autoevolution 19 Apr 2021, 8:07 UTC ·
by 14 photos
It’s a 1973 Corvette Motion Manta Ray GT, one of three ever made and the only known surviving vehicle of the kind. It’s a C3 Corvette built by Baldwin-Motion, the legendary muscle car builder that got started when hot-rodder and drag racer Joel Rosen, aka “Mr. Motion,” entered into a partnership with Baldwin Auto Company, a family-run Chevrolet dealer. Among the special muscle cars they offered, the Motion Corvettes stood out.
This Manta Ray GT is the only one left in the world, as noted above. It draws power from a 350 CI 4V engine that adds 75 hp to the stock version, for a total of 425 hp, and mated to a Turbo 400 Hydra-Matic transmission. Over 14 custom changes were made to the original C3 Corvette, including to the body. The listing mentions the new front fascia with round headlights, custom wheels, side exhausts, ducktail spoiler, and the custom “Coca Cola” red paint job, over a contrasting black interi
It s just one of three built.
There are seemingly an endless number of unique Corvettes out there. The car s nearly 70-year history has produced a ton of interesting examples, but every once in a while something ultra-special appears for sale. This is one of those occasions. What you re looking at is a 1973 Corvette Motion Manta Ray GT scheduled to cross the stage at Mecum Auctions event in Indianapolis next month. It s only one of three built and the sole survivor.
Built by Baldwin-Motion, a company founded in 1967 by Joel Rosen and Ed Simonin. The two pulled their resources and industry contacts together and managed to build some of the fastest faux-production cars in the US. This lasted until 1974 when the Department of Justice and EPA threatened to shut them down for not even coming close to meeting the newly enacted emissions standards.
The mid-1970s wasn’t a great time for American fans of performance cars. Spiraling insurance costs, falling compression ratios to accommodate low-lead gas and heavy 5 mph bumpers all took their toll on the once great muscle car.
But not everyone went down without a fight. In 1973 Pontiac unveiled the epic Trans Am Super Duty, and Motion Performance built this incredible Manta Ray from a C3 Corvette. In fact, Motion built two other Manta Rays that year, shortly before the company closed its doors, but this is the only survivor and it’s getting ready to go under the hammer at Mecum’s Indy sale in May.
Forget the SU election, it’s common knowledge by now that the most important democratic procedure of Lent term is the Tab’s annual BNOC competition. For weeks now, we’ve been refreshing the Camfess page and seeing your humble-brag shares (“hahahaha how random that I’m in the top 100 BNOC list! I’m definitely not sharing the article to let you know and prompt you to vote for me hahahaha”).
Hundreds of nominations, thousands of votes, tens of Camfesses and one BNOCsoc later, the Tab proudly presents the ten biggest names on campus this year. Grab the popcorn, you’re in for a dramatic ride:
Time to cash in on your vacant office space. Hereâs how to convert it into apartments
By Bonny Fourie
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Some South Africans are living in luxury apartments with no idea that the spaces used to be offices.
In coming years more vacant offices in central nodes are likely to be converted into entry-level or even upmarket apartments.
This growing conversion trend first hit in the late 1990s, and while Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg were the main metros targeted for these redevelopments, more than 30 years later, many decentralised nodes are being targeted.
This was also in line with densification policies in major urban areas and CBDs across the country, says David Green, president of the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa).