We can't get enough of Newman...
We can't get enough of Newman Car Creations' '57 Nomad. Underneath the chassis is a complete C4 Corvette four-wheel independent suspension and it keeps up with the best of them, actually, more often even better. Based out of Templeton, CA, they drive this beauty everywhere and really gets the crowd pumping when they see this wagon in action.
Several months ago, during the weekend of March 19, we decided to check out the Super Chevy show in Las Vegas with our cohorts. Something new for this year was the autocross course sponsored by Currie Enterprises, Total Cost Involved, and Wilwood Engineering. But, before we could even make it there, the plan was to host a convoy beginning from Original Parts Group (OPG) in Seal Beach, California, where the good folks there were nice enough to open their facility to a number of enthusiasts making the trek with us to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Representing CHP, staffer Sean Haggai had the '72 Nova loaded up behind a friend's Duramax while we piloted our Z06 to the event. Unfortunately, nasty scheduling conflicts meant we had to wait by the side of the freeway and join up with the rest of the caravan as they motored north.
After meeting up with the group, we continued north on I-15 for another couple of hours and made it to our first stop, the historical Peggy Sue's '50s Diner in Yermo (peggysuesdiner.com). If you ever have the opportunity to stop by for a quick lunch, trust us, you won't regret it. The food's very affordable and makes for a great pit stop-you may even find some cool memorabilia to take back home with you.
Our '72 Nova may not have...
Our '72 Nova may not have the shine, but staffer Sean Haggai went on to show that it doesn't take a high-dollar hot rod to have a good time.
The rest of the drive was drama free, even with nearly two dozen vehicles ranging early Chevelles, Camaros, Novas, and C10 trucks to late-model Camaros and Corvettes motoring together. At times the small roads seemed to be overrun by big rigs in a mad rush to meet deadlines, but we were quite the opposite-at least that day. We showcased model road behavior: left aggression behind, had the music going (unless you were in a convertible and wanted to hear the air rushing past you), and pretty much had our minds set on cruise mode. Seriously, folks, this is a dream vacation for the likes of us!
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to check out the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, you drive past the main strip of downtown Las Vegas and continue north for another 30 minutes. While the glimmering casino lights were waiting for us, the only lights we were looking forward to were the ones on the Christmas Tree at the dragstrip. With the cruise pretty much over, we made it just in time to check in for the event and sign up for the Friday night test-and-tune session-oh yeah, we weren't going to miss this. Helmet in hand, we proceeded through tech and went on to make a few bottom-13-second runs at well over 109 mph in the luggage-laden Z. Our 60-foots were less than stellar, but we're happy with the numbers for the time being.
The real surprise of the night was getting matched up to run an all-wheel-drive Cadillac Escalade. We should have known better to take them up on their offer. It turned out that this particular Escalade was outfitted with a MagnaCharger supercharger and had little issue making us look bad for the first 300 feet. We did manage to save face and run a full second quicker than the Caddy, but nevertheless, that SUV really opened up our eyes. The remainder of the weekend consisted of making an unbelievable number of autocross runs; we even introduced a few onlookers to the sport. Of course, it was also a lot of fun watching some of the more experienced cone dodgers duking it out for bragging rights. Enough of our jabbering, we'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.