The Birth and Evolution of Wheel to Wheel: A Legacy of Innovation and Passion

Jeff's journey in the automotive world began at Ford Motor Company, where he honed his skills in powertrain engineering. His experience as an engine expert proved invaluable when he founded Wheel to Wheel with three other individuals - Rich Anderson, Doug Doad, and Dan van Alken. The company's name was a nod to Jeff's passion for wheel-to-wheel racing, reminiscent of the high-speed competition found in professional racing.

As the company grew, it became clear that there was a need for specialized vehicle programs, particularly from original equipment manufacturers (oems) seeking to create limited-edition vehicles. This marked the beginning of Wheel to Wheel's work on special project vehicles. One of Jeff's early successes came when he collaborated with Pas prior on the 20th Anniversary Trans Am. He worked tirelessly to develop a 3.8-liter engine for this iconic vehicle, marking an important milestone in his career.

The success of these initial projects laid the groundwork for Wheel to Wheel's rapid expansion and diversification. In the late 1990s, Jeff established the company as a leading provider of powertrain engineering, concept development, and validation services. General Motors (GM) became a significant customer, and the two companies formed a long-lasting partnership. One of their earliest collaborations was with GM on the S10 pickup truck, which would become the first program under the Techstar umbrella.

Techstar's involvement in production enabled Wheel to Wheel to focus on high-performance vehicle development. The company worked closely with GM to produce limited-edition vehicles, including the Z71 Suburban, Tahoe, and SB Platinum Escalade, as well as the SS Trailblazer and Silverado. These programs showcased Wheel to Wheel's expertise in design, engineering, and validation.

Beyond its work on special project vehicles, Wheel to Wheel also made a significant impact in motorsports. The company worked closely with GM to produce pace cars for the Indianapolis 500, including the iconic Brickyard Pace Car. This experience allowed Jeff to rub shoulders with racing legends and cement his reputation as a master of high-performance engineering.

As the years passed, Wheel to Wheel continued to push the boundaries of innovation and performance. However, the company faced significant challenges in the early 2000s, particularly due to Jeff's health issues. Around 2008, he became ill at the same time that many of the big programs were being brought back in-house by their respective OEMs.

The passing of Wheel to Wheel marked the end of an era for Jeff and the company. Despite this, his legacy lives on through the work of those who followed in his footsteps. The company's impact on the automotive world remains significant, with many of its innovations still influencing high-performance vehicles today.

For Jay, one of Wheel to Wheel's employees, Jeff's influence extends far beyond his professional achievements. "I got to meet a lot of great people," Jay recalls, highlighting the importance of personal connections and networking in the industry. The company's work on high-performance vehicles, such as this C8 Corvette, continues to inspire enthusiasts around the world.

When Jay finally laid eyes on the C8 Corvette, he was struck by its rarity and exclusivity. "I forgot how rare it was," he admits. The experience served as a poignant reminder of Wheel to Wheel's impact on the automotive world and Jeff's enduring legacy.

In recent years, Jeff has continued to be involved in high-performance vehicle development, with a focus on innovative technologies like McLaren and the P1. As an industry expert, his expertise is highly sought after, making him the go-to person for anyone facing problems with their vehicle.

As we reflect on Wheel to Wheel's remarkable history, it becomes clear that the company's success was built on Jeff's unwavering passion for innovation and performance. His dedication to pushing boundaries has left an indelible mark on the automotive world, ensuring that his legacy will continue to inspire generations of engineers, designers, and enthusiasts alike.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit's fantastic what the such a Torquay motor it feels like more than 500 change horsepower to me maybe it's just because all the parts it's a lot of men I don't know DeSoto Jay Leno's Garage the car we're featuring today my 2002 Z06 if it looks a little different because this is a concept car uh called the tiger shark uh we I'll tell you it is a fascinating history of this car in fact I once parked it for like two years I got so frustrated we couldn't find a problem uh we were getting an EVAP code you know we drive it and then oh we go to reduce power I couldn't Frank how it was I pull over and I'd pop the gas cap oh and then before Oh that's what it is okay I got a problem there it's not defending or something no but that wasn't it then we replace the canister and the valve that wasn't it I finally tracked down a terrific Corvette mechanic named Donna York he found it in the door in the connector there was uh something causing the car not to ground properly and was shorting I mean we brought in everybody and Donnie was the only guy who could do this and fix it for us so and now I back now I love the car again so it's great but it's got a fascinating history I'm going to bring in a gentleman now who is involved with this car pretty much since the beginning Paul Rivera come on in Paul good to see you my friend Paul is one of these guys he kind of works with you I know you worked with McLaren and everybody in the business this car was built by a company you were with techstar right and wheel to wheel Jeff Beisel was a good friend of ours he started a company in 99 yep the late 90s late 90s uh working with GM primarily yeah yeah and and this car is a really unique car it's a super rare car there's a lot to unpack here as we said right and I think that the first thing we need to talk about is just the original C5 right because the the car itself was an incredible car when the C5 came out right it was a convertible right and the C5 had an LS1 engine in it 345 horsepower in it originally right and what happened was as time evolved in the late 90s and General Motors started to talk about the idea of doing something special with the Corvette they wanted to to make sure that they didn't they didn't touch the price point because the C5 had a price point just under 40 thousand dollars and you have here something that was really cool because they started to introduce some things that were really unique so the first thing that you start to notice when we talk about the base car is GM introduced the FRC the fixed you know the fixed roof coupe right and that was unique and then when they started to talk about putting a z51 package back into the car you could order the z51 package but to do that they took about 80 pounds out of the car so that was a really cool idea and then they put an LS6 engine into the car and then they reintroduced the moniker they put Z06 back into line and they hadn't used Z06 since 1963. right right that was but that was the legendary car that took on the cobras that's right yeah that was that was a track ready right that was a track ready car right and so now all of a sudden you're starting to talk about a C5 Z06 Z5 51 package that had a fixed roof Coupe there were some other things that were unique about the C5 remember that was the first time the throttle was you know it was a wire drive-by-wire throttle right and it had the heads up display as you know it had tandem windshield wipers instead of opposing windshield wipers so there's some really cool things it just started out with the car to begin with and the the first year that the Z06 came out and it had the LS6 engine in it had 385 horsepower engine but one year later that LS6 engine went to 405 horsepower right so this vehicle as it sat before we ever touched it right was a 405 horsepower LS6 engine right that had a a speed of 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds right and um really really cool car and you could get it with uh black interior black interior or black interior right yeah that was it right and it was a six-speed manual transmission so that was that was the base but then we took it and the whole idea at the time when uh Jeff beitzel got involved and when we got involved at wheel to wheel was that GMS VA at the time was thinking well let's create something that is even more unique and the idea of tiger shark came about and the the original thought was going to be that if we change the look of the car and if we upgraded the powertrain even more we would have something that ultimately the GM organization could sell through their special Parts organization and we started the play with the powertrain so the very first thing we did is we took the LS6 engine and we board a four inch bore right and we changed the stroke to a four inch stroke and we put lunati crankshaft in there right and we put in a specially designed exhaust system that that wheel to wheel powertrain had designed it was a four in one with a three inch collector right and if you look in the back when we get to the back of the vehicle you can see that it has a specialty designed corset touring