GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby gerbsinmd » Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:24 am

stage169 wrote:Original Rapide presentation to GM. Have you guys seen these or other pictures of this car? New to me but I don't get out much :D

I'm going to get all the big items scanned so anybody who wants the files will have them. I used my scanner on these and you can see it cut off the pictures some.


Brian


Being a Mirage owner, I would love to get my hands on any and everything you can get us. I am even thinking of painting my car like one of the prototypes.

BTW, thank you so very much for collecting and cataloging this info. Its unbelievably awesome to be able to tell/show the Mirage story!

Merry Christmas!!!
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby stage169 » Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:37 pm

hammerdown7 wrote:More great info, I thought the prototype I had mentioned earlier with the turbo Cosworth was yellow. Would you ask Jack about that one and if they made more than one prototype?
Also, any chance you could get a full scan of the shots that were cut off.


Sure I'll ask all the questions anybody wants and from what Jack has told me he will be on here sometime.

I have a friend with a big scanner so if it works out I'll have all the big items scanned soon. I'll hand those files out like candy :D

Its unbelievably awesome to be able to tell/show the Mirage story!


I agree!!! Merry Christmas! Brian
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby stage169 » Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:27 pm

Questions...

Jack,

There have been some questions come up so here they are.

1. One of the members on the club said part of the reason for not continuing the Monza Mirage was that Ford had an overseas race car with the same name (Gulf Mirage) and had started a law suit against Chevy. Have you heard of this?

2. Do you remember any additional info on the Berger Monza that was delivered to BORT so the Rapide could be started? Just looking at the pictures it makes me wonder if it was raced or maybe a display car with the Ssc2 on the side.

3. Another member who did own the Black Mirage with the whale tail (a couple pictures I sent you) said that his car is the one next to your Pantera (I‘m not sure how many times his car was changed but at one point it had the whale tail and then the standard Mirage rear spoiler). According to him there was another prototype car that was yellow and had a cosworth turbo engine? Here is what he said.

Ask Jack if he has any shots of the 'Rapide' prototype? It had wider flares along with the whale tail and I believe it also had a turbo Cosworth Vega in it. I remember being in the parking lot just before they arrived from a meeting with it. I think Juratovic was driving and they started doing donuts in celebration of the meeting with GM.
I thought the prototype I had mentioned earlier with the turbo Cosworth was yellow. Would you ask Jack about that one and if they made more than one prototype?

4. Do you know what happened to the Rapide and the Black Mirage with gold graphics that had the MATC1 license plate? Just wonder if they were sold or scrapped.

5. The colors taken in the GM Design photo studio of the Rapide are super! There is a decal on the passenger side rear quarter glass do you know what it is?

6. The picture you sent of the two haul away trucks with Mirage’s you can see the fronts of several cars are blacked out. Almost like the picture negative was altered so it wouldn’t show. Just curious on that one.

7. One member wants to know if you have any suggestions on how to restore and/or protect the Mirage polyurethane parts?

Answers....

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

1. Mirage name; Ford (Gulf Mirage racecar) lawsuit: IIRC, FoMoCo didn't cause us trouble; I'll have to check w/ Juratovic on that. Interestingly, a small midwestern shop called "Mirage Tool & Die", or something similar, initiated a name copyright infringement. GM Legal researched and found out that they were essentially a lawnmower repair shop! Anyhoo, GM paid them some good monies to go away. I was shocked but Bob Krupka told me although GM could win the case easily, it would also easily cost the Corporation far more in legal fees, time, etc. so they paid the guy off. BTW, "Mirage" is painted on the driver's side of the original whale-tail car, but I can't find a photo of that (yet). IIRC, Chevy liked the way Monza Mirage sounded better than Rapide, plus Rapide sounded "too foreign" (like Monza doesn't??) and that's the way the name happened.

