Up next in 10
CORVETTE TODAY #130-Famed Corvette Photographer, Richard Prince, And His New Book On Corvettes
0 views
May 8, 2025
Famed Corvette photographer, Richard Prince has just written a new book called "Corvette 70 Years, The One And Only". Your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett, brings Richard back on the show to talk about this new 70th anniversary book! Plus, you have a chance to win one of two copies of the book from this episode of CORVETTE TODAY. It's a fantastic book - it's one that every Corvette enthusiast should own. And now you can, courtesy of the CORVETTE TODAY show!
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music] welcome to Corvette today the podcast
0:06
that talks about everything Corvette with your host Steve Garrett MC and DJ at one of the largest Corvette weekends
0:13
in the country Corvette Fun Fest president of the Corvette club of Kansas City Missouri and radio disc jockey at
0:19
the number one radio station in Kansas City for over 40 years here's Steve Garrett
0:25
[Music] thanks for listening and watching Corvette today the show that talks about
0:32
everything Corvette and the only current podcast dedicated to Corvette I'm your
0:37
host Steve Garrett I appreciate you tuning in Corva today is brought to you by wheelcraft want to dress up your
0:42
Corvette with bright Chrome or black chrome wheels visit wheelcraft.com and learn about their Advanced PVD chrome
0:48
finishing they can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most models and it comes with a five-year
0:55
warranty visit wheelcraft.com today or call
1:00
833-840-5334 you can listen to Corvette today on all podcast platforms you can also listen on your smart device just
1:07
say hey Google or Alexa play the podcast called Corvette today and you're connected be sure and visit the updated
1:13
Corvette today website it's corvettoday.com you can also access everything there including the Corvette
1:19
today merchandise store you can also join the Corvette today Facebook group there and sign up for Corvette today
1:25
emails notifications and updates at core vet today.k.page and if you like YouTube you
1:32
can subscribe to the Corvette today YouTube channel see all Corvette today episodes on YouTube and be sure and
1:38
patronize our Flagship sponsors of Corvette today erolari Wheels a true forged wheel with over 20 different
1:45
unique styles to choose from for your C8 and wide body versions of the C7 C6 and
1:50
C5 Corvettes it's an amazing value starting at only 23.88 for a set of four
1:56
fully forged wheels and use the promo code ct-111 and get 100 off your
2:01
purchase visit erolari.com that's aerolari.com and use the promo code
2:09
ct111 for your 100 discount also petrol Vibes petrol Vibes brings you laser-cut
2:15
Automotive wall art giving a unique look to any car enthusiasts man cave each piece is cut from Real Steel powder
2:23
coated to last a lifetime and free shipping worldwide at petrolvibes.com you use the promo code Corvette today
2:30
all one word for a 10 discount on your total purchase also Mid Engine
2:35
corvetteform.com The Forum that focuses on the new mid-engine ca Corvette meet a
2:40
lot of Corvette enthusiasts like yourself at mid-enginecorvetforum.com and a shout
2:46
out to canadiancorvetforum.com welcoming Corvette owners from around the world my
2:51
guest on Corva today makes a return appearance to the show he was on episode number 26 which was October 2020. that's
2:59
two years ago he's back today to talk about his beautiful brand new book He's written that commemorates the 70th
3:05
Anniversary Corvette the book is called Corvette 70 the one and only and it's available right now plus you're going to
3:12
get a chance to win one of two books that we're going to give away on today's show I want to welcome back my friend
3:17
and Corvette photographer Richard Prince Richard welcome back to Corvette today
3:22
thank you Steve it's really my privilege and my pleasure to be back with you buddy it's great to have you back on the
3:28
show first of all this book came out this month talk about the idea and the
3:33
motivation to put this book together well the the idea actually originated with the publisher motor books which is
3:39
a part of a larger publishing organization called the quarto group motor books is the largest publisher of
3:45
Transportation books in the whole world and they have a long history of producing books that celebrate Milestone
3:51
anniversaries for significant cars and car companies including Corvettes so they've done 50th Anniversary 60th
3:58
anniversary books so it was the next logical book in their sequence to do uh Corvette's 70th Anniversary Book so
4:05
that's really where the idea originated so they contacted me and asked if I would be interested in writing the book
4:11
I've done three books in the past and in fact all were done with motor books but the last one was published 20 years ago
4:18
so I took a took a big vacation from producing more books and in fact declined to do several books in that
4:25
20-year period either because I wasn't interested in enough in the subject matter or because I was just too busy to
4:32
devote the needed time and effort but the subject of this one a comprehensive history of Corvette held great interest
4:38
for me personally and the timing happened to be right I do a lot of racing photography that's really the
4:44
bulk of my work in 2020 I photographed the entire insta schedule as well I did
4:51
the entire IndyCar schedule wow any car is sporadic for me I think it was the seventh or eighth full season that I've