exhaust system on it and so we took this powertrain and took it to a 6.6 liter 525 horsepower Powertrain and the speed was better than 0 to 60 and 3.9 seconds it was very very unique and then you start to look at the the tiger shark package and so what you have here is you have a front fascia that is completely different right than any other vet out there it has a chin spoiler that's about the third one I've torn a bunch of these off it is very very low right I remember getting phone calls from you by the way about this and and as recently as only a couple months ago your team called and asked if there's any replacement for it and um on the inside if you open up the doors you can see that there's you know Carbon Fiber door Sills right right special leather special leather packaging that's on the inside of the vehicle right so I mean there's some unique things that were on the inside and then of course the rear fascia with the tiger shark tail right and then the European style tail lights that were in the back too yeah so very very different vehicle and it's the only one that exists today right right I mean there's bits and Bobs and parts Jay that are out there and there was some GM execs and wheel to wheel execs that had some of these parts put on their cars right but the program never it never went on right and so you have the only one so tough to put a value on this car even for Donald Osborne tough to put effect on this car yeah and plus that original engine I think we blew it up twice yeah yes thanks for reminding me yeah no no no that's nobody's fault but it was uh now we have in it a 427 Ellis seven I love seven yeah crate motor and that's great you know that evap problem was so annoying because you drive it and reduce power and now I'm going 40 on the freeway be people are yelling at me you know and we just couldn't figure out what it was and luckily Donnie traced it to a connector in the door that was short and out of ground I mean nobody could find it can't couldn't find it using the onboard diagnostics coming up the EVAP code replace valve we're just going through everything I would park it for months just trying to figure out what was wrong so uh once again Donnie thank you my friend he's the guy that that try and how we tracked it down I don't know but uh yeah he did now now it's a wonderful car I mean I really enjoy it now it's fast it handles it's that Classic front end front engine Corvette you know with all kinds of torque it's amazing the bottom end on this car is really incredible yeah it's pretty balanced for a Corvette too that was one thing that also changed when he got to C5 it became a pretty big yeah they had the transaxle that's right and it really became a modern Supercar yeah you know and we almost have to thank Dodge for coming out with the Viper because that got Jam off its rear end to kind of hey we got to do because they were happy 345 that's fine because there was no competition and I've got another C5 a 99 I love that car it is just a wonderful Road car you can put tons of lug you go to Home Depot in it with that you know put a piece of lumber back it's great it's great so there was no reason to go for more power until competition came along and then the whole horsepower thing started yeah but I remember when this first came out as the Z06 was the first generation 435 horse so it was 385 you said it was the first LS6 was 385 right right for only for one year right and then it moved to yeah 405. oh 405 yeah but that was like four facts unbelievable right you know 400 horsepower it's only 20 years ago or it's a long time ago nice to walk down memory lane yeah yeah if you're my age it's yesterday if you're if you're your age it probably seems a long time ago but it seems like yesterday for me too I know it's amazing but some of the the other the other thing that's really cool about it Jay you know when they put the fixed the uh the FRC the fixture of Coupe together one of the things that that started to really Advance was the fact that this FRC actually added quite a bit of stability to the car right because there's a lot of rigidity that was created by putting this right it's like an arch issue yeah and in fact some Reports say that it added up to you know 12 percent rigidity to the vehicle and there there's a writer is and you may know him but there's a writer from vet magazine and for Motor Trend his name is Scott Teeters maybe you know him and in in 2016 he wrote that you know Corvette lovers up until up until 1980 basically their only options for special Corvettes were just a power train upgrade right that was basically it and then a 90 is when the ZR1 came out right it was really when the fixed roof core the fixer Coupe came out that that's when this whole start of all of the new the New Evolution of Corvette started to really the engineering started to really improve because that's when there was all of this racing style tubular design the steel between the front and the back started to come into play creating more rigidity and more of the racing style let's show them under the hood here as I said right now we've got your LS7 yeah and again some cool features inside here on that side under the battery open that tray remember that yeah I thought that was a real cool place to store storage yeah right under there you know so car carbon fiber a little carbon fiber yeah and this LS7 obviously same size so it drops right in but it's great I mean it's this is a bulletproof motor I think it's one of the best Corvette motors of all time the LS7 427 Coupe against small block which uh you know back in the day was based on the 396 and now it's based on the small block which is pretty interesting but yeah I always like that because you could keep things there and people go where's the battery they'd be hunting in the back underneath I mean that just lifts right up doesn't it yeah yeah it comes right out there you go the battery underneath there but yep does anybody make that piece anymore because I think that's such a great deal it's a great idea right yeah yeah it really is pretty slick yeah well you know my favorite thing whenever you read the car and driver Road and track Motor Trend they do a shootout it's always Porsche and Corvette maybe Lamborghini but you rarely see Ferrari anybody else these things because people aren't afraid to drive these like Porsches you know it's not unusual to see them 80 90 000 miles on them and so you know still going strong you know and these are really not bulletproof engines but it's as good as you're going to get I think because you could just drive them and drive my buddy's got one he's got a hundred thousand miles on it doesn't smoke works fine changes the oil you know they're wonderful they last forever yeah yeah and and the the C5 was really the the greatest Corvette up to that point just in terms of engineering and and going for more Sports carness you know as opposed just front engine transmission will transact the whole deal you know it nicely balanced car my 99 it's just the nicest driving car comfortable yeah and this this thing is is a beast it's a lot of fun to drive on the street we'll take it out in just a minute what else is there well the wheels I think are unique to the car yeah I mean the wheels were unique as well and and also obviously the Brembo brakes were cool um yeah I mean there's just it's like I said such a the paint the paint the Millennium yellow paint the PPG Millennium yellow paint was unique to the vehicle as well right right everybody saw you coming right yeah this was unique to it so um and and like we said before the tail lights are very different because as you can see this is the European style tail lights right this is not typical here right right so this is very different as well so just again very very special yeah I mean I like I said this thing sat for two years I was so frustrated we couldn't get anybody to figure out and the on onboard diagnostics kept coming up uh EVAP code you know blah blah I was like so what are we doing here and I thought is is is it is the gas tank plugged is it crossover it drove us nuts so Donnie again thank you I'm sorry you were frustrated I'm glad it was something it was more simple than yeah and less complex let's say I know I know but and this car is 20 years old and that's a pretty it was a pretty complex problem I'm glad you still drive it oh yeah no I love it it's a lot of fun yeah uh this is the one you just go out and tear through the hills with you know let's do it I've ripped that I ripped that splitter off three times that's the last one I had I bought a couple of extras so I think we should take a respend and see what she does all right let's do it let's close the hood that's so cool that's that whole that's traditional huh that's not a little traditional traditional traditional I mean you look at even this though this at the time was yeah this was amazing right yeah I mean I remember I was talking to somebody youngly Young on the show like 19 and I said uh where's the car key car key car key right at the keys to the car well I got a fob yep oh yeah what's our mirror yeah that's just it was a what what and then you used to leave the car keys like either on the wheel like yeah you leave them on the wheel or you leave them on the windshield wiper remember and now that's all gone now yeah that's all