsepower engine on the market,” GM said at a media briefing Wednesday.

The cylinder-deactivation technology will allow the Corvette to operate like a 3.1-liter 4-cylinder engine for “much of the operating time,” Juechter said.

“The more time you can spend in that operating mode, the better the fuel [...]

The new GEN5 LT1 engine build animation fresh from the GM Gen5 release

Article source: http://classiccarcollectornews.com/blog/2012/10/24/gm-high-tech-performance-gen5-lt1-small-block-engine-build/

Article source: http://corvetteinformant.com/?p=355

SALISBURY, MD — John Fitch lived through flying a P-51 fighter plane in World War II and a post-war career in automobile racing to die peacefully in his bed at age 95 at 1:20 a.m. Wednesday. He was surrounded by family and friends at the end, at home in Lime Rock only a stone’s throw from Lime Rock Park race track.

Dave Metivier sits among the approximately 300 Corvettes on display at Peterson Automotive Museum in this 1996 photo. (Los Angeles Times)

Next year is shaping up to be quite eventful for Chevy’s iconic Corvette. Not only will the all-new seventh-generation model debut ahead of the Detroit Auto Show in January, but throughout the year the car and those who love it will be celebrating the Corvette’s 60th anniversary.

Los Angeles’ hometown Petersen Automotive Museum will be hosting one such event.

On March 1 and 2, the museum will host a gala, a car show with some 500 Corvettes, value seminars, racing panel discussions and restoration seminars.

Meanwhile, inside the museum will be displayed a collection of 20 of the rarest Corvettes made over 60 years, including the world’s first Corvette, known as EX-122. This exhibit will be open to the public from Feb. 27 [...]