4:57
done in the past 25 or 30 years the book was really what I wanted to do in 2021
5:03
so it was a combination of the subject matter really interested me and I had the time to do it very nice see it's
5:10
been two years since you've been on Corvette today and 20 years since you wrote that last book so it's about time
5:16
on both I think right yes absolutely books take a huge commitment of time
5:21
they take a lot of self-discipline because you have to put in all of the work and all of the time and all of the
5:27
effort up front and you don't see the finished product until quite a way afterward in this case it was just about
5:34
a year and a half between when I began and a little more than a year and a half in fact between when I began writing and
5:41
when the finished book was in my hands so you have that long stretch of time where you have to put in the effort and
5:47
the research and the writing and so on without really getting an immediate reward for all of your input yeah and
5:54
then you have the long stretch of time when you're waiting for the book to come out it's kind of like making a movie isn't it it is in a way the production
6:01
company wraps up and the actors all go home and the catering people and the grip people and the lighting everybody
6:07
leaves and then there's months sometimes even years of editing and assembling and
6:13
then Distributing and marketing there's a long stretch of time and you have to have the right frame of mind to be able
6:19
to handle that for sure Richard I thought the interesting part of this book is General Motors fully cooperated
6:24
and backed you on this book give us the back story about G PM's full buy-in for this book yes they did the vast majority
6:32
of people at GM from the highest executive leadership to the people assembling the cause on the line the
6:38
vast majority are really passionate about Corvette and I've learned that from my own long history with the
6:43
company they love the car and they really deeply appreciate how much it means to the people around the world who
6:49
love the car yeah so they are in general very supportive of projects that celebrate Corvette's history the
6:55
publisher motor books has their own long and very beneficial history with General Motors it was a perfect fit when motor
7:03
books decided internally that they wanted to produce a 70th Anniversary Book celebrating that milestone in
7:09
Corvette's history they went to General Motors and it was a very fluid and easy process to get GM on board to secure a
7:16
GM license and to get GM's commitment to fully cooperate with the production of the book and the cooperation was
7:22
essential because obviously the book covers the entire history starting from the very beginning well I personally
7:28
have a long history with Corvette I'm happy to say that I wasn't even around I was not born yet in 1953 when the first
7:36
one was produced so in my library I don't have the materials for the really early history of the car so if General
7:43
Motors participation and full cooperation was really essential for the success of the book that's wonderful and
7:49
you've been involved with Corvette since the early 70s talk about that and your restoration shop yeah it's been a long
7:56
long journey that's what happens when Time Marches On My Love for Corvette began when I was a child it was
8:03
initially based purely on the car's design the first car that I remember seeing was a C2 a 1967 Corvette I was
8:11
struck I was immediately head over heels in love I thought it was the most beautiful car I'd ever seen even as a
8:18
child I had an appreciation for cars I grew up in a neighborhood and in a community where Carl was King it was
8:23
Suburban New York and everybody had cars and even within my own family my father my grandfather and other relatives were
8:31
car guys I have an uncle who went from Elantra to a GTO to an E-Type Jag when I
8:39
was five six seven eight years old so the exposure was there but I've not seen a Corvette prior that I recalled and
8:46
then I saw that 67 and I thought man that is just the most beautiful car I'd ever seen I've got to have one I've got
8:53
to get a job and start saving my money so I can buy one of these things nice as
8:58
I said that was just purely based on the appearance of a car because I was interested I learned more about Corvettes and the more I knew the deeper
9:06
my appreciation got I came to love everything about them yeah the long and interesting history the engineering the
9:12
performance The Styling and I also appreciated the accessibility of Corvettes they were accessible to
9:19
anybody willing to work hard and save their money everybody loves a Ferrari or uh d-type Jag or dd-3 Aston Martin he's
9:27
a is that average people can fantasize about but very few will actually ever own one the Corvette is a different
9:33
animal altogether it's the fantasy car but it's one that average people can actually own all of these things came
9:40
together to make it my favorite car there you go talk about how you became the official photographer for Corvette
9:47
well I began photographing the Corvette race program at its Inception the
9:53
program began with the test car and they ran that test car for two years 1997 and
9:59
1998 and they managed to keep it a deep secret over a two-year period I had a
10:04
chance meeting with a Chevrolet marketing manager a man named Gary Claudio he wanted to borrow some cars
10:10
that I had for a display and he told me that this race program was coming and I thought well that sounds pretty