look at that foreign I love that car though that car is a beautiful car Ford truck before GT yeah I love that oh yeah you're talking about your black and orange weather yeah yeah the other car is it that surprise Ford was able to do so much with it it just has a V6 that's what's amazing to me I know I know well that's the new V8 I guess but this is such a torquey motor Okay so about it maybe it's just because all the torques at the bottom end and the one we had in it you better not that I mean it really did a good job right right I remember it would surprise you that yeah when you were sitting at a traffic light and you would push on the accelerator I really would surprise you because there was nothing like that at the time right right you know what I mean the LS6 even at the time with the 411 horsepower zero to 60 and three nine that was that was a lot at that time I know I know I remember when anything under 10 seconds I mean we made Road tester md-0 to 60 17.1 not bad and now you're getting your Tesla and it's like 0 to 60 and less than two 1.9 seconds it's crazy I mean even the Lucid if you've driven a lucid air yeah that's crazy I mean this response so well right this is such a nice drive yeah the Waypoint now the tires they're a little old so you just shred them yeah anytime you get on it it was an aspirational thing to keep the ties from breaking loose and loose break lucid yeah these tires aren't gummy because they've been sitting like you said right yeah well you've got so much torque in any gear but these are really the best sports car value for the money of any car you could get even though they can sell that it's seventy thousand dollars it's unbelievable and I know people have bought them I know some guys have a lot of it it lists you know obviously this deal or mark up and all of that but the fact that he can they can even build it for that is unbelievable it is with the amount of Technology that's in that car yeah it's incredible and such a well-designed car the look of it's incredible because you know I thought okay there's going to be something it'll be a talk about a transmission it'll be steel instead of aluminum or magnesium no none of that no it you know I think it's the equal to any of the Europeans and and and then the Z06 to be able to do what it does the new ZO6 0-60 in 2.6 seconds is incredible for an actually aspirated vehicle I know it's absolutely amazing it it's like where the technology Has Come Today I didn't affordable it's a Supercar for for a price that's not our pricing right although these guys are trying to contract it on a prehab but I love my CA yeah I've got a rapid blue with the black missiles carbon fiber I almost drove it over because I thought that it would be cool to kind of say look at where the Technologies come but this car you know we we achieved almost what that car has in it you know back in in 99 2000 right it's like crazy such a twerky boat of this thing just just at all levels too right all the way through the right it's great exactly right fantastic ride you know this is probably the last generation while maybe the C7 we're outside suppliers could modify it because I don't think there's much you can do to a C8 is there no I mean when you look at the technology that's inside that C8 it's pretty incredible right and and you know I have one and I love that car right and what General Motors has done to that car is unreal right zero to 60 and 2.8 seconds in launch mode it's fantastic and um feet eventually engineering Clayton you know you know 20 years ago if you think about it we accomplished that wheel to wheel of techstar a lot right with this vehicle and it got pretty close right yeah no it's great it's a great ride right Jeff beitzel was one of those guys I used to even activities in young you see and then all of a sudden I saw him one day and they looked horribly sick and you've gotten leukemia but literally it struck Within well in between what I saw him which yeah it's probably a few months but it was so shocking to see this sort of frail old man you know I said geez what happened here I didn't recognize it when he came in yeah and it was very quick and and you know Jeff was a brilliant car guy yeah and uh he touched a lot of lives yeah yeah I don't know if you know the background a little bit of the story of wheel to wheel because a lot of people think that wheel to wheel the the the history of wheel to wheel is that it's the engineering from the front wheel to the back wheel and that's how the company was named right but the company was founded in the late 90s as you know and the company it was really meant to be around wheel to wheel like in race car driving right like that's what the company's name was about right so Jeff started the company with three other guys rich Anderson Doug doad and Dan van alken and uh Jeff came out of Ford Motor Company that was where he originally cut his teeth it was in powertrain engineering so he was a engine guy and then he had a great eye for vehicle design too and you know that right right and wheel to wheel they did a lot of power train design it did concept development they did vehicle engineering and um then what happened is as time went on there was there was this need for different uh oems to find a way to have special vehicle programs right and have limited editions and Jeff's first Rush with a special vehicle program was actually at a company called Pas prior and there he worked on the 20th anniversary Trans Am right and um he he worked on putting the 3.8 liter engine into the 20th anniversary Trans Am with another company called Triad okay and they did that first and he first saw the idea of second stage manufacturing this whole idea that you know the oems could could find a way to take the vehicle offline and do these Special Projects right right that they were unable to do in their plant right so then fast forward he creates wheel to wheel in the late 90s he's doing all of this power train engineering he's doing all this concept development with wheel to wheel and General Motors came along and and was a huge customer along with other companies but GM primarily and GM had a real need with their S10 pickup truck right I remember this yeah the very first program it was super super successful was the S10 Extreme right and um that's how techstar was born right and so wheel to wheel would do all of the different design and engineering and all of the concept development and the powertrain kind of stuff and all of the different validation and Engineering side and then techstar would put all those Concepts into production for General Motors and we would set up a plan like S10 Extreme pickup truck right or the Z71 Suburban the Tahoe or the SB Platinum escalate for example and all of SS Trailblazer SS Silverado so a lot of different programs right along the way and it was a great time from from 1999 2000 all the way all the way until around 2008. right all of these programs thousands of vehicles right and we did a lot of cool stuff also in that time period we we were also involved in all of the pace cars for Indianapolis as you know we did the Brickyard we did NASCAR the Brickyard yeah the Brickyard I mean it was a lot of fun it was so much fun and those times at that time it was so much fun working with Jeff and he touched so many people and um and then as time went on a lot of those big programs became more and more successful and a lot of those programs started to get brought in-house right by the oems right and because they don't need you anymore that's right that's right and uh Jeff became sick at the same time Jennifer became sick as you know and um it was kind of like it the two things happened at the same time Jeff became sick in 2008. those programs were all being brought in house right and uh sadly it was the end of an era I know era and uh it was it was a time in my life Jay that I'll never forget it I got to meet a lot of great people including you and uh sorry about that yeah I mean it's hard to believe I've known you for 20 years now and this is a walk down memory lane but I'll never forget what Jeff for me personally what that company did for me personally I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that feel the same way about Jeff these tires just shred even at 60 miles an hour I feel like just a track car you know yeah I mean that's that's the only thing that's different about like a C8 or Vizio six today's it's all up in the paddles now instead of this oh Paul thanks for helping me relive the memories of uh getting this car and putting it together and I have to admit I I forgot how rare it was it really is a One of a Kind so it's been a lot of fun thank you my friend thanks for having me I appreciate it and he's been involved with McLaren and the P1 and so he knows his stuff so if you have a problem give him a call he'll take care of it thanks Jeff well there you go there you go but anyway Hey listen you guys uh I I hope you enjoyed this little look at this kind of One of a Kind Corvette and uh I'm gonna go driving see you later foreignit's fantastic what the such a Torquay motor it feels like more than 500 change horsepower to me maybe it's just because all the parts it's a lot of men I don't know DeSoto Jay Leno's Garage the car we're featuring today my 2002 Z06 if it looks a little different because this is a concept