"Sometimes you find classic muscle cars with provenance (a good story) or sometimes you find collector cars that are extremely rare. It is nearly impossible these days to find a classic muscle car with provable authenticity. But today we have a car that comes with all three of these qualities. Nickey Chicago just posted a 1973 MOTION Corvette Manta Ray GT for sale for a client of some prominence of his own. What a find! It is one of only three Manta Ray GTs built by Joel Rosen at MOTION Performance in Baldwin, New York on Long Island. More important, it is the only one known to have survived.
While its most obvious features are the Corvette’s modified bodywork, dramatic MOTION paint scheme, Hooker headers and sidepipes and excellent original interior; this 1973 MOTION Corvette Manta Ray GT has its most important change under the hood in the form of a Motion built 350/350 Corvette small block built to 425 hp. It is backed by a beefy 400 Turbo Hydramatic transmission with a street shift kit. It is said to have been completely built by MOTION Performance and dyno tested there.
Joel Rosen was a nationally known drag racer, street racer and hot rodder from Brooklyn when he discovered what would happen if you popped a big block 427 into a Camaro. That fateful day started an aftermarket empire for him that made MOTION Performance an internationally known brand. In 1966 he and Marty Schorr set up shop next to Baldwin Chevrolet on Long Island. With the help of Baldwin Chevrolet they would sell race ready muscle cars with written guarantees to do specific times at the track.
Starting in 1967, Baldwin-Motion offered SS (425-hp) and Phase III (500-hp and up) big-block Camaros, Novas, Chevelles, Corvettes and Biscayne race cars for sale. Cars were sold at Baldwin Chevrolet or Motion Performance, converted by Motion and financed and delivered by Baldwin. Phase III 427 and 454 cars came with a written, money back, quarter-mile performance guarantee.
Baldwin-Motion muscle cars have the same gravitas as a Yenko Camaro or a Shelby Mustang. The MOTION Corvettes built by Rosen are among the most valuable of the MOTION Performance cars produced.
The seller says this 1973 MOTION Corvette Manta Ray GT has an original interior. The owner of 24 years has commissioned Nickey Chicago to sell the car for him. This car was restored by Rayburn Pennington in 1993. It has been shown in magazines, TV shows and books. Call Nickey Chicago for information about the car and its history." http://blog.cars-on-line.com/2014/07/11/1973-motion-corvette-manta-ray-gt/