10:15
interesting I'd love to follow this program kind of be embedded with a team for the two years of testing and the
10:22
three years of racing and then put his a book when it's over I was not a particularly Ardent race and but I was a
10:29
big Corvette fan and it just sounded like fun and it was again good timing I
10:34
had just sold the restoration business that my wife and I had owned and operated we specialized in vintage
10:40
Corvette Restorations we sold that and we're pretty free to do what we wanted we didn't have children we didn't have a
10:46
mortgage at that point in time I had the luxury of being able to stick with that race program it was going to be five
10:53
years total and write a book when it was over and I did exactly that but I didn't
10:58
write a book when it was over because it wasn't over after the three years that General Motors had committed to they
11:04
redoed it for another year so instead of racing 99 2000 and then concluding in
11:10
2001 they renewed it for 2002. I was able to stick with it another year and
11:16
I'd come that far so I said okay I'll keep following for another year and then I'll produce a book and then at the end
11:21
of 2001 they renewed it another year and then they renewed it another year it
11:27
reached point for me that I thought I really enjoy doing this I don't want to call it quits and if I call it quits now
11:34
then I'm not completing what I started and I always like to complete what I started so I decided to stay there stay
11:42
in the racing Arena it's hard to believe looking back but in those early years
11:47
there was no official photographer for the Corvette racing program that's crazy yeah it is it just seemed natural at the
11:54
time though nobody thought too deeply about it and they sort of had an unofficial photographer in me it was
11:59
very convenient because I was at all the races and already had relationships with people at Chevrolet and they're Ad
12:05
Agency so when they needed photos I got the call and I was licensing photos for their win ads and their press kits and
12:12
autographed cards and posters and Banners and other uses but I was not
12:17
contracted directly to Chevrolet as the official photographer when they renewed the program in 2002 to do one more year
12:25
I thought well let's see if we can go one step further and I wrote a very detailed very passionate proposal that
12:33
went to some leadership at Chevrolet my basic argument was you now have the most
12:38
successful GT racing program in the world and you're racing at a level where it's pretty ridiculous not to have a
12:44
dedicated photographer so for literally a fraction of one percent of your budget you can have somebody there devoted
12:50
entirely to this program if you think you should by the way I am available so that's how that happened they agreed
12:58
with the assertions that I made and I believe it was starting in the 2005 season I was contracted directly at the
13:05
General Motors it was a few years later when the company was going through its bankruptcy reorganization that my
13:13
relationship was reorganized along with a lot of other things and in I believe
13:18
it was 2008 I went through a process and became what they call a tier one
13:23
supplier to General Motors which to this day I still find kind of amusing because because technically I'm in the same
13:29
category as every other tier one supplier to the company so that includes some Michelin and Goodyear and Johnson
13:35
Controls and Lear and Bosch wow so yeah it's been a very interesting
13:40
relationship because their tier one direct suppliers are typically Global corporations providing them with 600 000
13:48
modules and a million two hundred thousand seats and 330 000 wire
13:53
harnesses and so on and so forth It's typically not one individual providing a direct service it's been glorious it's
14:00
been a really really satisfying relationship and it's been good for both of us very mutually beneficial yeah very
14:08
devoted to the company I love the company in this history and I think they would agree that I have consistently
14:14
gone above and beyond to provide great service to them and to help them do what they do which is build and Market cars
14:21
absolutely right you're in great company in that tier one group Richard that's for sure and that was really centered
14:27
around the racing photography and I observed as Corvette racing photographer
14:32
ever since I've also done Cadillac racing photography directly for the company since well I think this is my
14:38
20th year actually amazing enjoy the privilege of providing a lot of production car photography to all of
14:45
GM's divisions what a great gig buddy that's awesome you know your work and photographs have appeared in over 400
14:52
different Publications talk a little about that do a little name dropping okay sure that of course has evolved
14:59
considerably in recent years as the publishing world has evolved considerably I actually started as a
15:05
writer I started producing editorial content while we were still running our restoration business I started writing a
15:12
column for Randy Riggs at vet magazine the column led to other writing feature
15:17
stories and Technical stories and those required photography so I suddenly found
15:22
myself a photographer and that was initially only in support of my writing my never dream that the photography
15:29
would take on a life of its own in pretty sure a period of time I went from writing a column for enjoyment because I
15:36
had a business with a dozen employees to operate but it took on a life of its own and pretty soon it had two new jobs
15:41
writing and photography for the editorial world and that just grew exponentially I was writing at least one
15:48
and sometimes as many as four monthly columns for different magazines and I was typically on average doing five or
15:55
six or seven articles a month that spread to outside the borders of the USA
16:01
at one point was doing a lot of work for Japanese magazine of all things wow there's been occasional articles or
16:08
photography for magazines all over Europe when I started shooting racing
16:13
when Corvette went racing at Daytona in 1999 the more experienced race
16:18
photographers who had already been there in that world for a number of years one after another they all said the same
16:25
thing which was don't give up your day job don't stop up what you're doing outside of racing because Racing's
16:30
fickle it comes and goes the good paying work is unusual it's hard to come by and
16:36
it's here today and gone tomorrow if the car companies are in and out of racing the oil companies the tire companies the
16:42
corporate involvement comes and goes so don't get used to it and don't give up your day job so I follow their advice I
16:49
didn't give up my day job I kept writing kept doing photography for editorial clients in the U.S and as I said
16:55
elsewhere all around the world the racing never went away thank goodness for that now you've also done a lot of
17:01
photography for other car brands drop a few car brand names that you've worked for as well yes that's been exciting and
17:09
interesting and a privilege in every case I've had the privilege of working with most of the major manufacturers to
17:17
one extent or another some were one-off projects some were or still are occasional photo shoots others were
17:24
longer and more sustained I had to extract each of five or six years with
17:29
Ferrari where I did a huge volume of work for them although for our challenge Races they did these extensive rallies
17:37
parties events I've done a lot for Chrysler over the years much of their
17:43
Viper production photography all the Viper racing photography and Challengers and so on I did entire race seasons for
17:51
Aston Martin for Peugeot Jaguar for several years occasional projects here
17:58
and there for Mercedes Audi Mazda Bentley Genesis but hey variety is the
18:03
spice of life and I can't say I've ever had even not a miserable experience I've never had a bad experience with any of
18:10
the car companies each produces its own challenges but they're all different and they're all interesting I'm sure it is
18:16
well buddy let's take our first break and when we come back we're going to talk more about the book Corvette 70
18:22
years the one and only with the author Richard Prince the official Corvette photographer here on Corvette today we
18:29
all know that Wheels make the car wheelcraft will help you take your Corvette to new levels wheelcraft offers
18:35
the world's best PVD chrome finish available on the market available in bright Chrome and black chrome wheelcraft Nails it in both appearance
18:42
and durability and it comes with a five-year warranty against brake dust Burns pitting peeling and colored elimination wheelcraft is also ISO
18:49
certified whether you're having your wheels refinished or an exchange transaction there is no core fee no deposit and you don't pay for the
18:55
finished Wheels until they are installed on your car wheelcraft insists on complete satisfaction before you pay
19:01
hear from one of our customers I picked up a brochure at the National Corvette Museum Winter delivery of our new C8 I
19:07
call it wheelcraft and in 15 minutes I ordered the new bright ice chrome wheels wheelcraft's follow-up and follow
19:13
through is superb the wheels arrived on Sunday installed on Monday and course will return same day the wheels are the
19:20
highest quality I've ever seen and they look awesome great prices great customer service from the initial contacts to
19:26
installation thanks Dennis bill in many cases wheelcraft offers finished wheels on Exchange or will apply this new
19:32
finish to your wheels either way wheelcraft treats your wheels as their own visit our website at wheelcraft.com
19:38
or call us at 833-840-5334 arrive in style with wheelcraft
19:44
the radiator Grille store offers protection for your ch's front radiators and side intakes they also carry front
19:51
strut Tower covers to prevent rusting and pooling water all with do-it-yourself installation get 10 off
19:57
your total purchase with promo code ct10 see the full line of products at radiatorgrillstore.com
20:03
[Music] when you want to buy a Corvette or any Chevrolet for that matter get yours from
20:10
Hendrick Chevrolet Shawnee Mission located in Kansas City Hendrick Chevrolet is the largest Corvette dealership in showroom in the midwest
20:16
with a knowledgeable sales staff and Corbett sales Specialists on hand they'll help you build the Corvette of
20:21
your dreams and they ship Nationwide with Corvette certified Master mechanics on site and a huge parts department with
20:28
over 24 000 parts and two million dollars in inventory Hendrick Chevrolet is well equipped to take care of your
20:33
every need from sales to service to Collision Repair Hendrick Chevrolet has you covered visit chevyusa.com or call
20:42
913-384-1550 vetfinders.com is the internet's original Corvette classified ads website
20:49
with classified ads starting at just 25 and every ad runs until your Corvette is
20:55