2. The "Berger" Monza used as the original prototype Rapide was privately owned by Pat Wahl who raced it in that SCCA Class. Jack Juratovic and myself knew Pat Wahl through "car stuff". Pat and his dad, Rex Coleman, owned and operated C&F Stamping in Grand Rapids, MI. One of C&F's contracts was the stamped steel inner door panels for the production Corvettes, hence, there was another professional GM connection for us. Using Pat's Monza as a donor car also meant we had no "upfront" dollars necessary to invest in a vehicle for the prototype. Pat and Rex where also close friends of Dale Berger, the local Chevy dealer. The vehicle used for the Mirage prototype clay and approval parts for production tooling was a General Motors property.

All production Monza Mirages were built in Canada, shipped via rail to Detroit, then they were trucked via convoy to Berger Chevrolet for dealer prep. The most difficult part of the dealer prep was repairing the bullet holes! Seems the out-back Canadians were fond of using the vehicles for moving target practice! After repair and prep, the individual vehicles were driven from Berger Chevrolet to C&F Stamping's large lot (only a few city blocks away) where we would run them through our production line.

Prior to this, Jack, Pat, Rex and myself formed MATC as a separate company. Rex and Pat built a new facility for producing the Mirage parts and installing them on C&F property. All of this, including paintng the finished parts were done onsite at that facility. The new company's original name was Auto Tech, then Auto Techniques, then something else, all being thrown out by the state because the names were too close to exsisting copyrighted trademarks or other company names. That's when we added "Michigan" to the company title. Kind of long and clumsy sounding name but necessary for incorporation. I was president and Jack, Pat and Rex were VP's at the time.

3. I'm going to have to ask Juratovic on these points. I'm having difficulty remembering the black whale-tail version and a yellow version. I can't remember whether Pat's Monza (the original wale-tail) had a Cosworth or a V-8. Somebody familiar with the SCCA classes at the time could probably answer that by veiwing the class and numbers on that car being unloaded at our BORT shop.

4. The black and gold with MATC1 plates was probably owned by MATC and/or Pat/Rex. I don't remember and I don't know what happened to it.

5. The decal on the Rapide side glass is an SCCA decal; it was on the car during racing, clay modeling, prototype parts fab+install and the final Rapide vehicle presentation and never removed.

6. I'm thinking the blackout effect on the cars on the haulaways is probably just shadow.

7. Polyurethane protection/resto: we used the Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) process for the body parts, essentially the same as the flexible front/rear bumper covers (fascias) of production vehicles of the time and not much changed even now except for more sophisticated automation and upgrades in the polyoxyalkaline and polymeric urethane chemicals. Good paint and good wax to help protect from UVs is about it for maintenance. For repairing tears, scrapes, etc. I should think that a polyurethane repair kit available at any good auto body store (or most major auto parts stores for that matter) should do the trick. The key is following the directions. I repaired a tear on my wife's 300C front fascia about two years ago and you still can't tell it's ever been damaged.

Hope this helps. I'll get w/ Juratovic for further specifics after the Holidays settle down to a dull roar.

All Best...jack
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby hammerdown7 » Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:41 pm

More great info,thanks!

Couple of things come to mind. A previous poster on this site has a set of IMSA panels that were loosely attached to a Monza roller I bought years ago. In a round about way he ended up with them, I'll ask him to check for part numbers. I think they were still on the inside of the panels.

Also, 2-3-4 years ago I bought another whale tail off eBay from a guy in MN. I was surprised how much it looked like the one I had. Paul has it now and I think he is following this thread, maybe he could take a picture of it.

As to your question three to Jack, my black car only went through two changes as far as the rear spoiler. The first with the standard Mirage piece and then I cut down the rear flares and put the whale tail on, that's the way it was when I sold it in 1980.

Dick
Last edited by hammerdown7 on Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby stage169 » Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:07 pm

Good deal, it would be nice to see the part #'s and see the tail!

As to your question three to Jack, my black car only went through two changes as far as the rear spoiler. The first with the standard Mirage piece and then I cut down the rear flares and put the whale tail on, that's the way it was when I sold it in 1980.


