Elite Corvettes

Pursue Your Passions

Corvette Enthusiast, Car Show Enthusiast

The word Corvette is and has been associated with speed, beauty, style and class throughout the past 50 years. Where else can you take such a car to the track on the weekend and win, then drive to work all week and out on the town on Friday evening in class. Elite Corvettes understands this that's why we look for members who are first of all Corvette Enthusiast, not just Corvette owners, members who walk the walk and talk the talk. If you love to modify your car and make it yours then we'll be right there with you, we have a lot of connections with custom shops and can point you in the right direction. If you are one of those who live a 1/4 mile at a time then go for it. Corvettes are naturally fast but if not fast enough for you, we would love to see what you can do to make your car all it can be. Take a look around and if all this sounds like it's for you then give us a try.

Upcoming Events

We do a lot of Car Shows each year and have many coming up soon, here are some of the shows that Elite Corvettes will be attending in the near future....

1. Rev'ved up for Kids Charity Car Show, April 25, 2010
2. Corvettes of Riverside All Corvette Show, May 1, 2010

3. California Car & Cycle show, May 23, 2010

4. 6th Annual Teen Challenge Car Show, July 10, 2010

And many more.

1963 Split Window Coupe
BEST OF THE BEST

In the long list of beautiful Corvettes General Motors has produced since it introduced the model in 1953, one of the most popular and unique-(and now very rare since it was produced for one year only)-is the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split window coupe. The custom, high-performance split window coupe we're featuring today is owned by Burke Chaplin, a car enthusiast who bought the Corvette a few years ago. Through mutual acquaintances, Bruce Frappied, an expert local auto craftsman was asked to work on the car. A resident here since 1964, Bruce graduated from AV High School, got a job with Lockheed and worked on the L1011. Then he joined the U.S. Air Force, where he was trained as an air traffic controller. After his Air Force stint was up, he went back to work at Lockheed and was hired by the FAA. This past July, he retired after a 30-year career with the FAA and he worked in the Air Traffic Control Center in Palmdale. Chayo, Bruce's wife, is also a longtime resident of the Antelope Valley-and she graduated from AV High School as well. She is an experienced Realtor who is employed with Troth Realtors GMAC Real Estate.The original 1963 Chevy Corvettes all came with a standard 327 block, but in a variety of horsepower iterations. Here's what the '63 Corvette we're featuring today now has: The present power plant is a fuel-injected, 468 cubic-inch Chevy big block engine, assembled by Bruce, that is fed a whole lot of air by a set of eight prominent polished aluminum stacks sticking up through a hole in the hood, and a lot of internal goodies including AFR (Air Flow Research) heads. Fuel injectioi) is handled via a vintage Grower manifold, set up to handle modern electronic fuel injection. Spark is provided by a Mallory electronic ignition and an M&H Wiring setup, installed by Bruce. Exhaust chores are accomplished by ceramic-coated headers and three-inch exhausts, which flow through a Spintech system with low-profile square mufflers and on out to stainless steel exhaust tips. All pulleys, pumps and the alternator are dazzling polished aluminum by March. Cooling duties are handled by a big, aluminum radiator made by Matson Customs, as well as by double electric fans. Stopping is provided by four-wheel disc brakes by Baer Aircraft; the front suspension and steering are built by Morrison; back suspension includes coil-overs and a 4:11 locker rear end built by Mark Williams Co. Axles are by Moser. Bruce is quick to give thanks to well-known local automotive craftsman, Frank Williams, owner of Frank Williams Metal Fabrication in Palmdale, for all his expert work who handled strengthening the Corvette's frame, etc., the front clip and the back halfs suspension and sheet metal work. Local upholstery artisan Randy, in Lancaster, did all the interior leather work including the seats, the door panels, etc., including wrapping the roll-bar. Randy did the Glide Engineering seats in two-tone cream and red leather. Seats belts are matching red, four-point racingstyle harness. Carpets are cream-colored with red carpets. The steering wheel, as well as the wheels on the car, are all matching and are by Budnik. Additional interior features include a full-set of white-faced Autometer Pro Comp gauges and a red shifter knob with Corvette Sting Ray embossed on it-(the Corvette Sting Ray is also embossed on the door panels as well as the Corvette dual crossed flags emblem). One of the Corvette Sting Ray's most striking features is its' exterior color, a stock (later model) Corvette color called "Corvette Torch Red." Bruce is quick to thank Angel, owner of Creative Auto Works in Lancaster, who artfully applied the dazzling color. For the old hot rod look, the '63 Sting Ray split window rolls on big and little Mickey Thompson tires, which are mounted on custom Budnik wheels. Bruce started working on the Corvette in 2003. Since it has been finished, he has taken it to Hot August Nights in Reno, Nev., three times where, in 2007, it was one of 20 finalists for a "Best of Show" $10,000 prize. Also, it just won the prestigious "Best of the Best for 2009," at the Burger King Fourth Saturday Cruise-in & Car Show in Rancho Vista. There are nine car shows throughout the season with one "Best of Show" vehicle selected for each show. Then, at the final show, the "Best of the Best" car is chosen as the top car of the year. Once you see this sleek, 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split window coupe-you'll understand why it took top honors! Congrats to Burke Chaplin.

Elite Corvettes 1st Annual Platinum Series Car Show & Toy Drive

A HUGE SUCCESS!!!

On November 1, 2009 Elite Corvettes teamed up with Team Chevrolet in Pasadena to host our first Annual car show, which was a huge success. We had a bunch of Corvettes from some of the most popular Corvette Clubs in SoCal, C1 to C6, Z06 and a ZR1, we had it all, we even had a Vette from Las Vegas (Elliot & Linda) very nice people. There were plenty of Hotrods to go around also, some of the cleanest cars I ever seen and the nicest people you want to meet. From Fords to Chevy's to Mopars, they were all out in force. We had so many raffle prizes and auction items that we couldn't give'em all away. What can I say about the Elite Girls, WOW, they kept the place going and kept a smile on all the guy's faces. Our hostess Bre'ly Evans did her thing, she did and outstanding job, and from the feed back I personally received she will be back for our next show. I would like to thank Bre'ly, the Elite Girls, Elite Corvette members, and especially all the participants who came out to support us for our 1st show. We had a great turnout, great weather, a great location and super people, what more could you ask for. We raised plenty of money for our charities and also received a lot of toys to give away to some needy families, and hopefully we can make there Holiday Season brighter.

Again I would like to thank all the clubs that were represented for your support, and we will see you all next year. Here's a link to some pics. http://www.pcfred.com/elite09show.html Here's another link http://www.speedsyndicate.net/gallery_auto/Elite_Corvette_show_09/index.html

And the Winner is.......

Corvettes for Fun hosted their 27th Annual All Chevy Car Show even though the morning was very cloudy and there was a hint of rain in the air. It was a very nice show with some nice raffle prizes and plenty of custom cars to keep everyone's attention. While the music was playing everyone had a chance to walk around and check out the cars. Two of my favorites were a pair of bubble top Chevy's, one black and the other red & white, these things were absolutely gorgeous, both with stunning
interiors, there was also a very nice silver Chevy truck that was hot. But when it was time to hand out the awards Elite Corvettes had their cameras ready and walked away with 7 trophies.
Katy, Jude and Randy (top right) received 1st place in their category and Al, Ted and Homer (bottom right) received runner ups in their category, but Randy also got Best in Show for Corvettes, not bad for a day's work. We would like to congratulate all our winners for a great job and see you at the next show. Thanks to Corvettes for Fun for a great time.

Burke Chaplin at Cruisin for a Cure

Costa Mesa * The OC fair and event center on Saturday was filled with roaring engines, a sea of shiny chrome and thousands of car lovers at the 10th Annual Cruisin' for a Cure. The event, billed as the largest one-day charity car show, attracted an estimated 15,000 attendees and 3,100 display cars in an effort to raise awareness for prostate cancer and raise funds to fight it. A key part of the event was free screening for prostate cancer, which was recommended yearly for all males over 50 or men in their 40's with a family history of the disease. Vise President Burke Chaplin attended this event and came home with a BEST MODIFIED CORVETTE award. Elite Corvettes would like to congratulate Burke for his achievement.

Elite Sweep at Redline Corvettes

Elite Corvettes attended the 16th annual Redline Corvette Car Show in Thousand Oaks on September 13, 2009. It was a beautiful day for a car show and if you've been to this show before then you know Redline Corvettes really know how to put on a show. There were plenty of vendors, good food and good music, and of course plenty of Corvettes, silent auctions, raffles and that tasty Santa Maria style BBQ. The competition was tight but at the end of the day Elite Corvettes swept the modified class with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place win. Ron Tanabe (far left) won 1st with his beautiful yellow C6, Al Carrington (middle) placed second with his silver 98 coupe, and president Randy Lastrapes took home a third place win with his totally custom 2002 C5 coupe. Congrats to all our winners.

Elite Corvettes at SEMA

Elite Corvettes attended the 1st SEMA Show-N-Shine Car Show in Pasadena, Ca. This inaugural event was a huge success and there were plenty of top quality cars to google over. Unlike the SEMA manufacturers show that's put on in Las Vegas every year, this show was open to the public and naturally Elite Corvettes had to be a part of it. Hosted by the one and only Chip Foose, and if you don't know who Chip Foose is then you are not a car guy. Chip Foose is one of if not the best car builder of our time, he has won some of the highest awards for car building such as the 2005 Ridler Award and many more, and has his own TV show (Overhaulin). There were plenty of car guys on hand including Chip Foose of course, Dick Gulstrand, and many others. But there were only two top winners who got invinted to attend the SEMA show in Las Vegas, one was a gorgeous purple 55 nomad named "Purple Plum" and the other was a copper custom owned by none other than "Checkbook Charlie", they both recieved a 4 night stay in Vegas. Over $40,000 was raised to benifit their Charities last year and looks like even more will be raised this year, and from what I saw, the kids had a great time. Next year promises to be even bigger and you guessed it, Elite Corvettes will be there also. Here are a couple of pics from the event.

Elite Corvettes

The Best Deserves the Best