sold if you're in the market for a Corvette betfinders.com has over 500 Corvettes for sale from all around the
21:01
USA and Canada and covering all eight Generations visit vet find vendors.com
21:06
the internet's destination for buying and selling Corvettes that's v-e-t-t-e
21:12
finders.com check out the first Corvette only auction website at 427 stingray.com
21:19
Corvette today you can sign up to bid and comment on more than 40 Corvettes every week that's 427 stingray.com
21:27
Corvette today join the community you're enjoying the only current podcast
21:34
on Corvettes Corvette today hey thanks again for listening and watching Corvette today the show that
21:40
talks about everything Corvette brought to you by wheelcraft want to dress up your Corvette with bright Chrome or
21:46
black chrome wheels visit wheelcraft.com and learn about their Advanced PVD chrome finishing they can refinish your
21:52
wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most models and it comes with a five-year warranty visit wheelcraft.com
21:58
or call them at 833-840-5334 I'm your host Steve Garrett
22:04
with me today is the official Corvette photographer Richard Prince Richard has just written a book called Corvette 70
22:10
years the one and only as a matter of fact in section number three I'm going to tell you how you can win one of two
22:15
of these books from Richard in the second segment we're going to talk about actually putting the book together Richard talk about how long it took to
22:23
put this project together from start to finish well writing the text and assembling all of the photographs and
22:28
the other visual materials that are in the book took exactly one year I began early in January of 2021 my obligation
22:36
was to deliver the complete manuscript and all of the visual materials by the
22:41
end of the year and I did it was December 31st 2001 when I delivered so
22:47
that was a solid one year and then though technically my responsibility was
22:53
finished I ended up playing an active role in the editing and layout processes
22:58
and that took another well say about another three three and a half months
23:04
early in 2022. wow the pictures in the photography is spectacular obviously you
23:09
took many of these pictures how long did it take to assemble all these pictures for the book and where did you get some
23:15
of the other pictures I worked on Gathering and organizing the photography and the other visuals that were used in
23:21
the book throughout all of 2021 so I didn't start with the writing complete that and then move on to the photography
23:28
it was a continuous process sort of a fluid process so in between my travel
23:34
and my other work obligations whatever I was home I had time set aside I was
23:40
simultaneously working on the writing and the photography I dug deep into my
23:45
own Library which generally goes back to the early mid 1990s I dove deep into the
23:52
GM media archives which was an invaluable resource I spent in total
23:58
about three or three and a half weeks spread over six visits to Michigan to do
24:04
in-person research at the GM media archive wow yeah I got probably two-thirds or close to two-thirds of the
24:11
visuals that are in the book from the archives a little bit of a surreal experience there in the beginning at
24:17
least was I would put in some Search terms into their system and then get
24:22
selects that their algorithms produced it was a little bit of a surreal shock
24:28
when my own photos started coming up wow nice yeah after more than 20 years of
24:34
providing photography to GM there are thousands of my photos in the system but I normally am not there doing research
24:41
so I don't have a chance to keep coming across them so that was a fun part of the experience and of course going back
24:47
to the earlier days the 1950s 1960s 70s into the 80s and into the 90s the
24:54
geometry archive is a treasure Trove it's a really really rich resource Richard what was the best part about
25:00
putting this book together what was the most challenging part about doing this project hi oh there were a lot of best parts a lot
25:07
of really positive aspects of it one of the most satisfying parts of creating the book was having the opportunity to
25:14
recognize as many of the individuals who are responsible for Corvette survival and success I wrote something about this
25:20
in the acknowledgments we're all familiar with the big names the chief Engineers the chief designers and the
25:27
really high level GM Executives who give us corvad who supported and who nurture it and who have done so over the years
25:33
but they're really just the tip of the iceberg and there are countless thousands of people who are involved
25:39
with every aspect of the car and have been for its entire 70-year history and most of them are completely unknown and
25:46
that bothers me that so many people who played a really profound role in creating this car and nurturing it and
25:54
bettering it every step of the way are Anonymous so I went out of my way to try
25:59
to identify as many people as possible designers Engineers clay modelers
26:05
marketing people the people who took the car racing of course I could only scratch the surface because there's so
26:11
many over a 70-year period but being able to identify and to recognize a few
26:18
dozen or a few score it was very satisfying for me the most challenging part I would say is probably fitting all
26:25
that I wanted to say and all that could be said into the space of one book it's
26:31
70 years is a long time and it's the car with a super rich history there's so many variants and there were so many
26:37
show cars and one-off styling exercises and Engineering exercises of course a
26:44
long Rich racing history there was a lot to say and practically speaking as with
26:49
everything in life you have a certain amount of time and a certain amount of space so that was the most challenging part trying to say it all absolutely
26:57
right talk about your favorite generation of Corvette and talk about what generation posed the biggest
27:02
challenge when you were putting this book together I sincerely do appreciate and love each generation each generation
27:09
has a unique character and each has contributed to the whole Corvette story like everybody else I do have a favor
27:16
and that is the C2 to me it brings everything together The Styling is
27:21
gorgeous to me it's timeless it was gorgeous when the 63 was introduced and
27:27
here we are 60 years later I think it's every bit as beautiful and timely and
27:33
compelling now as it was all those years ago Beyond The Styling the C2 really
27:39
brought the Corvette into what was then the modern era the C1 when the 53 was
27:45
designed and engineered in 1952 into 53. the Auto industry was back on its feet
27:52
but a lot of resources and time had been devoted to the war effort and a lot of what came out of Detroit immediately
27:58
following World War II in in the few years after the war relied on technology that had been developed prior to the war
28:05
or so certain aspects of the Corvette chassis it's suspension it's steering
28:10
it's engine it's powertrain can be traced back to the period before the war to the 1930s when the C2 was designed
28:19
there were of course limitations cost considerations time considerations and
28:24
of course technology restraints but the car was updated in many relevant ways
28:30
for 1963 got an independent rear suspension it got a much more modern ball jointed double Wishbone front
28:36
suspension recirculating ball steering system all these were significant advances from where the C1 was act got
28:44
powertrain updates the chassis itself was much better there was some use of
28:50
rudimentary computer design assistance that went into that so for me the C2
28:56
brought together the most beautiful styling I think it's still the most beautiful styling and it also created a
29:02
car that was for the time period and astounding Performance Machine they were among the fastest production cars in the
29:09
world at the time and though obviously the march of technology has passed them
29:14
by by a wide wide margin you can still get into a C2 and you will have no
29:20
problem keeping Pace with modern freeway traffic with dealing with obstacles in the road or slippery roads it's still a
29:28
car to this day 60 plus years after it was created that you can drive comfortably under any circumstances
29:34
that's really why it's my favorite generation that 63 split window brought me into the world of Corvette and I love
29:41
the c2s as well buddy that's for sure you know the read on this book is just outstanding talk about how you were able
29:48
to assemble all the information for this book I began with an outline that created the organizational framework for
29:55
the book and in general it's organized chronologically which to me made the most sense it's a history book covering
30:01
70 years and I think most people think in a chronological way when they say think of the history of anything so you
30:07
start at the beginning and run through the timeline and conclude with the present and maybe have a look into the future so that was a starting point a
30:14
chronological outline and then I broke that down into distinct chapters for each generation and different aspects of
30:21
each generation the production cars the ongoing development for each generation Racing for each generation and The
30:29
one-off Styling and Engineering exercises for each generation working with that outline I sort of filled in
30:36
all the information much of which was already in my head that comes from a lifetime of owning and restoring and
30:42
driving and enjoying and photographing and of course writing about the cars so a lot of the histories already in my
30:48
mind but of course there was a lot more to learn and that was another really enjoyable aspect of the project was
30:54
furthering my own knowledge and my own understanding I have a large library of books magazine articles and other
31:00
printed materials so I consulted that frequently as we discussed already I had complete access to the GM media archives
31:07
and that is an incredible resource the photos of course tell a story but beyond the photos there is a huge Treasure
31:14
Trove of documents in the GM media archive engineering documents design documents internal letters Etc the more
31:23
you look the more you learn I was only able to scratch the surface because one lifetime wouldn't be enough there are
31:28
I'm told somewhere between 15 and 16 million items in the GM media archive
31:35
wow yeah so there's a lot to look at but there's a lot to learn so I learned a
31:41
great deal from my time spent there when it came to more recent Corvette history and by that I mean the last 40 or so
31:47
years the C4 error forward I was able in many cases to go to people with
31:53
first-hand knowledge including some people who are still with GM design leader Kirk Benyon for example Corvette
32:00
product marketing manager Harlan Charles I was also able to reach out to retirees get huffstator who had an incredible
32:07
career with GM that began in 1959 he was a design engineer who did a lot of work
32:12
with Corvette over the years John caffaro design team member for C4 chief
32:18
designer for C5 executive director for Global Chevrolet design for C7 and C8 these are examples of people who I was
32:25
able to reach out to directly to call or email when I had questions or needed more information needed to fill in some
32:31
blanks without exception they were all extremely generous with their time so that was a huge huge help to be able to
32:38
reach out to people who are at GM people who were at GM and then I also was able to tap into resources in the larger
32:46
Corvette Community there are people out there with intense expertise incorporating that into the book and
32:52
hopefully producing a more interesting more informative and more accurate book there you go well buddy let's take our
32:58
final break when we come back we're going to talk about how you can buy a book and how you can win a book we're
33:03
with Richard Prince the official Corvette photographer and the writer of a brand new book called Corvette 70
33:09
years the one and only right here on Corvette today [Music]
33:14
are you ready for a better insurance policy without the Corvette tax with agreed value protection the value of
33:19
your collector vehicle will never change plus you'll save money get a quick quote at ncminsurance.com
33:27
are you awake um I am now I can't sleep since turning 50 I keep dreaming of a
33:33
red door and a blue door somehow annoying there are only choices for retirement okay through the red door we
33:40
outlive our money we have to rely on our kids we're stuck on a fixed income it's terrifying yeah that would suck but
33:46
through the blue door our money outlives us we retire on our terms our kids stay our kids not our caretakers we make work
33:54
optional yes that's much better that's what I want too but what do we do we
33:59
call true wealth and Company at 913-653-8783 they specialize in helping
34:05
successful people make work optional there are fiduciary Blue Door personal wealth managers hey where are you going
34:11
it's 3 A.M I can't sleep I'm gonna check out true wealth and Company online at retirewithtrue.com that blue door is
34:18
going to be our retirement 913-653-8783 visit us online at retirewithtrue.com investment advice
34:24
offered through true wealth and Company LLC a registered investment advisor in the state of Kansas American hydrocarbon
34:29
is your One-Stop shop for custom interior exterior and engine bay items for your C4 through C8 Corvette we can
34:36
help you create a custom look for your Corvette with carbon fiber or 10 different color patterns and styles
34:41
whether it's a custom-made engine cover for your new C8 Mid Engine Corvette or custom-made C4 interior upgrades
34:47
American hydrocarbon can help you transform your Corvette into a Best in Class show car and now we're proud to
34:54
announce that we can produce and distribute officially licensed GM products for the C8 Corvette that
34:59
includes the front splitter side skirts engine appearance panels and engine fluid Caps Plus we now also carry the C8
35:05
Speedline side skirts along with the engine appearance package and high Wing our products have been featured in vet
35:10
and Corvette magazines give us a call 813-476-5638 visit our updated website
35:16
at americanhydrocarbon.com or email us at Pat americanhydrocarbon.com let us help you
35:23
make your Corvette the car you've always wanted it to be American hydrocarbon foreign
35:28
Erica Motorworks has been the industry leader and aftermarket supplier and manufacturer of Corvette replacement
35:34
parts and accessories since 1974. we have what you need for all years and
35:39
generations of Corvette whether you need a door panel or seat cover for your C1 Corvette or the latest shirt jacket hat
35:45
or lifestyle accessory to complement your new C8 you can get it at MidAmerican Motorworks so if you're
35:52
restoring repairing replacing or simply researching your Corvette Mid-America Motorworks is the place to go visit our
35:59
website at mamotorworks.com and Shop Corvettes by generation or specific gear
36:04
or call us Monday through Saturday toll-free at 800-500-1500 and talk to one of our
36:10
Corvette experts to help you get the right part or accessory pursue your passion with Mid-America Motorworks
36:17
[Music] and now back to the only current podcast
36:23
on Corvette Corvette today with your host Steve Garrett hey thanks once again
36:28
for listening and watching Corvette today the show that talks about everything Corvette brought to you by
36:34
wheelcraft want to dress up your Corvette with bright Chrome or black chrome wheels visit wheelcraft.com and
36:40
learn about their Advanced PVD chrome finishing they can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most
36:45
models and it comes a five year warranty visit wheelcraft.com or call them
36:53
833-840-5334 I'm your host Steve Garrett with me today is Corvette official photographer Richard Prince Richard has
37:00
a brand new book out right now called Corvette 70 the one and only as a matter of fact in this segment we're going to
37:07
talk about giving away two books so stick around Richard before we get into all that I love how you incorporate it
37:13
into the book Corvette racing all those pictures were taken by you obviously talk about getting Corvette racing
37:19
involved in this project well in the 1950s General Motors was simply the
37:24
mightiest industrial concern on Earth in Chevrolet it's larger this division was the highest volume vehicle producer in