car uh called the tiger shark uh we I'll tell you it is a fascinating history of this car in fact I once parked it for like two years I got so frustrated we couldn't find a problem uh we were getting an EVAP code you know we drive it and then oh we go to reduce power I couldn't Frank how it was I pull over and I'd pop the gas cap oh and then before Oh that's what it is okay I got a problem there it's not defending or something no but that wasn't it then we replace the canister and the valve that wasn't it I finally tracked down a terrific Corvette mechanic named Donna York he found it in the door in the connector there was uh something causing the car not to ground properly and was shorting I mean we brought in everybody and Donnie was the only guy who could do this and fix it for us so and now I back now I love the car again so it's great but it's got a fascinating history I'm going to bring in a gentleman now who is involved with this car pretty much since the beginning Paul Rivera come on in Paul good to see you my friend Paul is one of these guys he kind of works with you I know you worked with McLaren and everybody in the business this car was built by a company you were with techstar right and wheel to wheel Jeff Beisel was a good friend of ours he started a company in 99 yep the late 90s late 90s uh working with GM primarily yeah yeah and and this car is a really unique car it's a super rare car there's a lot to unpack here as we said right and I think that the first thing we need to talk about is just the original C5 right because the the car itself was an incredible car when the C5 came out right it was a convertible right and the C5 had an LS1 engine in it 345 horsepower in it originally right and what happened was as time evolved in the late 90s and General Motors started to talk about the idea of doing something special with the Corvette they wanted to to make sure that they didn't they didn't touch the price point because the C5 had a price point just under 40 thousand dollars and you have here something that was really cool because they started to introduce some things that were really unique so the first thing that you start to notice when we talk about the base car is GM introduced the FRC the fixed you know the fixed roof coupe right and that was unique and then when they started to talk about putting a z51 package back into the car you could order the z51 package but to do that they took about 80 pounds out of the car so that was a really cool idea and then they put an LS6 engine into the car and then they reintroduced the moniker they put Z06 back into line and they hadn't used Z06 since 1963. right right that was but that was the legendary car that took on the cobras that's right yeah that was that was a track ready right that was a track ready car right and so now all of a sudden you're starting to talk about a C5 Z06 Z5 51 package that had a fixed roof Coupe there were some other things that were unique about the C5 remember that was the first time the throttle was you know it was a wire drive-by-wire throttle right and it had the heads up display as you know it had tandem windshield wipers instead of opposing windshield wipers so there's some really cool things it just started out with the car to begin with and the the first year that the Z06 came out and it had the LS6 engine in it had 385 horsepower engine but one year later that LS6 engine went to 405 horsepower right so this vehicle as it sat before we ever touched it right was a 405 horsepower LS6 engine right that had a a speed of 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds right and um really really cool car and you could get it with uh black interior black interior or black interior right yeah that was it right and it was a six-speed manual transmission so that was that was the base but then we took it and the whole idea at the time when uh Jeff beitzel got involved and when we got involved at wheel to wheel was that GMS VA at the time was thinking well let's create something that is even more unique and the idea of tiger shark came about and the the original thought was going to be that if we change the look of the car and if we upgraded the powertrain even more we would have something that ultimately the GM organization could sell through their special Parts organization and we started the play with the powertrain so the very first thing we did is we took the LS6 engine and we board a four inch bore right and we changed the stroke to a four inch stroke and we put lunati crankshaft in there right and we put in a specially designed exhaust system that that wheel to wheel powertrain had designed it was a four in one with a three inch collector right and if you look in the back when we get to the back of the vehicle you can see that it has a specialty designed corset touring exhaust system on it and so we took this powertrain and took it to a 6.6 liter 525 horsepower Powertrain and the speed was better than 0 to 60 and 3.9 seconds it was very very unique and then you start to look at the the tiger shark package and so what you have here is you have a front fascia that is completely different right than any other vet out there it has a chin spoiler that's about the third one I've torn a bunch of these off it is very very low right I remember getting phone calls from you by the way about this and and as recently as only a couple months ago your team called and asked if there's any replacement for it and um on the inside if you open up the doors you can see that there's you know Carbon Fiber door Sills right right special leather special leather packaging that's on the inside of the vehicle right so I mean there's some unique things that were on the inside and then of course the rear fascia with the tiger shark tail right and then the European style tail lights that were in the back too yeah so very very different vehicle and it's the only one that exists today right right I mean there's bits and Bobs and parts Jay that are out there and there was some GM execs and wheel to wheel execs that had some of these parts put on their cars right but the program never it never went on right and so you have the only one so tough to put a value on this car even for Donald Osborne tough to put effect on this car yeah and plus that original engine I think we blew it up twice yeah yes thanks for reminding me yeah no no no that's nobody's fault but it was uh now we have in it a 427 Ellis seven I love seven yeah crate motor and that's great you know that evap problem was so annoying because you drive it and reduce power and now I'm going 40 on the freeway be people are yelling at me you know and we just couldn't figure out what it was and luckily Donnie traced it to a connector in the door that was short and out of ground I mean nobody could find it can't couldn't find it using the onboard diagnostics coming up the EVAP code replace valve we're just going through everything I would park it for months just trying to figure out what was wrong so uh once again Donnie thank you my friend he's the guy that that try and how we tracked it down I don't know but uh yeah he did now now it's a wonderful car I mean I really enjoy it now it's fast it handles it's that Classic front end front engine Corvette you know with all kinds of torque it's amazing the bottom end on this car is really incredible yeah it's pretty balanced for a Corvette too that was one thing that also changed when he got to C5 it became a pretty big yeah they had the transaxle that's right and it really became a modern Supercar yeah you know and we almost have to thank Dodge for coming out with the Viper because that got Jam off its rear end to kind of hey we got to do because they were happy 345 that's fine because there was no competition and I've got another C5 a 99 I love that car it is just a wonderful Road car you can put tons of lug you go to Home Depot in it with that you know put a piece of lumber back it's great it's great so there was no reason to go for more power until competition came along and then the whole horsepower thing started yeah but I remember when this first came out as the Z06 was the first generation 435 horse so it was 385 you said it was the first LS6 was 385 right right for only for one year right and then it moved to yeah 405. oh 405 yeah but that was like four facts unbelievable right you know 400 horsepower it's only 20 years ago or it's a long time ago nice to walk down memory lane yeah yeah if you're my age it's yesterday if you're if you're your age it probably seems a long time ago but it seems like yesterday for me too I know it's amazing but some of the the other the other thing that's really cool about it Jay you know when they put the fixed the uh the FRC the fixture of Coupe together one of the things that that started to really Advance was the fact that this FRC actually added quite a bit of stability to the car right because there's a lot of rigidity that was created by putting this right it's like an arch issue yeah and in fact some Reports say that it added up to you know 12 percent rigidity to the vehicle and there there's a writer is and you may know him but there's a writer from vet magazine and for Motor Trend his name is Scott Teeters maybe you know him and in in 2016 he wrote that you know Corvette lovers up until up until 1980 basically their only options for