State Rep. wants Corvette to be state's sports car

[Rob]

State Rep. wants Corvette to be state's sports car

By Jere Downs
jdowns@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
10-09-2007

State Rep. C.B. Embry, R-Butler, wants to enshrine the Corvette as Kentucky’s official state sports car.

Embry filed a bill yesterday for the upcoming General Assembly to designate the special status to the 54-year-old icon

The bill honors General Motors “for locating the facility with us. They have over 900 jobs there that pay very well,” Embry, 66, said in an interview today.

Launched in 1953, the Corvette is manufactured solely in Warren County, Kentucky.

Mindful of other automotive plants in the Commonwealth that produce the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, Ford F-Series Super Duty Trucks, and the Toyota Camry, Embry said he specifically sought to name the Corvette the state sports car, not the state vehicle.

“There would be a controversy to name it the official state vehicle,” he said.

A General Motors spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.

There are no co-sponsors on the bill, but Embry said he expected broad support when the legislature convenes in January.

“Everything we do is not a big earthshaking thing like healthcare or pensions,” the third term Republican said of the idea. “It is nice to slide in a fun thing from time to time.”

[Rob]

Legislator proposes honoring Corvette

Bill would make it state's sports car

By Jere Downs
jdowns@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

What has great lines, tremendous horsepower and makes Kentucky famous?

It is not a horse. It is Kentucky's other thoroughbred, the Corvette.

And on the heels of reports that General Motors will soon manufacture the Pontiac Solstice at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, a state representative is seeking to enshrine the Corvette as the state's official sports car.

The Corvette is "recognized all over the world as one of the leading sports cars," state Rep. C.B. Embry, R-Butler, said yesterday.

Launched in 1953, Corvettes are made only in the Warren County plant by 960 workers. Production of the Vette was moved to the then-new plant in Bowling Green in 1981.

Last week, United Auto Workers Local 2164 President Eldon Renaud said the recent tentative contract with GM will bring up to 2,000 jobs to Bowling Green from Wilmington, Del., by 2012 to produce the Solstice and the Saturn Sky.

"That will strengthen that plant and be important economic development for Kentucky," Embry said.

GM does not comment on production plans, company spokeswoman Wendy Clark said yesterday, adding, "We are aware that some of it has leaked out."

In Bowling Green, longtime Corvette plant manager Will Cooksey, said he has six Corvettes and understands the car's global appeal.

"They are shipped all over the world," Cooksey said.

Unlike most cars on the road with roughly 200-horsepower engines, the Corvette can crank out 430 to 505 horsepower.

"It will do 198 mph right off the showroom floor," Cooksey said.

Mindful of other automotive plants in the commonwealth that produce the Ford Explorer, Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks, and the Toyota Camry, Embry said he specifically sought to name the Corvette the state sports car, not the state vehicle.

"There would be a controversy to name it the official state vehicle," he said.

There are no co-sponsors on the bill, but Embry said he expects broad support when the legislature convenes in January.

"Everything we do is not a big earthshaking thing like health care or pensions," the third-term Republican said. "It is nice to slide in a fun thing from time to time."
The vote should be a no-brainer, said Larry Martin, a board member of the National Corvette Museum, which is in Bowling Green. The museum draws 150,000 visitors a year, he added.

"Of all the silly things and all of the important things the legislature struggles to do, this has got to be one of the easiest decisions they have to deal with," said Martin, a member of the River Cities Corvette Club in Louisville.

The Corvette "is the only true American sports car," Martin said. "Since it's made in Kentucky, I say 'Hallelujah' that it be that obvious to them."

Reporter Jere Downs can be reached at (502) 582-4669.

[Rob]

Lawmaker pushes for Corvette to be the official sports car of Kentucky

By AMEERAH CETAWAYO, The Daily News, acetawayo@bgdailynews.com
Thursday, October 11, 2007 12:11 PM CDT

The Chevrolet Corvette soon may join the ranks of the cardinal, the thoroughbred and the song “My Old Kentucky Home” - if a state lawmaker has his way.

Rep. C.B. Embry, R-Morgantown, has prefiled legislation that would make the Corvette the state’s official sports car.

“I think it’s without controversy that the Corvette is the most outstanding sports car built in Kentucky,” Embry said. “Not only that, it’s the most outstanding sports car built in the United States and one of the top sports cars built worldwide.”

Embry, who lives 18 miles from Bowling Green, says that as a Western Kentucky University graduate and someone who attends the Barren River Area Development District meetings in Bowling Green, he passes by the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant often. He hopes to honor the more than 1,100 employees who work there and give recognition to GM for locating the plant here more than 25 years ago.

“This is the only place the Corvette is built, and we need all the economic development and good-paying jobs we can get,” Embry said. “I’m also recognizing the (National) Corvette Museum, which has more than 150,000 visitors from all over visiting every year.”

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said the bill not only gives recognition to the importance of the Corvette being built in Bowling Green, but is also good for local tourism.

“It would be good for Bowling Green and hopefully good for tourism to raise the recognition of world’s foremost sports car, which is made here in Bowling Green,” said Richards, who will also introduce the bill.

In his 32nd year in the General Assembly, Richards said he was involved with the plant’s arrival early on.

“I was in the legislature when Corvette started discussion about moving to Bowling Green, and I was at the assembly plant when the ceremonial first Corvette rolled off the assembly line, and I was there for their 50th anniversary,” Richards said. “So I’ve been associated with the Corvette plant for a long time and I’m glad to have it assembled here in our city.”

Vicki Fitch, executive director of the Bowling Green Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said she was excited about the legislation because the Corvette generates a lot of tourism for Bowling Green. Many of Bowling Green’s hotels supply hoses and rags to Corvette event visitors, so owners can wash off their rides, according to Mary Cohron, chairwoman of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce.