[1]Images: National Corvette Museum on Facebook [2]
Being inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame [3], sponsored by the National Corvette Museum [4] in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is a major accomplishment. Not only does it mean joining the ranks of men like Chip Miller, Reeves Callaway, Zora Duntov, John Fitch, and Harley Earl, it also means that you made an enormous impact in the Corvette community. This Labor Day weekend, two more notable men will be inducted into the Hall of Fame and to commemorate the honor, Chevrolet has stepped up for the third year in a row to create special edition Corvettes for the occasion.
[5]Jake, the iconic symbol of Corvette Racing, is displayed prominently on the hood of O’Connell’s car to commemorate all his years driving for the professional team.
Every year, the Corvette Hall of Fame inducts more and more iconic names on Labor Day weekend. And for the last three years, Chevrolet has added even more to the honor by creating one-of-a-kind commemorative Corvettes in the name of the inductees.
This year, Chevy used the 2014 Corvette Stingray for the honorary cars, honoring 2013 inductees, former Corvette Racing driver, Johnny O’Connell, and former GM Corvette Assembly Plant Manager, Wil Cooksey.
Having driven for Corvette Racing from 2001 through 2009, Johnny O’Connell had an amazing 37 American Le Mans Series wins and 84 career starts with the Corvette team. O’Connell also took 1st in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his C5-R and C6.R co-drivers in 2001, 2002 and 2009.
[6]O’Connell’s special edition 2014 Corvette Stingray is very reminiscent of the Corvettes he drove all those years for Corvette Racing.
To honor O’Connell’s amazing career, Chevy created a 2014 Stingray just for him. Sprayed in Cyber Grey, O’Connell’s Corvette features yellow brake calipers, special Team Corvette and Hall of Fame door graphics, the new Jake emblem on the hood, and the Stingray insignia across the top of the windshield.
[7]Named GM Corvette Assembly Plant Manager in 1993, Wil Cooksey led the Corvette Assembly plant and the Corvette model to receive numerous awards, including the America’s Best Automobile of the Year award and the Best Premium Sports Car award given by J.D. Power. In 1997, Cooksey was awarded the Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award, as well as being named Achiever of the Year by Austin Peay University.
Cooksey retired from his Bowling Green plant manager position in 2008.
To honor Cooksey’s amazing contributions to GM and the Corvette model, Chevy created a 2014 Stingray for him that resembles the 2008 Wil Cooksey Limited Edition Corvette. Paying tribute to this iconic car, Cooksey’s new Corvette features a Crystal Red exterior with many yet-to-be-disclosed perks inside.
Both O’Connell and Cooksey are well deserving of their inductions into the Corvette Hall of Fame this coming weekend, and we can’t wait to find out more about their specialty Corvettes once their induction ceremony is complete!
[8]A little more refined that O’Connell’s Corvette, Cooksey’s car is finished in Crystal Red and promises to hold some secret features!