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This was a great thread idea... and I have really enjoyed watching/reading, and in a small way being part of your special days. While its a common experience, how we all get there is unique, and its been a treat to see it.
For those of you still in the scheming and dreaming stages, your day will come... and we can't wait to welcome you into the brotherhood.
These stories are great and it sure feels good to see those share their memories of the day their corvette arrived home. Thank you all!!!!
I think this is one of the best thread topics...Thanks to the OP for starting it!
Here's a shot from inside Robert's (forum member and great guy) garage when we were picking up our '66 from him a few years ago...That's Robert on the left, my girlfriend and me...
We got about a mile down the road and I was smiling from ear to ear so my girlfriend snapped this shot...
I had wanted a '66 BB conv since I was 5 years old, so this was definitely a big day for me!! We proceeded to put about 1,000 miles on the car during the next week while driving backroads through Mississippi (where we picked it up), Tennessee and Kentucky! We hit the beach for a couple of days, then headed up the Natchez trace for some good backroad driving - what a great way to start C2 ownership!
Here's a shot shortly after I picked up my '78 Pace Car from Ronnie (another forum member and great guy - I'm seeing a pattern here) down in Georgia. This purchase also turned into a road trip - another pattern - and I headed from Georgia, went and saw a buddy in Alabama, then headed up to Kentucky to leave the car near my parent's place.
Another childhood car of desire...
Here's a shot on day 1 when I bought my new Z06 in 2010. My Dad and I flew to Milwaukee and picked the car up from the dealership then immediately drove to a local clear bra installer (that's his beautiful Viper in the background) for him to get some protection on the car for me! We then procedded on yet another fun roadtrip back to Kentucky and broke the car in right!!
This thread definitely brings back some great memories...It's also awesome to get to hear your stories and memories that you'll have for the rest of your lives!! Thanks again for starting a fun thread!
SonnyAK
I remember that 66 for sale. Quite the story with it... It was, what I thought, a bargain for what it was/is. I was still about 6 months away from being able to buy... but I thought HARD about that car.
The day came when the money was to be transferred and the car delivered. This old man was like a kid, couldn't wait, literally. The car was only three miles from my house but he said it was too cold and it looked like rain to drive it over. I said I'll be right over to pick it up. Grabbed my next door neighbor, went over there, made the transaction and drove it home. Had no top and it was freezing, so cold the speedometer cable snapped. I didn't care...
The below photos were taken at his house the day before I picked it up.
Just curious, did anyone buy their car without going to see it? Only on pictures and descriptions.
My current 65 coupe came in a bunch of boxes. My wife s**t I should have taken pictures.
It's a real shame you don't have the box photos...that'd be awesome!
I bought all 3 of my cars sight unseen (the Z06 was new but had been sitting at the dealership over 1 year, so it was still a bit of a gamble). Since I currently live in Alaska, it's kind of tough to get away for a quick trip to look a car over before deciding to buy. I've always taken a lot of time talking to the seller and feeling them out for who they are - and buying from a forum member is important to me too! I've had awesome luck doing it, but it may catch up with me some day...
Hey Revfan!! I remember your search for a car too and the comments you had on Robert's thread about the '66. It was definitely an amazing story of the car being seperated from it's powertrain and being rejoined about 30 years later! I hope to start putting the original motor and trans back together soon, but it'll probably never go back into the car...probably just sit and look pretty next to the car! :-) The car has been an awesome machine and hasn't disappointed me a single time!
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
In 1967 I had saved money for my first car. My first choice was a friend's '65 GTO convertible, powder blue. He lived in Michigan and had long before given a former roommate first dibs. When he decided to sell, he gave the guy until 6PM on a Sunday night to make the deal. The buyer was somewhat on the fence. By the way, the car was about 5 hours from me.
As a backup, I looked at some local cars, including a '59 Vette. I was 18 and could not drive a stick (which both cars were! ). But the seller lived at home with his parents and they seemed like decent people and assured me the car was in reasonable shape.
At 5PM, the buyer in Michigan did in fact buy the GTO so by 7 a buddy was driving me to a nearby suburb, where I bought the '59 Vette. On the way out there he got a speeding ticket so he was not in a great mood. We started rope towing the Vette home (he did not drive a stick either) but the rope kept breaking and he finally got so PO'd that he said he was done. We left it at a gas station.
Finally a different friend who DID drive a stick came home from work, and a third friend drove friend #2 and me to the car, with plates off #2's car. (hey, they were plates, just not for my car!) Slapped the plates on the Vette, #2 buddy drove, #3 buddy stayed on our tail as "protection", and we finally got the car to my parents' place about 11PM.
Would have been a whole lot easier if I had been able to drive a stick to start with, but I learned on the Vette so that's another cool thing I guess.
