Why Corvette????

[Roy B.]

I often wondered why some one got into Corvette instead of a Ford Pinto! In the later 60's after leaving the Army I loved the Ford 57 T-bird and wonted one badly. We lived in Burbank Ca. And had three kids making $200.00 a week . When I went looking for a T-bird in those days they were selling for around $300 to $600 which was to much for me to buy so I was looking for a sports car for less and kept running into Corvettes that people dint wont for $75.00 to $200.00 , I even had a person give me a 57 Corvette HT free just to get it out of his garage having a bad MS (no brakes) so he could put his grass cutter and other stuff in it. I found others behind peoples garages in allies just sitting there with no interest for them. By the end of the first year I had over 12 Corvettes I ether got free or bought for around $100.00. 53 to 57's. In one wrecking yard in Burbank I bought my 57 Corvette FI Automatic, PW, PT with a soft top and hard top for $150.00 which I owned for over 33 years on the cover of the Restorer 85. So not being able to afford a T-Bird that's how I got into Corvettes being poor at that time of my life . At Tahoe NCRS a pic. Of my 55 that I was buying in the 60's for $100.00. How time change

Looking back now I'm happy that I could only afford Corvettes and never got onto the T-Bird, and even now I've never had one.

[Edward M.]

Re: Why Corvette????

This is what got me into Corvettes. I didn't know what it was at first, I just knew that I liked it.

Picture was taken in 1974. The then owner is still a very good friend of mine. This car is how we met. It was parked at the local 7-11. I just stood there next to it until he came out of the store. One thing led to another..... He was also the boyfriend (now husband) of a girl that I went to high school with, who was also a friend of mine.

I have spent the past five years trying to find the current owner / location / condition of this car. Just want to know if it survived. I do not know the VIN; this pic, and a few others, is all I have to go on.

Car was last seen in Orlando, FL area in 1976.

[Steven S.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I think what Ray said is correct, I bought my first one in December of '71 after coming back to the US while still in the Army. I have just $1200 and they were asking $1500 for a 300 hp '65 convertible. Talked them into taking the $1200. Drove it to Ft Carson and was out of the Army a few weeks later. That drive was also my first experience with the "corvette wave". Was driving down I80 in Nebraska and could not figure out why eveytime a Corvette came by, they were waving at me.

Main point is that we could afford to buy them then and drive them. Today's kids and returning vet's do not have the means many times to enjoy what we did. That has lead the corvette to go the way of the Cadillac - an old man's car.

[Larry S.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I was lucky enough to have bought a 57 T-Bird in 1968 for $1250--Pepto-Bismol pink, black and white interior. Sold it about 5 years later for about $2200. Then bought a 56 in 1976 for $7500, which I still have. Roy, you made the right choice. T-Birds have been stalled in price for 15-20 years. My 56 was worth probably $30K in 1990, and it's still only worth that.

I've never had a free Corvette, or any other car for that matter, but the 62 327/340 I bought in 1970 for $1500 seemed free. Regret that I sold it, but don't we all.

[Stewart A.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I saw this picture many years ago on the C1 Registry. It's Jim Durams car. I blame his car for my sickness. I don't care how much the car costs me as long as I'm having fun. We only live once so enjoy your life. Stewycar_00867S103714SM40143688067f7.jpg

[Warren F.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I was pretty young, when the '63 Corvette coupe debuted, just nine years old. However if you've ever looked at a '63 Ford Falcon, '63 Dodge Dart or '63 Rambler American that futuristic styling of the Corvette was light years ahead of anything built in America, I thought it was absolutely stunning in appearance, and that image has never left me.

The same thing happened in 1968, I thought the current Corvette coupe had the most sensuous, sexiest body lines I had ever seen. And it seemed that each new model improved just a bit over the previous years model and by the 1971 model I thought that it had hit its pinnacle, and was on the downward trend.

As I refer to it as Duntov's Last Stand. The '69 thru '71 years still exude a timeless styling that doesn't look outdated either viewing the inside or outside!

[David K.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I was hot for a Corvette from the time I could remember what they were. I remember the new '63's coming out, but my heart was still on a '62. So in '72, I bought a '62 for $1800. Before totally committing to a Corvette, I kept circling the bowl looking at MG's and Triumph's. At the time, everyone I talked to about these cars, talked about all the spares they carried with them. That is what clinched the deal on the Corvette and I have not regretted it. Though, I wouldn't give up my '62, a nice MG TF would look good in my garage also.

[Jim S.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Came home on leave from Nam and took a very aggressive ride in a friends 64 365hp. Still remember those solid lifters. I went out and bought my 66 a week later.
Picture 055.jpg

Still have it today
P3170017.jpg

[Pat M.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I saw this picture many years ago on the C1 Registry. It's Jim Durams car. I blame his car for my sickness. Stewy

I came late to the Corvette hobby, and I'm a C3/C4 guy, but I like the look of all Corvettes. Yet I agree with Stewy - Jim Duram's car is one of the most beautiful Corvettes I've ever seen.

[Dennis O.]

Re: Why Corvette????