special Corvettes were just a power train upgrade right that was basically it and then a 90 is when the ZR1 came out right it was really when the fixed roof core the fixer Coupe came out that that's when this whole start of all of the new the New Evolution of Corvette started to really the engineering started to really improve because that's when there was all of this racing style tubular design the steel between the front and the back started to come into play creating more rigidity and more of the racing style let's show them under the hood here as I said right now we've got your LS7 yeah and again some cool features inside here on that side under the battery open that tray remember that yeah I thought that was a real cool place to store storage yeah right under there you know so car carbon fiber a little carbon fiber yeah and this LS7 obviously same size so it drops right in but it's great I mean it's this is a bulletproof motor I think it's one of the best Corvette motors of all time the LS7 427 Coupe against small block which uh you know back in the day was based on the 396 and now it's based on the small block which is pretty interesting but yeah I always like that because you could keep things there and people go where's the battery they'd be hunting in the back underneath I mean that just lifts right up doesn't it yeah yeah it comes right out there you go the battery underneath there but yep does anybody make that piece anymore because I think that's such a great deal it's a great idea right yeah yeah it really is pretty slick yeah well you know my favorite thing whenever you read the car and driver Road and track Motor Trend they do a shootout it's always Porsche and Corvette maybe Lamborghini but you rarely see Ferrari anybody else these things because people aren't afraid to drive these like Porsches you know it's not unusual to see them 80 90 000 miles on them and so you know still going strong you know and these are really not bulletproof engines but it's as good as you're going to get I think because you could just drive them and drive my buddy's got one he's got a hundred thousand miles on it doesn't smoke works fine changes the oil you know they're wonderful they last forever yeah yeah and and the the C5 was really the the greatest Corvette up to that point just in terms of engineering and and going for more Sports carness you know as opposed just front engine transmission will transact the whole deal you know it nicely balanced car my 99 it's just the nicest driving car comfortable yeah and this this thing is is a beast it's a lot of fun to drive on the street we'll take it out in just a minute what else is there well the wheels I think are unique to the car yeah I mean the wheels were unique as well and and also obviously the Brembo brakes were cool um yeah I mean there's just it's like I said such a the paint the paint the Millennium yellow paint the PPG Millennium yellow paint was unique to the vehicle as well right right everybody saw you coming right yeah this was unique to it so um and and like we said before the tail lights are very different because as you can see this is the European style tail lights right this is not typical here right right so this is very different as well so just again very very special yeah I mean I like I said this thing sat for two years I was so frustrated we couldn't get anybody to figure out and the on onboard diagnostics kept coming up uh EVAP code you know blah blah I was like so what are we doing here and I thought is is is it is the gas tank plugged is it crossover it drove us nuts so Donnie again thank you I'm sorry you were frustrated I'm glad it was something it was more simple than yeah and less complex let's say I know I know but and this car is 20 years old and that's a pretty it was a pretty complex problem I'm glad you still drive it oh yeah no I love it it's a lot of fun yeah uh this is the one you just go out and tear through the hills with you know let's do it I've ripped that I ripped that splitter off three times that's the last one I had I bought a couple of extras so I think we should take a respend and see what she does all right let's do it let's close the hood that's so cool that's that whole that's traditional huh that's not a little traditional traditional traditional I mean you look at even this though this at the time was yeah this was amazing right yeah I mean I remember I was talking to somebody youngly Young on the show like 19 and I said uh where's the car key car key car key right at the keys to the car well I got a fob yep oh yeah what's our mirror yeah that's just it was a what what and then you used to leave the car keys like either on the wheel like yeah you leave them on the wheel or you leave them on the windshield wiper remember and now that's all gone now yeah that's all look at that foreign I love that car though that car is a beautiful car Ford truck before GT yeah I love that oh yeah you're talking about your black and orange weather yeah yeah the other car is it that surprise Ford was able to do so much with it it just has a V6 that's what's amazing to me I know I know well that's the new V8 I guess but this is such a torquey motor Okay so about it maybe it's just because all the torques at the bottom end and the one we had in it you better not that I mean it really did a good job right right I remember it would surprise you that yeah when you were sitting at a traffic light and you would push on the accelerator I really would surprise you because there was nothing like that at the time right right you know what I mean the LS6 even at the time with the 411 horsepower zero to 60 and three nine that was that was a lot at that time I know I know I remember when anything under 10 seconds I mean we made Road tester md-0 to 60 17.1 not bad and now you're getting your Tesla and it's like 0 to 60 and less than two 1.9 seconds it's crazy I mean even the Lucid if you've driven a lucid air yeah that's crazy I mean this response so well right this is such a nice drive yeah the Waypoint now the tires they're a little old so you just shred them yeah anytime you get on it it was an aspirational thing to keep the ties from breaking loose and loose break lucid yeah these tires aren't gummy because they've been sitting like you said right yeah well you've got so much torque in any gear but these are really the best sports car value for the money of any car you could get even though they can sell that it's seventy thousand dollars it's unbelievable and I know people have bought them I know some guys have a lot of it it lists you know obviously this deal or mark up and all of that but the fact that he can they can even build it for that is unbelievable it is with the amount of Technology that's in that car yeah it's incredible and such a well-designed car the look of it's incredible because you know I thought okay there's going to be something it'll be a talk about a transmission it'll be steel instead of aluminum or magnesium no none of that no it you know I think it's the equal to any of the Europeans and and and then the Z06 to be able to do what it does the new ZO6 0-60 in 2.6 seconds is incredible for an actually aspirated vehicle I know it's absolutely amazing it it's like where the technology Has Come Today I didn't affordable it's a Supercar for for a price that's not our pricing right although these guys are trying to contract it on a prehab but I love my CA yeah I've got a rapid blue with the black missiles carbon fiber I almost drove it over because I thought that it would be cool to kind of say look at where the Technologies come but this car you know we we achieved almost what that car has in it you know back in in 99 2000 right it's like crazy such a twerky boat of this thing just just at all levels too right all the way through the right it's great exactly right fantastic ride you know this is probably the last generation while maybe the C7 we're outside suppliers could modify it because I don't think there's much you can do to a C8 is there no I mean when you look at the technology that's inside that C8 it's pretty incredible right and and you know I have one and I love that car right and what General Motors has done to that car is unreal right zero to 60 and 2.8 seconds in launch mode it's fantastic and um feet eventually engineering Clayton you know you know 20 years ago if you think about it we accomplished that wheel to wheel of techstar a lot right with this vehicle and it got pretty close right yeah no it's great it's a great ride right Jeff beitzel was one of those guys I used to even activities in young you see and then all of a sudden I saw him one day and they looked horribly sick and you've gotten leukemia but literally it struck Within well in between what I saw him which yeah it's probably a few months but it was so shocking to see this sort of frail old man you know I said geez what happened here I didn't recognize it when he came in yeah and it was very quick and and you know Jeff was a brilliant car guy yeah and uh he touched a lot of lives yeah yeah I don't know if you know the background a little bit of the story of wheel to wheel because a lot of people think that wheel to wheel the the the history of wheel to wheel is that it's the engineering from the front wheel to the back wheel and that's how the company was named right but the