37:31
existence they made millions of cars per year when Corvette was created Chevrolet's marketing people really knew
37:39
nothing about selling a low volume Specialty Sports Car this really hampered the launch of Corvette in its
37:46
early sales and in fact as a lot of people know Corvette almost came to an unceremonious end before it even really
37:52
had a chance to get going a handful of passionate people within Chevrolet's ranks who loved the car and believed in
38:00
this potential had some ideas about had a market the car and how to improve it a big part of that was racing getting the
38:07
car into competition they got going with that at the end of 1955 starting with
38:12
some speed runs on the beach in Daytona that led in 56 to a four-car effort at
38:19
Sebring in the same 12 hours of Sebring the racing side of Corvette was off and running now with the benefit of
38:25
hindsight we know that these early Visionaries that included Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell and Sarah duntov and
38:31
John Fitch and others that they were entirely correct racing was essential if
38:37
Corvette was to survive in the marketplace and it was essential for it was to keep Pace with involving
38:43
technology and to keep up with and stay ahead of other sports and high performance cars that were available to
38:49
people over time racing has just grown more important especially in the modern
38:54
era with the full Factory effort that began with the C5 in the late 1990s
39:00
racing and production Corvettes have grown closer and closer never more so than with the C8 and the c8r the race
39:07
car and the production car were developed simultaneously the pricing has produced an infinitely better Corvette
39:14
and it has also done a great deal to demonstrate to the world that this is not just a pretty face it's a really
39:20
serious performance car yes you can take it to work every day it's entirely civilized the air conditioning works
39:27
great stereo works great the chassis controls and the assists and all the safety features are state of the art but
39:34
if you want to put that car on a race track do track days or wheel-to-wheel competition it's entirely capable of it
39:41
so racing is a huge part of Corvette's Heritage and it's integral to the car's
39:47
success it was only a natural that I would include a chapter for each generation of racing that's great and I
39:54
loved it because I learned more about the early days of Corvette racing because of the book and I thought that was fantastic all right Richard it's
40:01
time to talk about where someone can get a book how much does it cost and we're going to give away a couple copies how's
40:07
that sound that sounds great the book is available it's in hand it's available
40:12
anywhere books are sold so publisher directly that's motor books Amazon Barnes and Noble retails for sixty
40:20
dollars anyone who wants to buy a signed copy of the book can buy it directly from me the best way to do that is to
40:27
either contact me via email that's Richard at R printsphoto.com so it's
40:34
Richard at r p r i n c e p h o t o.com or you can call me my number is
40:45
631-427-0460 and I'll be happy to ship you out a signed copy if you want a
40:51
personalized note for yourself or if you want to buy one as a gift for somebody in your life who really loves Corvettes
40:57
I'd be delighted to help you out that's awesome and your publisher has given us a couple books to give away all you have
41:04
to do is to get into this is write to me personally Steve at Corvette todaypodcast.com give me your name your
41:12
full mailing address for the next two weeks you'll be in the running for one of these two Corvette 70 years the one
41:18
and only book Richard thank you again for coming back on Corvette today it's been an honor and a pleasure
41:24
congratulations on this book it looks phenomenal it's a fantastic book I can't
41:30
thank you enough for coming back on the show well thank you for your kind words Steve and thank you also for what you do
41:35
the podcast is fabulous and I think it provides a great voice and a great opportunities for Corvette lovers
41:42
everywhere so I thank you for your service to the larger Corvette Community thanks for listening to Corvette today
41:48
and please be sure to tell your family friends and other Corvette enthusiasts about the Corvette Today podcast and
41:54
thanks to our sponsors wheelcraft want to dress up your Corvette with bright Chrome or black chrome wheels visit
41:59
wheelcraft.com to learn about their Advanced PVD chrome finishing they can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel
42:05
exchange for most models and it comes with a five year warranty visit wheelcraft.com today or call
42:13
833-840-5334 American hydrocarbon and americanhydrocarbon.com true wealth and
42:18
Company at retirewithtrue.com also erolari Wheels get 100 off your purchase
42:24
with the new promo code ct111 re.com that America Motorworks at
42:30
mamotorworks.com and Hedrick Chevrolet in Kansas City at chevyusa.com
42:37
you've been listening to Corvette today with Steve Garrett if you'd like to contact Steve with any thoughts on the
42:42
podcast or ideas for guests on Corvette today you can email him at stevegarett
42:48
DJ gmail.com that's Steve Garrett DJ gmail.com
42:54
Garrett has two r's and two T's or connect with Steve on social media on
42:59
Facebook Twitter or Instagram using at Steve Garrett DJ thanks again for
43:04
listening to Corvette today [Music]
#Autos & Vehicles
#Classic Vehicles
#Online Media
#Other
#Vehicle Shows