1953 Corvettes @ Carlilse

[Bob B.]

Just wondering how many 1953 Corvettes showed up for the reunion display at Carlilse? Thanks Bob

[Tom R.]

Re: 1953 Corvettes @ Carlilse

I believe the count was 53 if others are included that were on display at the various venues.

[Rick A.]

Re: 1953 Corvettes @ Carlilse

There were "officialy" 53 of the 1953 "beauties" on display, to include the EX122 "Motorama" Vette - in addition, there were two rolling chassis - they tried to arrange them in order from the earliest VIN to the latest - believe the one that Noland Adams owns was the "latest" VIN which I believe was 278

FYI - one of the 53 was the "completely original" one that was found in a barn in Tennessee - it was definitely in rough shape, but appeared to be all there - believe Alan Baye (sp?) is the owner, and in fact he owned a number of the 1953's on display; ProTeam had their three they own on display; and there were several other individuals who own more than 1 that had them on display - very impressive display

[Eric J.]

Noland's is #284 *NM* *NM*

[Tom P.]

Re: Noland's is #284

AND HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN THE NUMBER OF 53s WHICH WERE AT THE FLINT PLANT (where 53s were originally built)????????????????? An event to celebrate the 50th anniversery of the Corvette, which Noland worked so long and so hard to coordinate and which neither Chevrolet nor ANY of the Vette organizations (except SACC)------------------INCLUDING NCRS--------------------chose NOT to participate in or support!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I maintain my membership, but my respect and esteem for this organization has been tarnished.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Noland's is #284

I was at Flint. I was in the parade, at the dinner, the whole shebang.

I have the utmost respect for Noland, and I'll start out by saying that. I'm also a resident of Michigan, so what I say next will reflect on my own home state.

The city of Flint sucks. It looks like an abandoned wasteland. It didn't take long into my visit this June to figure out why GM and everyone else ignored the town and the event. It's a brutally honest statement, and I think unfortunately all too true. The various Corvette organizations were wise to "follow the leader" (and cash from GM) to Nashville.

I did enjoy myself, but I would never, ever, ever consider having 30,000 (or more) Corvette enthusiasts come there for a party. It sounds like Nashville was a good time, but a 3 hour drive to Flint vs. a 10-12 hour drive to Nashville made the decision easy once my wife decided to attend.

I was at Carlisle, too, and saw all the 53's. It was neat, but 53 white cars looks as relatively boring to me as the silly Registrys that usually fill the center of the field. Once you've seen one....

Patrick

[Bob B.]

Re: Noland's is #284

Patrick, How many of the 53's at Carlilse were custom/not original? Bob

[Patrick H.]

Re: Noland's is #284

Bob,

I believe two - the red one from ProTeam, and another.

Unless you count an 8 cylinder motor. I think there was another with that. I'd have to look in my Carlisle program for more specifics.

Patrick

[Brian McHale]

Re: Noland's is #284

Now let's not forget the host hotel in Flint. No TV's in the hotel. No BAR or alcohol permitted. No smoking or foul language permitted. Now that was a fun place to be.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Noland's is #284

It was our Anniversary on the 30th. We didn't need a TV.

PH

[Terry D.]

Re: Noland's is #284

Well, if nothing else I think everyone agrees Noland's car was # 284.

[Chas Kingston]

Re: Maybe *NM*

[John H.]

Re: Noland's is #284

In all fairness to Noland, he worked for several years in advance with the Flint Visitors/Convention Bureau to line up a host hotel with adequate facilities, which, at the time the arrangements were made, was a Radisson (and had belonged (inbetween foreclosures and bankruptcies) to two other major national chains prior to that); less than a year before the SACC event, the hotel went belly-up for the third time, and it was purchased from the Radisson bankruptcy trustees by the religious group that owns it now (they have 18 other hotels as well that they use for retreats, but the one in Flint is the only one that's open to the public). It's also the only hotel left in Flint that doesn't have plywood windows. It would be gracious at this point in time to refer to Flint as anything but a dump.

The SACC event was well-organized and coordinated, especially considering the tiny band of dedicated folks that did all the grunt work and made it happen; I guess you could contrast the "emotion" of the Flint event with the "Glitz" of the Nashville event. I wrote a story on the SACC event for the "Restorer" which should show up in a future issue.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Noland's is #284

John,

The event wasn't a dump, the town is. I have the utmost respect for Noland, what he did, and how he made the best of a situation that continuously went from bad to worse. It's just painfully obvious to me why "the big show" went elsewhere.

As you know, Jan and I still had an enjoyable time. I had one of the few C4's at the event. The Sloan Museum and park were quite enjoyable, and we had a good time talking with you at the banquet. Flint's just not a location for a large Corvette event. A great place for a Civil War artillery re-enactment with real cannon balls, but...

Patrick

[John H.]

Re: Noland's is #284

I should have been more specific - the "town" is a dump, but the SACC event was great - I really enjoyed it, and it was gratifying to see it all finally come together for Noland after all the work he's done on it as a "one-man band".