company was founded in the late 90s as you know and the company it was really meant to be around wheel to wheel like in race car driving right like that's what the company's name was about right so Jeff started the company with three other guys rich Anderson Doug doad and Dan van alken and uh Jeff came out of Ford Motor Company that was where he originally cut his teeth it was in powertrain engineering so he was a engine guy and then he had a great eye for vehicle design too and you know that right right and wheel to wheel they did a lot of power train design it did concept development they did vehicle engineering and um then what happened is as time went on there was there was this need for different uh oems to find a way to have special vehicle programs right and have limited editions and Jeff's first Rush with a special vehicle program was actually at a company called Pas prior and there he worked on the 20th anniversary Trans Am right and um he he worked on putting the 3.8 liter engine into the 20th anniversary Trans Am with another company called Triad okay and they did that first and he first saw the idea of second stage manufacturing this whole idea that you know the oems could could find a way to take the vehicle offline and do these Special Projects right right that they were unable to do in their plant right so then fast forward he creates wheel to wheel in the late 90s he's doing all of this power train engineering he's doing all this concept development with wheel to wheel and General Motors came along and and was a huge customer along with other companies but GM primarily and GM had a real need with their S10 pickup truck right I remember this yeah the very first program it was super super successful was the S10 Extreme right and um that's how techstar was born right and so wheel to wheel would do all of the different design and engineering and all of the concept development and the powertrain kind of stuff and all of the different validation and Engineering side and then techstar would put all those Concepts into production for General Motors and we would set up a plan like S10 Extreme pickup truck right or the Z71 Suburban the Tahoe or the SB Platinum escalate for example and all of SS Trailblazer SS Silverado so a lot of different programs right along the way and it was a great time from from 1999 2000 all the way all the way until around 2008. right all of these programs thousands of vehicles right and we did a lot of cool stuff also in that time period we we were also involved in all of the pace cars for Indianapolis as you know we did the Brickyard we did NASCAR the Brickyard yeah the Brickyard I mean it was a lot of fun it was so much fun and those times at that time it was so much fun working with Jeff and he touched so many people and um and then as time went on a lot of those big programs became more and more successful and a lot of those programs started to get brought in-house right by the oems right and because they don't need you anymore that's right that's right and uh Jeff became sick at the same time Jennifer became sick as you know and um it was kind of like it the two things happened at the same time Jeff became sick in 2008. those programs were all being brought in house right and uh sadly it was the end of an era I know era and uh it was it was a time in my life Jay that I'll never forget it I got to meet a lot of great people including you and uh sorry about that yeah I mean it's hard to believe I've known you for 20 years now and this is a walk down memory lane but I'll never forget what Jeff for me personally what that company did for me personally I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that feel the same way about Jeff these tires just shred even at 60 miles an hour I feel like just a track car you know yeah I mean that's that's the only thing that's different about like a C8 or Vizio six today's it's all up in the paddles now instead of this oh Paul thanks for helping me relive the memories of uh getting this car and putting it together and I have to admit I I forgot how rare it was it really is a One of a Kind so it's been a lot of fun thank you my friend thanks for having me I appreciate it and he's been involved with McLaren and the P1 and so he knows his stuff so if you have a problem give him a call he'll take care of it thanks Jeff well there you go there you go but anyway Hey listen you guys uh I I hope you enjoyed this little look at this kind of One of a Kind Corvette and uh I'm gonna go driving see you later foreignit's fantastic what the such a Torquay motor it feels like more than 500 change horsepower to me maybe it's just because all the parts it's a lot of men I don't know DeSoto Jay Leno's Garage the car we're featuring today my 2002 Z06 if it looks a little different because this is a concept car uh called the tiger shark uh we I'll tell you it is a fascinating history of this car in fact I once parked it for like two years I got so frustrated we couldn't find a problem uh we were getting an EVAP code you know we drive it and then oh we go to reduce power I couldn't Frank how it was I pull over and I'd pop the gas cap oh and then before Oh that's what it is okay I got a problem there it's not defending or something no but that wasn't it then we replace the canister and the valve that wasn't it I finally tracked down a terrific Corvette mechanic named Donna York he found it in the door in the connector there was uh something causing the car not to ground properly and was shorting I mean we brought in everybody and Donnie was the only guy who could do this and fix it for us so and now I back now I love the car again so it's great but it's got a fascinating history I'm going to bring in a gentleman now who is involved with this car pretty much since the beginning Paul Rivera come on in Paul good to see you my friend Paul is one of these guys he kind of works with you I know you worked with McLaren and everybody in the business this car was built by a company you were with techstar right and wheel to wheel Jeff Beisel was a good friend of ours he started a company in 99 yep the late 90s late 90s uh working with GM primarily yeah yeah and and this car is a really unique car it's a super rare car there's a lot to unpack here as we said right and I think that the first thing we need to talk about is just the original C5 right because the the car itself was an incredible car when the C5 came out right it was a convertible right and the C5 had an LS1 engine in it 345 horsepower in it originally right and what happened was as time evolved in the late 90s and General Motors started to talk about the idea of doing something special with the Corvette they wanted to to make sure that they didn't they didn't touch the price point because the C5 had a price point just under 40 thousand dollars and you have here something that was really cool because they started to introduce some things that were really unique so the first thing that you start to notice when we talk about the base car is GM introduced the FRC the fixed you know the fixed roof coupe right and that was unique and then when they started to talk about putting a z51 package back into the car you could order the z51 package but to do that they took about 80 pounds out of the car so that was a really cool idea and then they put an LS6 engine into the car and then they reintroduced the moniker they put Z06 back into line and they hadn't used Z06 since 1963. right right that was but that was the legendary car that took on the cobras that's right yeah that was that was a track ready right that was a track ready car right and so now all of a sudden you're starting to talk about a C5 Z06 Z5 51 package that had a fixed roof Coupe there were some other things that were unique about the C5 remember that was the first time the throttle was you know it was a wire drive-by-wire throttle right and it had the heads up display as you know it had tandem windshield wipers instead of opposing windshield wipers so there's some really cool things it just started out with the car to begin with and the the first year that the Z06 came out and it had the LS6 engine in it had 385 horsepower engine but one year later that LS6 engine went to 405 horsepower right so this vehicle as it sat before we ever touched it right was a 405 horsepower LS6 engine right that had a a speed of 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds right and um really really cool car and you could get it with uh black interior black interior or black interior right yeah that was it right and it was a six-speed manual transmission so that was that was the base but then we took it and the whole idea at the time when uh Jeff beitzel got involved and when we got involved at wheel to wheel was that GMS VA at the time was thinking well let's create something that is even more unique and the idea of tiger shark came about and the the original thought was going to be that if we change the look of the car and if we upgraded the powertrain even more we would have something that ultimately the GM organization could sell through their special Parts organization and we started the play with the powertrain so the very first thing we did is we took the LS6 engine and we board a four inch bore right and we changed the stroke to a four inch stroke and we put lunati crankshaft in there