Why Corvette????

[George C.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Check my avatar. That's me in the middle with my two cousins. Their older brother owned the 55 we're sitting on. The 55 was his first one, he bought it in 57. Then in Sept/Oct of 62 he bought a new 63 Silver Fuel injected coupe. After that he got a new Corvette every year up to the 1978 model.
I knew even before that pic was taken that I have a new Corvette someday.....and always will. It is America's True sports car. Save the Wave.>George

[Michael W.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Damm...al you guys grew up with the C1's and C2's driving around your neighbourhoods.......unfortunately I have never experienced that.....since my buildyear is 77. What a great time that would have been.......

What caught me is the picture of a silver split window in a car book I got from Santa Claus at the age of 6. It became my instand dream car and I did not know what it was, but I often looked at it before falling a sleep.

I saw the Dukes on the TV, followed by Knight Rider and a show called Sting Ray which aired in Holland in the mid 80s. It was that show that made me realize what my dream car was and I swore that one day I would have a Sting Ray.

During college and university I worked on the side and started create a Corvette savings account. My parrents always believed my Corvette fever would continue to be a nice dream.....but after my graduation it took me another 4 years of working to realize my dream. In 2004 I bought my first car - and YES it was a 1965 Sting Ray Convertible - for my 27th b-day and that was the day my life changed.

Not only did I make my dream come true, but it was also the first day of a new phase in my life. In the last 5 years I have experienced great moments in the hobby and have met many many new and very good friends. Also my 65 gave the fever to my brother and dad, which made us even better friends because we now attend various events together and they treat my rides as their own.

Why Corvette? Where it started as a dream, it became my life time companion.

[David D.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I grew up in the 60's and was surrounded by 'Muscle' cars.....I can't remember hardly a family who didn't have some type/model. Just about everything had some type of BB screamin motor in it back then.

My first car was a '69 GTO, (year I graduated HS) which I thoroughly abused by racing literally everyday, against anything and everything....I broke more parts than I care to remember, but GM replaced every motor, tranny, rear etc....under warranty. I think it was because my dad always bought from the same dealer and worked for GM for near 40 yars.....

Well while I did 6 years in the Air Force (Germany 3 years) the Gooberment shipped over and I sold the GTO before coming back to the states, for what I thought was a lot of money. Often wonder where she is today and the condition....

I always wanted another muscle car but money was tight, going to school and with a family. I didn't initially go looking for a Vette because me and my friends would beat them all day long in our daily racing, yes even the BB's. I think it was only due to them having a harder time hookng up.....cuz I knew they had the power. With that said though, I did begin to like the 'Sporty' two seat look/lines, plus watching shows like Route 66 and starting to pay closer attention to the beauty of the Corvette, I finally got me a '78 Anniversary special Corvette. But to be honest, I hated that it couldn't get out of it's own way. This is when they were detuning em so bad for emmisions and gas etc.... so I sold it about a year later and took about 7-8 months of looking around before I found my current '64 (327 x 365hp). Paid same money for '64 as I sold '78 for. I've been happy as a clam since.....even though some may look at the '64 as the ugly step-child of the Mid years, I wouldn't give her up for nothing.

I, like most of you, wish I knew then, what we all know now. I would have gone without eating, shelter etc....and bought Corvettes and any other Muscle cars I could have back then when they were dirt cheap. Matter of fact a guy I knew in Germany, began purchasing OLD ferraris, lambo's etc...for next to nothing, and shipping em back to the states (Cal) He knew something and I'm sure he has done very well for himself.

I still have a special place for the GTO in my heart, as well as any other Muscle cars, just because.....it was a time/era that will never again be, and I feel blessed that I lived through it.......



David

[Phil D.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Damm...al you guys grew up with the C1's and C2's driving around your neighbourhoods.......unfortunately I have never experienced that.....since my buildyear is 77. What a great time that would have been.......

I too was feeling jealous reading the stories. I was built the same year as my vette in 69 (unfortunately toward the end of the muscle car era y'all enjoyed). I remember our next door neighbor in the 70s had a c3, don't remember the year model exactly, I was just a little kid, but it was so cool. After college I got hooked on import cars and did some autocross racing while my brother raised a family and did the minivan thing. Then when Roger came into some cash and wanted to get back into the car hobby (we had both had 60s Mustangs in high school), we decided it'd be cool if we could do something together. We talked about lots of various cars that we both liked and it kinda came down to remembering our next door neighbor's Corvette. Roger is the kind who likes to obsess over details so the whole NCRS thing is right up his alley. He bought a 72 the most original he could find and afford. I just like C3s. I think its the most beautiful shaped car ever built so I bought a 69 that was restored straight out of a catalog. We've been enjoying taking them to local car shows for a little over a year now and fixing little things here and there.

[Paul J.]

Re: Why Corvette????

