Corvette Glossary Of Terms

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Fangio, Juan Manuel

June 24, 1911 – July 17, 1995 – nicknamed El Chueco (“knock-kneed”) or El Maestro (“The Master”), was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing. He won five Formula One World Drivers’ Championships — a record which stood for 46 years until eventually beaten by Michael Schumacher — with four different teams (Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati), a feat that has not been repeated. Many still consider him to be one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He has the highest winning percentage in Formula One, 47.06%, compared to Schumacher’s 31.60% after the 2011 season. Content courtesy of Wikipedia. Corvsport Page References:C2 Corvette Overview.

Fascia

In the automotive world, the term fascia can actually refer to one of several different components of the car.

In British-English, a car’s fascia or facia is its instrument panel and dashboard area which lies in front of the driver and front-seat passenger. It is used primarily in enthusiast and specialist circles.

In recent American-English usage, a car’s fascia is its front-end “look” – grille, headlamps, front bumper, and other details. This area is possibly the most critical in defining a car’s identifiable look, and is also the easiest to restyle when a car’s styling needs to be refreshed.

The term fascia is also used to describe the rear of the vehicle. The total of the front and rear fascias can make up a fourth of the exterior of the vehicle.

Additionally, the fascia is used to describe the single panel that conceals the bumper, front or rear, and ties the bumper element visually with the sides of the vehicle — often including an inlet for cooling. 93% of fascias are made of TPO (thermoplastic olefin elastomer). This material is high gloss, has thin wall capability, improved paintability, and a low coefficient of thermal expansion. Information courtesy of Wikipedia. Corvsport Page References: 1997 Corvette.

Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile

Commonly referred to as the FIA, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organizations and motor car users. To the general public, the FIA is mostly known as the governing body for many auto racing events.

Headquartered at 8, Place de la Concorde, Paris, the FIA consists of 213 national member organizations in 125 countries worldwide. As of January, 2011, its current president is Jean Todt.

As is the case with football’s FIFA, the FIA is generally known by its French name and acronym, even in non French-speaking countries, but is occasionally rendered as the International Automobile Federation.<
Its most prominent role is in the licensing and arbitration of Formula One motor racing. The FIA along with the FIM also certify land speed record attempts. Information courtesy of Wikipedia. Corvsport Page References: 1990 Corvette.

Fellows, Ron

Born September 28, 1959 in Windsor, Ontario – an accomplished Canadian SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA, and American Le Mans Series driver, and a NASCAR “road course ringer”.

In 1998, Fellows began his long association with GM’s Corvette Racing program, with the historic Chevrolet Corvette C5.R. He was also briefly involved with the development of the Cadillac LMP program. At the 2000 Rolex 24 at Daytona, he made history by setting the closest margin of victory in the history of the event, 31 seconds behind the winning Dodge Viper GTS-R of Olivier Beretta, Dominique Dupuy and Karl Wendlinger. Fellows and Corvette Racing fared better the next year, winning overall with Chris Kneifel, Johnny O’Connell, and Franck Freon. Later that year in June, Corvette Racing achieved its ultimate goal, a GTS class win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Scott Pruett and Johnny O’Connell. Corvette Racing also captured the American Le Mans Series GTS title that same year.

In 2002, the Corvette C5.R once again dominated the American Le Mans Series season, with a GTS class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring, along with a repeat of their 24 Hours of Le Mans GTS class victory. For the 2003 season, Corvette Racing won the American Le Mans Series GTS title with a very close down to the wire fight with the Prodrive Ferrari 550 team. In 2004 Corvette Racing continued to dominate the American Le Mans Series GTS class, including another GTS class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Fellows also competed in one NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen, where he started 42nd and climbed his way up to 2nd place.

In 2005, Corvette Racing debuted the revolutionary Chevrolet Corvette C6.R at the 12 Hours of Sebring, with high expectations. A tire blow out erased their chances of capturing the GT1 (was GTS) win, with the Prodrive Aston Martin DBR9 taking the class win. However later that year, the tides would turn as Corvette Racing won their 3rd 24 Hours of Le Mans class title in 6 years, beating the Aston Martin DBR9’s with superior reliability and strategy. Although Ron was not driving the winning Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, he ran a respectable race in the #63 car.