right and we put in a specially designed exhaust system that that wheel to wheel powertrain had designed it was a four in one with a three inch collector right and if you look in the back when we get to the back of the vehicle you can see that it has a specialty designed corset touring exhaust system on it and so we took this powertrain and took it to a 6.6 liter 525 horsepower Powertrain and the speed was better than 0 to 60 and 3.9 seconds it was very very unique and then you start to look at the the tiger shark package and so what you have here is you have a front fascia that is completely different right than any other vet out there it has a chin spoiler that's about the third one I've torn a bunch of these off it is very very low right I remember getting phone calls from you by the way about this and and as recently as only a couple months ago your team called and asked if there's any replacement for it and um on the inside if you open up the doors you can see that there's you know Carbon Fiber door Sills right right special leather special leather packaging that's on the inside of the vehicle right so I mean there's some unique things that were on the inside and then of course the rear fascia with the tiger shark tail right and then the European style tail lights that were in the back too yeah so very very different vehicle and it's the only one that exists today right right I mean there's bits and Bobs and parts Jay that are out there and there was some GM execs and wheel to wheel execs that had some of these parts put on their cars right but the program never it never went on right and so you have the only one so tough to put a value on this car even for Donald Osborne tough to put effect on this car yeah and plus that original engine I think we blew it up twice yeah yes thanks for reminding me yeah no no no that's nobody's fault but it was uh now we have in it a 427 Ellis seven I love seven yeah crate motor and that's great you know that evap problem was so annoying because you drive it and reduce power and now I'm going 40 on the freeway be people are yelling at me you know and we just couldn't figure out what it was and luckily Donnie traced it to a connector in the door that was short and out of ground I mean nobody could find it can't couldn't find it using the onboard diagnostics coming up the EVAP code replace valve we're just going through everything I would park it for months just trying to figure out what was wrong so uh once again Donnie thank you my friend he's the guy that that try and how we tracked it down I don't know but uh yeah he did now now it's a wonderful car I mean I really enjoy it now it's fast it handles it's that Classic front end front engine Corvette you know with all kinds of torque it's amazing the bottom end on this car is really incredible yeah it's pretty balanced for a Corvette too that was one thing that also changed when he got to C5 it became a pretty big yeah they had the transaxle that's right and it really became a modern Supercar yeah you know and we almost have to thank Dodge for coming out with the Viper because that got Jam off its rear end to kind of hey we got to do because they were happy 345 that's fine because there was no competition and I've got another C5 a 99 I love that car it is just a wonderful Road car you can put tons of lug you go to Home Depot in it with that you know put a piece of lumber back it's great it's great so there was no reason to go for more power until competition came along and then the whole horsepower thing started yeah but I remember when this first came out as the Z06 was the first generation 435 horse so it was 385 you said it was the first LS6 was 385 right right for only for one year right and then it moved to yeah 405. oh 405 yeah but that was like four facts unbelievable right you know 400 horsepower it's only 20 years ago or it's a long time ago nice to walk down memory lane yeah yeah if you're my age it's yesterday if you're if you're your age it probably seems a long time ago but it seems like yesterday for me too I know it's amazing but some of the the other the other thing that's really cool about it Jay you know when they put the fixed the uh the FRC the fixture of Coupe together one of the things that that started to really Advance was the fact that this FRC actually added quite a bit of stability to the car right because there's a lot of rigidity that was created by putting this right it's like an arch issue yeah and in fact some Reports say that it added up to you know 12 percent rigidity to the vehicle and there there's a writer is and you may know him but there's a writer from vet magazine and for Motor Trend his name is Scott Teeters maybe you know him and in in 2016 he wrote that you know Corvette lovers up until up until 1980 basically their only options for special Corvettes were just a power train upgrade right that was basically it and then a 90 is when the ZR1 came out right it was really when the fixed roof core the fixer Coupe came out that that's when this whole start of all of the new the New Evolution of Corvette started to really the engineering started to really improve because that's when there was all of this racing style tubular design the steel between the front and the back started to come into play creating more rigidity and more of the racing style let's show them under the hood here as I said right now we've got your LS7 yeah and again some cool features inside here on that side under the battery open that tray remember that yeah I thought that was a real cool place to store storage yeah right under there you know so car carbon fiber a little carbon fiber yeah and this LS7 obviously same size so it drops right in but it's great I mean it's this is a bulletproof motor I think it's one of the best Corvette motors of all time the LS7 427 Coupe against small block which uh you know back in the day was based on the 396 and now it's based on the small block which is pretty interesting but yeah I always like that because you could keep things there and people go where's the battery they'd be hunting in the back underneath I mean that just lifts right up doesn't it yeah yeah it comes right out there you go the battery underneath there but yep does anybody make that piece anymore because I think that's such a great deal it's a great idea right yeah yeah it really is pretty slick yeah well you know my favorite thing whenever you read the car and driver Road and track Motor Trend they do a shootout it's always Porsche and Corvette maybe Lamborghini but you rarely see Ferrari anybody else these things because people aren't afraid to drive these like Porsches you know it's not unusual to see them 80 90 000 miles on them and so you know still going strong you know and these are really not bulletproof engines but it's as good as you're going to get I think because you could just drive them and drive my buddy's got one he's got a hundred thousand miles on it doesn't smoke works fine changes the oil you know they're wonderful they last forever yeah yeah and and the the C5 was really the the greatest Corvette up to that point just in terms of engineering and and going for more Sports carness you know as opposed just front engine transmission will transact the whole deal you know it nicely balanced car my 99 it's just the nicest driving car comfortable yeah and this this thing is is a beast it's a lot of fun to drive on the street we'll take it out in just a minute what else is there well the wheels I think are unique to the car yeah I mean the wheels were unique as well and and also obviously the Brembo brakes were cool um yeah I mean there's just it's like I said such a the paint the paint the Millennium yellow paint the PPG Millennium yellow paint was unique to the vehicle as well right right everybody saw you coming right yeah this was unique to it so um and and like we said before the tail lights are very different because as you can see this is the European style tail lights right this is not typical here right right so this is very different as well so just again very very special yeah I mean I like I said this thing sat for two years I was so frustrated we couldn't get anybody to figure out and the on onboard diagnostics kept coming up uh EVAP code you know blah blah I was like so what are we doing here and I thought is is is it is the gas tank plugged is it crossover it drove us nuts so Donnie again thank you I'm sorry you were frustrated I'm glad it was something it was more simple than yeah and less complex let's say I know I know but and this car is 20 years old and that's a pretty it was a pretty complex problem I'm glad you still drive it oh yeah no I love it it's a lot of fun yeah uh this is the one you just go out and tear through the hills with you know let's do it I've ripped that I ripped that splitter off three times that's the last one I had I bought a couple of extras so I think we should take a respend and see what she does all right let's do it let's close the hood that's so cool that's that whole that's traditional huh that's not a little traditional traditional traditional I mean you look at even this though this at the time was yeah this was amazing right yeah I mean I remember I was talking to somebody youngly Young on the show like 19 and I said uh where's the car key car key car key right at the keys to the