I got that backwards, I'll make sure to tell him. Brian
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby monzajer » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:33 pm

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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby marco_1978_spyder » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:16 pm

#6 the black out on the front was part of the mirage package.. They blacked out the area to create a faux large opening squared up by the front airdams center opening. To give it that race car look. Also copied by the later camaro Z28 and IROC.
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby marco_1978_spyder » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:23 pm

Also...

How about the "Alloy Eight" show car Monza? It had a 1978 front end, the mirage flares, and an all aluminum 350. A funky paintjob too. It appeared for a quick press outing of the new 1978 models and disappeared after that.. The pic is buried on this site somewhere..
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby hammerdown7 » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:29 pm

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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby marco_1978_spyder » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:45 pm

Thanks! Now trying to find a pic of that black mirage at a local wreckers..

Im not finding it online, but I have it here...might have to get the scanner going if it still works.
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby stage169 » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:14 pm

marco_1978_spyder wrote:#6 the black out on the front was part of the mirage package.. They blacked out the area to create a faux large opening squared up by the front airdams center opening. To give it that race car look. Also copied by the later camaro Z28 and IROC.


I'll have to ask about the Alloy eight.

The picture of the haulaway loads to dealers just looked to me as if the negative was altered so the picture wouldn't show whatever. Maybe my eyes? You can make out detail on the headlights but that area looks foggy? I know it should be black and that the front spoiler goes over it all I just thought it looked odd. Brian
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby marco_1978_spyder » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:35 pm

stage169 wrote:
marco_1978_spyder wrote:#6 the black out on the front was part of the mirage package.. They blacked out the area to create a faux large opening squared up by the front airdams center opening. To give it that race car look. Also copied by the later camaro Z28 and IROC.


I'll have to ask about the Alloy eight.

The picture of the haulaway loads to dealers just looked to me as if the negative was altered so the picture wouldn't show whatever. Maybe my eyes? You can make out detail on the headlights but that area looks foggy? I know it should be black and that the front spoiler goes over it all I just thought it looked odd. Brian


Ahh I gotcha. I should have figured you knew.. Here come the Black Mirage pics..

Thought they might be relevant. might jog a memory or 2?

This was a factory black car that had the package on it at one time, and had the MAT sticker on the door. I have the trim tag here someplace, the vin# is scratched onto the back. Tan interior. I tore through the interior for any other documentation and couldn't find any.
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby stage169 » Wed Dec 28, 2011 12:26 am

Wow what are the odds? I'll send Jack your pictures.

The only reason I knew on the blacked out area (and its only been a few days :) ) is because I sent Jack the post from the guy who is the manager for the GM Heritage fleet. It was you I think that pointed out their resto of Doyle's car was missing that! He even mentioned that they would correct it pronto. Brian
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby EagleFish » Wed Dec 28, 2011 1:37 pm

Remember, the air dam (front) was not installed at the factory. The air dam was shipped inside the car and installed by the dealer. Since the area behind the center opening of the air dam was to be "blacked out" the factory painted it before shipping. Without the air dam installed, the black-out looks strange, especially with the lightly over-sprayed edges. That is why it looks out of focus or hazy.

John (John and Richard)
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Re: GM Dealer-sold IMSA Monza

Postby hammerdown7 » Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:20 pm

hammerdown7 wrote:More great info,thanks!

Couple of things come to mind. A previous poster on this site has a set of IMSA panels that were loosely attached to a Monza roller I bought years ago. In a round about way he ended up with them, I'll ask him to check for part numbers. I think they were still on the inside of the panels.

Also, 2-3-4 years ago I bought another whale tail off eBay from a guy in MN. I was surprised how much it looked like the one I had. Paul has it now and I think he is following this thread, maybe he could take a picture of it.

As to your question three to Jack, my black car only went through two changes as far as the rear spoiler. The first with the standard Mirage piece and then I cut down the rear flares and put the whale tail on, that's the way it was when I sold it in 1980.

Dick


Here's the shots of the whale tail.

IMG-20111230-00002.jpg


IMG-20111230-00001.jpg


IMG-20111230-00003.jpg
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