In 2006, Ron returned for a full season with Corvette Racing. However, a dark cloud loomed over the 2006 season as a result of the controversy surrounding IMSA’s performance balancing. Corvette Racing’s opposition during 2006 was the Prodrive Aston Martin team, which ran two full-season cars on Pirelli tires. The Pirelli tires were their Achilles heel, as they were not as competitive as the Michelin tires on the Corvette. Prodrive expressed their disdain for their disadvantage, and IMSA, the ALMS sanctioning body, introduced a number of penalties for the Corvette Racing team, to ‘balance’ the performance. Despite this controversy, Ron remained optimistic and still carried himself with the professionalism and class for which he is known. Despite the penalties, Corvette Racing prevailed, winning their fifth ALMS championship. Corvette Racing also went on to win their fourth 24 Hours of Le Mans in six years. However, Ron did not have the best luck in 2006, with the title going to the sister car driven by Jan Magnussen, Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin.

Ron is back with Corvette Racing in a limited supporting role in the American Le Mans Series. He will be the third driver for the three long-distance races, and will compete at Mosport, his home race. He will sit out the other races, providing technical input and experienced advice to the team from behind the wall. Content courtesy of Wikipedia.com.

Fiberglass/Fiber-Reinforced Plastic (FRP)

Also known as fiber-reinforced polymer, it is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibers. The fibers are usually fiberglass, carbon, or aramid, while the polymer is usually an epoxy, vinylester or polyester thermosetting plastic. FRPs are commonly used in the aerospace, automotive, marine, and construction industries. Information courtesy of Wikipedia. Corvsport Page References: 1997 Corvette.

Fiber Optic Light Monitoring System

As the name implies, the Corvette’s lights are monitored by the driver via visual feedback on the dashboard that is transmitted by fiber optic cabling. For each external lamp, except side clearance markers, there is a corresponding small indicator on the central console which gets its light directly from the lamp through a long plastic cord — the same principle sometimes used in model cars for lighting up all the “lamps” from a single source. Chevrolet first used this system as an option in some 1967 production models. Corvsport Page References: 1968 Corvette

Fitch, John Cooper

Born August 4, 1917 – a racecar driver born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the first American to race automobiles successfully in Europe in the postwar era. After obtaining an engineering degree from Lehigh University, he began racing in Europe.

In the course of a driving career which spanned 18 years, Fitch won such notable sports car races as the 1951 Argentine Grand Prix, 1955 Mille Miglia (production car class), Dunrod Tourist Trophy, and Sebring endurance race as well as numerous lesser races. He also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times, finishing as high as third. Fitch also served as the first manager for Chevrolet’s Corvette racing team, and the first general manager of the Lime Rock Park race track, where he organized (and drove in) a famous Formula Libre race in 1959, where Rodger Ward shocked the expensive and exotic sports cars by beating them on the road course in an Offenhauser powered midget car, normally considered competitive for oval tracks only.

In 1960, Fitch and Briggs Cunningham joined the Corvette team as drivers to race once again at Sebring and Le Mans. After that, they teamed to race a two liter Maserati at endurance events at Sebring and Road America through 1962, and a Jaguar E-type at Sebring in 1963. Fitch also raced a Genie BMC in 1963, then returned with Cunningham to drive a Porsche 904 at Sebring in 1965 and 1966. By this time, both were no longer enthusiastic about competing to win; according to Fitch, “I think we were there because we just liked to drive. And at Sebring we could, for 12 hours! Besides, it was the best place to watch the race.” So, when a valve broke on the car in 1966, it marked the end of their racing careers for both of them. Content courtesy of Wikipedia. Corvsport Page References: 1960 Overview.

French Seam Stitching

In sewing, a seam is the join where two or more layers of fabric, leather, or other materials are held together with stitches. In a French seam, the raw edges of the fabric are fully enclosed for a neat finish. The seam is first sewn with wrong sides together, then the seam allowances are trimmed and pressed. A second seam is sewn with right sides together, enclosing the raw edges of the original seam allowances. French Seam Stitching content courtesy of Wikipedia. Corvsport Page References: 1995 Overview.

Fuel Injection

A system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s.

The primary difference between carburetors and fuel injection is that fuel injection atomizes the fuel by forcibly pumping it through a small nozzle under high pressure, while a carburetor relies on suction created by intake air rushing through a venturi to draw the fuel into the airstream. Content courtesy of Wikipedia.