In March of 1967, I had been married for 1 1/2 years and both my wife and I had pretty good jobs (together, we were making over a GRAND a month). We had a few bucks, and after drivng "beaters" for most of my life, I got fixated on buying an L79 Nova. I went to the local Chevrolet dealer with my wife to place an order. Wouldn't you believe it, but right in the middle of the showroom floor was a Yellow Chevelle 2 door hardtop, and my wife fell in love with it. For the next two weeks it was a constant battle over should we get the Nova or the Chevelle. The salesman saw what was going on and had become very frustrated; he had also heard us discussing that what we would really like was a Corvette, but we couldn't afford one. He finally called me and said that he would make me a deal where he would sell me a Corvette for less than $1000 more than either a Nova or a Chevelle. I talked it over with my wife, and we finally agreed. On he second week of June 1967, I picked up my brand new Sunfire Yellow L79 Corvette. It stickered at $4995, but he sold it to me for $4130. $500 down and $163 a month for 2 years. Those were the days. I had it for two glorious years, but then sold it to excercise a stock option for the company I was working for. (FWIW, I broke even on the stock). Not to worry though; in June of 1987 (almost 20 years to the day), I picked up my current 1967 L79 Coupe. Its Goodwood Green (which I think I prefer over the Yellow at the tender age of 66), so I'm back in the saddle again.

Here's the best part; when I picked up the first Corvette from the dealer, I got half way home and decided to try the radio. I tuned to the local rock station, and the first song I heard was the Moody Blues' "Go Now". When I picked up my second '67 in 1987, I did the same thing; got halfway home and tried the radio. Guess what? The first song I heard was "Go Now". I then knew that this was MY car. You won't believe the first song that played on my '68 convertible when I picked it up. Right again.

Here's an interesting aside. I turned 25 of June 19, 1967. The car was suppossed to show up about then. Well, it showed up about two weeks early. How can a 24 year old guy with a new Corvette sitting at the dealership leave it there for two weeks? Couldn't do it. The insurance for those two weeks was more than I paid for the first year after I turned 25. At least I had it.

Thanks to the car saleman. His name was Cecil Taylor and he worked for Village Chevrolet in Wayzata, MN. I'll never forget the whole experience.

[John F.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Bought my first one (black 56 w/327-350hp crate) in fall 68 and left the car w/my younger brother since I was stationed in the UP of Michigan and did not want to drive it in the snow. Sold it in March of 69 before leaving for Nam. Upon return in April 70 I bought a 62 and drove in college at ISU in Illinois. Sold it in late fall 71 when I got married. We decided a two-seater wasn't good for a family. Kids are grown and gone and got my current 62 a year ago and enjoying every minute of messing with it.

[Bill M.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I had a '55 Chevy, and all the stuff I wanted to do to it (Corvette engine, 4-speed, bucket seats, radiused wheel wells, no body rust, lighter) had already been done by Chevrolet, and they called it Corvette.

I was shocked that the '59 Corvette front suspension/steering had kingpins and 22 grease fittings, while the '55 Chevy had ball joints and 8 grease fittings! I had assumed that a '59 would be more modern than a '55!

[Joel T.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Back when I was a kid in Brooklyn we used to play in the alley ways and streets... but mostly in the streets.. One day, I guess I had to be 13 or so, I was playing some dumb game or another on the corner of 6th avenue and 54th street and some guy pulls up to the stop sign in a red 1963 SWC... I was hooked! I just loved that car and said to myself that one day I was going to have one of those!

Many years past.. family, commitments, etc... and I never managed to fulfill the promise to myself, that was until 2005... A good friend of mine is along time NCRS member (#677). He offered to help me find a car and get it in shape.. After looking around I managed to find my red/red SWC.. After four years of hard work (not to mention cost) my baby is just about back to all her prior glory!!!

[Stuart F.]

Re: Why Corvette????

With me, I was in the Army at the time stationed in New Mexico (out in the desert). I had already had a number of performance Chevies, including a 50 that I put a Chevy V8 in in 1956, a 56 show car with a 58 Vette engine, and a 57 that I drag raced successfully for a couple years before the draft forced me to join. It looked, even with Nam on the horizon, that I might put my full 3 years in at White Sands so I decided to buy a car (being stuck 45 miles out in the desert was no fun). I really wanted to get a new 63 Biscayne with a 409, but my buddy who was a sports car nut and had an SCCA license (another Wisconsin boy), talked me into the Vette. He was also a convertible fan, but we did test drive a few coupes (one in El Paso, and another in Las Cruces). It was already late spring and quite hot, so it didn't take me long to come around to the topless version. The coupe was brutal in that heat w/o ventilation, and air conditioning? What's that?

Soon after ordering the car (April) and picking it up (August), I got notice that my name came down on levy for assignment to a MAAG unit in Thailand (actually MAAG/LAOS). Since the 62 Geneva Accords, the unit was downsized and moved to Thailand. It sounded like an interesting assignment (something like special ops now), so I made up my mind to still keep the Vette, put it in storage, and sort of have something to look forward to on my return. To begin with, I had my buddy take it with him to a new job he had found in Palo Alto, California (he was a good friend, and I trusted him with my life and my Vette). Being a good old Wisconsin boy, it wasn't long before he soured on the California commuting experience and returned to Wisconsin. He continued to use the Vette for his new job there for a while, then put it in a climate controlled storage garage below his Mother's restaurant until my return. We had intended to start a business together, but our plans were cut short when an anurism did him in.

I always considered the Vette to be "ours" - mutually. He put a lot of his time and money into it as did I. Even before I left the country, we got to share the enjoyment of the Vette by taking trips to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Therefore, over the years, a lot of the incentive to keep it in the family was the intrinsic value it represented to me. My wife and son's share that outlook to this day as well.

Stu Fox

[Tony S.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I guess I got into Corvettes because all of the Ford Pintos blew up after each rear end accident.

LOL
Tony

ps. maybe also because the early Corvettes are the most iconic American car of the 50's and 60's. Naaah, nevermind, it's because all the Pintos have blown up.