My mother was scared to death of my motorcycle addiction and convinced my father to help me buy a "sporty" car that was safe(er). I was 17, and had been working since I was 15, and had a little money saved up so I set my sights high. Neither Dad nor I knew much about cars so we started with the "sportiest" cars we could find, MGBs, TR-4s, and Jags. The two Jags we drove both had significant issues, so we gave up on Jags. I remember going to two college dorms to get the keys to drive a couple of MGBs, but Dad was concerned about the incidence of repair on them (like anything we were looking at was dependable!) and they were a little sluggish so we concerntrated on the Triumphs. One TR-4 belonged to a divorced parole officer named Mark who lived in a basement apartment. We drove his car a dozen times trying to make a decision. We'd drive by and if the car was out front we'd walk around back and knock on the screen door, you'd hear the keys hit the inside of the door and off we'd go. We finally bought a TR-4A in great condtion from a dealer recommended by a friend, and got a helluva deal. After two weeks we took the car back because of a rough idle. The Hungarian mechanic who we trusted found a "flat" spot on the crank, so the dealer said he'd take the car back and help us out in the future (and promptly forgot we existed). All of sudden the British experience had soured, but by now I had started cruising the "strip", and I was hooked on American muscle cars. The Corvette fit all the parameters, sports car and muscle car put together. I drove a couple of C1's when our friend (the same one who recommended the dealer) told us of a 64 that he occaisonally worked on. The guy was getting divorced and needed to sell it. This was 1973. The car is sitting my shop undergoing a frame off restoration.

[Jim C.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I got my first Corvette in 1983. It was a two owner 1966 Coupe with all the paper (POP, etc.), and ALL original, including five REAL KOs!!! I didn't even know what I had. I just remember some of the older guys in my neighborhood had those mid- years in the 1970s and I always wanted one. I went through a couple Camaros (1978 and 1967) before I was almost able to afford a Corvette. My dad threw in a couple bucks to help me out. We found it at a Corvette show held at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. I kept that car until 1997, and finally had to let it go when I bought a house. It made for a nice down payment. I hated selling that car. My wife promised that someday I could get another one. Well, that "someday" finally came nine years later in 2006 when I bought another 1966 (convertible this time). Pretty original, did a little work on it and got Top Flight in 2007. My oldest son learned to drive in this car. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this one. I was a Corvette fan as far back as I can remember and will ALWAYS be one - right to the end.

[Michael F.]

Re: Why Corvette????

fell in love with them when I was 14 and saw a 64 coupe fuelie at the 64 bakersfield smokers Nationals. Dreamed and vowed someday I would own a corvette, now since 70 have owned 9. Bought first one in 67 out of memphis, TN for $2200...it was marina blue with white interior (headrest seats), 4 speed of course with custom wire wheels, side pipes 427/435 motor (original) had white stripe on hood I drove it and sold it in 71 and was glad to get my original $2200 back .... can I buy it back for that..LOL

[Todd L.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Well it probably started with stories and pics of my dads 57 Corvette that he had sold before we were born. At a very early age (8 or 9?) I can remember trips to the beach in the family wagon. NC to Myrtle Beach, SC was around 5 or 6 hours at that time. My brother (2 yrs older) and I, in the middle of playing travelling games (VW sightings, cows and graveyards, etc.) would always yell, "here comes a Stingray" when we saw one. We would immediately press our noses to the window as they rumbled by. What a great memory! I would love to have a pic from the outside looking back at us. Those cars were the coolest of anything I had ever seen.
I never grew out of loving Vettes no matter what "new best thing" was introduced. M first car was a 69 Camaro and then I was finally able to get a 71 T-Top Vette next. I was still in college on a student loan so it made no sense at all.....or maybe it made perfect sense. Anyway I had a 72 conv next, then an 80 Coupe later. Recently got a 70 LT-1 convertible and the fun has started all over again. Of course it has No Air, No Power Steering and is probably the least practical of anything you could buy. To anyone with a Corvette it makes perfect sense. When I drive it I have the same smile those guys did back in the late 60', early 70's when we would watch them go by.

[Ken C.]

Re: Why Corvette????

All through High School my girl and I talked about the sport cars we wanted, she wanted a Sunbeam Alpine and I a Jag XKE. After graduating and a few years at University I started looking and happened to stumble on a 1960 Vette while looking at a Sunbeam. Decided to take the Vette for a test drive and was instantly hooked. Purchased this baby in the spring of 63 for $2000 and had a ball for the next two years. Have never forgotten those times, which led me to finally take the plunge again. Six years ago I picked up an all orginal 1979 L82 Vette and have been having a blast ever since. This car has taken me back to those good old days on many an occasion and have kept me forever 21.

Happy Corvetting to everyone.

Ken

[Kenny C.]

Re: Why Corvette????

[Michael L.]

Re: Why Corvette????