car well I got a fob yep oh yeah what's our mirror yeah that's just it was a what what and then you used to leave the car keys like either on the wheel like yeah you leave them on the wheel or you leave them on the windshield wiper remember and now that's all gone now yeah that's all look at that foreign I love that car though that car is a beautiful car Ford truck before GT yeah I love that oh yeah you're talking about your black and orange weather yeah yeah the other car is it that surprise Ford was able to do so much with it it just has a V6 that's what's amazing to me I know I know well that's the new V8 I guess but this is such a torquey motor Okay so about it maybe it's just because all the torques at the bottom end and the one we had in it you better not that I mean it really did a good job right right I remember it would surprise you that yeah when you were sitting at a traffic light and you would push on the accelerator I really would surprise you because there was nothing like that at the time right right you know what I mean the LS6 even at the time with the 411 horsepower zero to 60 and three nine that was that was a lot at that time I know I know I remember when anything under 10 seconds I mean we made Road tester md-0 to 60 17.1 not bad and now you're getting your Tesla and it's like 0 to 60 and less than two 1.9 seconds it's crazy I mean even the Lucid if you've driven a lucid air yeah that's crazy I mean this response so well right this is such a nice drive yeah the Waypoint now the tires they're a little old so you just shred them yeah anytime you get on it it was an aspirational thing to keep the ties from breaking loose and loose break lucid yeah these tires aren't gummy because they've been sitting like you said right yeah well you've got so much torque in any gear but these are really the best sports car value for the money of any car you could get even though they can sell that it's seventy thousand dollars it's unbelievable and I know people have bought them I know some guys have a lot of it it lists you know obviously this deal or mark up and all of that but the fact that he can they can even build it for that is unbelievable it is with the amount of Technology that's in that car yeah it's incredible and such a well-designed car the look of it's incredible because you know I thought okay there's going to be something it'll be a talk about a transmission it'll be steel instead of aluminum or magnesium no none of that no it you know I think it's the equal to any of the Europeans and and and then the Z06 to be able to do what it does the new ZO6 0-60 in 2.6 seconds is incredible for an actually aspirated vehicle I know it's absolutely amazing it it's like where the technology Has Come Today I didn't affordable it's a Supercar for for a price that's not our pricing right although these guys are trying to contract it on a prehab but I love my CA yeah I've got a rapid blue with the black missiles carbon fiber I almost drove it over because I thought that it would be cool to kind of say look at where the Technologies come but this car you know we we achieved almost what that car has in it you know back in in 99 2000 right it's like crazy such a twerky boat of this thing just just at all levels too right all the way through the right it's great exactly right fantastic ride you know this is probably the last generation while maybe the C7 we're outside suppliers could modify it because I don't think there's much you can do to a C8 is there no I mean when you look at the technology that's inside that C8 it's pretty incredible right and and you know I have one and I love that car right and what General Motors has done to that car is unreal right zero to 60 and 2.8 seconds in launch mode it's fantastic and um feet eventually engineering Clayton you know you know 20 years ago if you think about it we accomplished that wheel to wheel of techstar a lot right with this vehicle and it got pretty close right yeah no it's great it's a great ride right Jeff beitzel was one of those guys I used to even activities in young you see and then all of a sudden I saw him one day and they looked horribly sick and you've gotten leukemia but literally it struck Within well in between what I saw him which yeah it's probably a few months but it was so shocking to see this sort of frail old man you know I said geez what happened here I didn't recognize it when he came in yeah and it was very quick and and you know Jeff was a brilliant car guy yeah and uh he touched a lot of lives yeah yeah I don't know if you know the background a little bit of the story of wheel to wheel because a lot of people think that wheel to wheel the the the history of wheel to wheel is that it's the engineering from the front wheel to the back wheel and that's how the company was named right but the company was founded in the late 90s as you know and the company it was really meant to be around wheel to wheel like in race car driving right like that's what the company's name was about right so Jeff started the company with three other guys rich Anderson Doug doad and Dan van alken and uh Jeff came out of Ford Motor Company that was where he originally cut his teeth it was in powertrain engineering so he was a engine guy and then he had a great eye for vehicle design too and you know that right right and wheel to wheel they did a lot of power train design it did concept development they did vehicle engineering and um then what happened is as time went on there was there was this need for different uh oems to find a way to have special vehicle programs right and have limited editions and Jeff's first Rush with a special vehicle program was actually at a company called Pas prior and there he worked on the 20th anniversary Trans Am right and um he he worked on putting the 3.8 liter engine into the 20th anniversary Trans Am with another company called Triad okay and they did that first and he first saw the idea of second stage manufacturing this whole idea that you know the oems could could find a way to take the vehicle offline and do these Special Projects right right that they were unable to do in their plant right so then fast forward he creates wheel to wheel in the late 90s he's doing all of this power train engineering he's doing all this concept development with wheel to wheel and General Motors came along and and was a huge customer along with other companies but GM primarily and GM had a real need with their S10 pickup truck right I remember this yeah the very first program it was super super successful was the S10 Extreme right and um that's how techstar was born right and so wheel to wheel would do all of the different design and engineering and all of the concept development and the powertrain kind of stuff and all of the different validation and Engineering side and then techstar would put all those Concepts into production for General Motors and we would set up a plan like S10 Extreme pickup truck right or the Z71 Suburban the Tahoe or the SB Platinum escalate for example and all of SS Trailblazer SS Silverado so a lot of different programs right along the way and it was a great time from from 1999 2000 all the way all the way until around 2008. right all of these programs thousands of vehicles right and we did a lot of cool stuff also in that time period we we were also involved in all of the pace cars for Indianapolis as you know we did the Brickyard we did NASCAR the Brickyard yeah the Brickyard I mean it was a lot of fun it was so much fun and those times at that time it was so much fun working with Jeff and he touched so many people and um and then as time went on a lot of those big programs became more and more successful and a lot of those programs started to get brought in-house right by the oems right and because they don't need you anymore that's right that's right and uh Jeff became sick at the same time Jennifer became sick as you know and um it was kind of like it the two things happened at the same time Jeff became sick in 2008. those programs were all being brought in house right and uh sadly it was the end of an era I know era and uh it was it was a time in my life Jay that I'll never forget it I got to meet a lot of great people including you and uh sorry about that yeah I mean it's hard to believe I've known you for 20 years now and this is a walk down memory lane but I'll never forget what Jeff for me personally what that company did for me personally I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that feel the same way about Jeff these tires just shred even at 60 miles an hour I feel like just a track car you know yeah I mean that's that's the only thing that's different about like a C8 or Vizio six today's it's all up in the paddles now instead of this oh Paul thanks for helping me relive the memories of uh getting this car and putting it together and I have to admit I I forgot how rare it was it really is a One of a Kind so it's been a lot of fun thank you my friend thanks for having me I appreciate it and he's been involved with McLaren and the P1 and so he knows his stuff so if you have a problem give him a call he'll take care of it thanks Jeff well there you go there you go but anyway Hey listen you guys uh I I hope you enjoyed this little look at this kind of One of a Kind Corvette and uh I'm gonna go driving see you later foreign\n"