When you look at a Motion Corvette, or any of the handbuilt supercars built by Joel Rosen's Motion Performance in New York, you're looking at a genuine original -a superlative masterpiece as novel, creative, and uniquely American as rock 'n' roll, Times Square, hot dogs, Route 66, the jukebox, blue jeans, and Woodstock.
A Motion Corvette is much more than a souped-up Corvette. The Motion Corvette is its own cultural statement, complete in its over-the-top outrageousness, reflecting one of the last great pre-NHTSA/DOT/EPA periods of American creative flow when anything was possible; when if you could dream it, you could build it; when the best way of predicting the future was to create it. It's an iconic symbol of what we would buy if we were all rock stars. If you climbed to the peak of Mt. Horsepower during the peak of the musclecar years, this is what you would find at the summit.
If you were into cars at all in the '60s and '70s, you knew of Motion Performance in New York. The little shop in New York City, run by native New Yorker Joel Rosen, had a big presence and a big reputation. Motion worked on all makes, but their specialty was Chevrolet: Biscayne, Nova, Chevelle, Corvette, and Camaro. They'd build you a screamer guaranteed to do 11.50 in the quarter-mile. Motion cars were more radical, more stylish, and more outrageous than anything else. The Camaro was the most popular Motion car, but Joel had a particular passion for Corvettes. He appreciated their edgy styling, next-level performance, and roadster handling. He kept a Corvette for his personal use for years.
Other dealers might put a super-tune on an otherwise stock engine, or sell you a stocker with a stripe and graphics package, but if you wanted to go seriously fast, you called Mr. Motion. His one-of-a-kind creations were wild, ultra-fast, and usually owned by the rare individual who sought out the radical and wasn't satisfied with less.
We've got a triple feature of Motion Corvettes here, spanning different years, intended usage and styling. As you flip through this special section, remember that when you look at a Motion Corvette, you're looking at an automotive classic-part Gershwin, part Kiss, all American.