When I was 6 or 7 years old, I used to hand tools to a neighbor who worked on a red '56 in his garage... I loved that car! When I was old enough to drive and had some saved cash, I bought my '55 for $1400 and that was it. I wanted a 'Vette in Hawaii because the fiberglass body did not rust like other sports cars... Still have the '55 30 years later. The radiator goes into the shop for a few leaks to get fixed and I'm up and running.

Roy, the motor rebuild works like a charm, I'll be seeing you sometime this summer!


Mike

[Steven B.]

Re: Why Corvette????

It was the 50's, I was standing on tip toes looking at toys in the dime store (remember those?). I went through the bags of marbles, past the gold fish, past the Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy six shooters to the cars and trucks. There it was---a white, red interior tin Corvette. I really wanted it but it was not to be. From that time on every one I saw on the road I yelled, pulse elevated and the dream reignited. I lived in a very small town but luckily there was a high percentage of Corvettes---3. One day in 1960 walking to school my barber Dave stopped and gave me a ride in his newly acquired (from the bank) Roman Red/red, 3 speed, base engine, whitewalls, 2 tops, radio and heater 1960 Corvette. I had been saving for the past years but didn't have much more than 100 hard earned lawn mowing, window washing, pop bottle return dollars. 1964 came around and in November my $$$ had multiplied and a Polo White, red interior, 2 top, 2X4 '57 was sitting in the drive. It isn't in the drive any more, it is in the garage.

[David M.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Guess this is as good a time as any to make my first post. My first recollection of Corvette was a 65 or 66 coupe with sidepipes that the nephew of a man who lived nearby had. The sight and sound made this 8 year olds senses explode. Then when I was 10 a family friend bought a new 1968 bronze 427 coupe. The mans son in law took me for a spirited ride and that was it, I was an addict.
Living on a farm basically all I did was go to school and work so with money I had saved, and help from my father I purchased my first Corvette. It was a dark metallic green L-48 coupe. My next Corvette was a dark metallic blue 1981 which was traded for a black 1984. The black 84 was traded for a maroon 1987 and that traded for a bright red 1990. Following a disagreement with GM over a computer module [whose replacement cost was more than the whole option installed on the car] and the subsequent "thank you for buying 5 new Corvettes, but there is nothing we can do to help you" I decided I would probably never buy another new Corvette.
When I sold the 1990 I picked up a 1973 L-82 mostly original, but in need of a restoration. That restoration was completed about 10 years ago and my children have taken up all my time until this last summer. The kids are getting old enough to help now and my neighbor who at one time had 5 corvettes stored in an old shed took me up on my long standing offer to buy his 2, 1967 Corvettes. One is a 99% original 327/350 coupe in Marina blue. The other is a silver convertible which has been hit and repainted and then hit again no frame damage that I can see though. So I am back restoring, the hobby I love the most. Along with the 2, 67's came the carcass of a black, dual 4, 56. When I say carcass I mean carcass. The car was rolled, engine and transmission gone to another vehicle, then the building it was parked next to burned and melted most of what was left of the body off. If that wasn't bad enough it was then parked in the weeds for the last 30 years. But I do have the tag.
In closing I'd like to say that I've been a NCRS member for about a year now and have found this website to be very helpful, especially the archives. Thank you,David

[Wayne B.]

Re: Why Corvette????

I grew up on Air Force bases and would take the base shuttle over to the flight line where you could usually find a coffee shop that the pilots would be in and out of. Most of them had Corvettes of one kind or another and would park them there. They were always open to chatting it up about their cars, with anyone that would listen. I think it was a 72 that was the first one that gave me that hypnotized stare. I had a long string of various sports cars from the time I was sixteen starting with Firebirds...the Vettes were way out of my budget. I had to chuckle at the mention of guys having to have "spares" when they bought MG's or Triumphs, I had a Triumph GT6...and a 63 VW bug as it's spare because it was forever needing to be repaired. Man, British Lieland can design some of the best looking cars but when it came to building a drive train they had ten thumbs and no design juice left.

The first I owned was an 84 but it wasn't long till I was back to the C3's. Cut my restoring teeth on a 49 Ford pickup. Started Vettes with a 71 driver. Now working on my 70 LT1, got the paint ordered and setting up for spraying soon. Funny thing is, with most cars you look to the next model year with a yearning, with Vettes i'm always wanting the earlier one (Benjamin Button syndrome?).

[Kenneth T.]

Re: Why Corvette????

Wow, this is taking on a life of its own, but here goes.

I was a stone cold drag racer back then, but my every day car was a black 63 chev SS with a 327 365hp. I took 2nd place in the New York Colisium car show behind my bother who took first with a 64 GTO, Horsepower Inc. club, Tozzi Bros Engineering.

I sold my black beauty and bought a 59 red with white coves Corvette. I never regretted the passing. Always loved the car, the girl I met is still my wife, that's why for me.