It was the early 80's and i was in the US Navy. I really only had enough money for the actual deal, nothing extra for towing or even fast food or even gas! Because i was carrying a wad of cash, and it was in a real remote industrial area out in the Inland Empire, I took my Browning Hi-Power with me! Well the deal went smooth and the guy kept giving me more stuff and more, until the car was packed (really really cool guy). Well on the trip back, the float got stuck and flooded out the car in a worse area. I was not anticipating needing tools, so I had nothing. therefore I took out the Pistol and beat on the carb bowl to free it. I got it running and I got it to my Fathers place and rebuilt the carb! Literally
Permanent Memory of that day buying my C2 (dented mag and nicks on the wood grip)!
Last edited by TCracingCA; 12-23-2014 at 01:51 AM.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Originally Posted by Revfan
These are awesome stories!!!!
you guys are too much!
Those were the days!
I forgot to mention my parents were away on vacation and knew nothing about me getting a car - they came home and there it was. But they had always said they would not buy me a car nor let me cruise in theirs, I had to work and earn my own. And since I did that, they never made any objection to my getting it.
I remember the day my car arrived on that September day. I attached a video I had made of its arrival. My brother was more excited than I was and he's a mopar guy. Share your first memories of your corvette's arrival home. I hope I posted this YOU Tube video properly.
Actual arrival day was uneventful for me as drove my Rally Red '67 Couple with 327/300 and Powerglide home to Sunnyvale from Fresno the Monday after Thanksgiving in 1984, except my brother, who had driven me out to Fresno in his 1982 Pontiac J2000, did not arrive home until several hours after I did, and I afraid that he'd had a serious accident. Turned out that he had to make frequent stops to refill the J2000's cooling system. His car had hit the thirty-thousand mile mark, and as would later learn when I took over the Pontiac as my daily driver, the water pumps on that cute little SOHC throttle-body injected engine would go almost exactly thirty thousand miles and start pouring coolant out the the front. When he made it home, after my relief that he was OK, I was furious at him for not calling me to let me know what was usp
The day AFTER arrival was much more personally dramatic. I proudly drove it to work and showed it off to my colleagues. It rained that afternoon, and in stop-and-go traffic in the left lane of a busy surface street, the coolant temperature shot up and the radiator erupted in a massive leak. I put the emergency flasher on ('67 was the first year for that being standard, IIRC) and sat there, having no idea what to do. This was 1984, long before the advent of cell phones. So people were honking and cursing at me, and all I could do was roll down the window and yell, to no one in particular, "What do you expect me to do? CARRY it?" So guess who stopped behind me to help? Of course it was a fellow Corvette driver. He was in a tired-looking silver '74 that had not a bit of gloss remaining on the finish. (I think light metallics of the that era in general did not hold up well, probably in the early days after environmental regulations had required reformulation.) Anyway, the gent helped me push my my 'Vette to nearby business parking lot. From there things were fairly straightforward. I was accustomed to calling for a tow truck, as my daily driver was a '77 Vega.
Later in the day when I went to drive it, the shifter went south and I could only get it into 3rd and 4th. Called the dealer where I bought it and he contacted his driver to go back with the trailer to pick up the car and haul it the 500 miles back to his store. He replaced the shifter and delivered the car back to me within a week at no charge. I was a happy camper.
Later in the day when I went to drive it, the shifter went south and I could only get it into 3rd and 4th. Called the dealer where I bought it and he contacted his driver to go back with the trailer to pick up the car and haul it the 500 miles back to his store. He replaced the shifter and delivered the car back to me within a week at no charge. I was a happy camper.
-- Steve
That's service-taking the car back-fixing it! Who was the dealer?
Always looking for honest seller. Thanks-nice car!!!
That's service-taking the car back-fixing it! Who was the dealer?
Always looking for honest seller. Thanks-nice car!!!
The dealer is Greg Wyatt. His store is Vintage Corvettes in Summerville, GA.
I bought my car there primarily based on his reputation and the quality of his cars. I read other reports where he brought cars back from long distances and fixed them if they had problems at no cost after they were delivered. I don't think there are many dealers who will do that on an "as is" sale.
All of Greg's cars are nice, many with long lists of show awards. No junk in his store. BUT . . . the other side of the coin is that there are no low end bargains in his store. Pricewise, his cars are high end. But, I guess you get what you pay for. High quality and over-the-top customer service doesn't come cheap.
The dealer is Greg Wyatt. His store is Vintage Corvettes in Summerville, GA.
I bought my car there primarily based on his reputation and the quality of his cars. I read other reports where he brought cars back from long distances and fixed them if they had problems at no cost after they were delivered. I don't think there are many dealers who will do that on an "as is" sale.
All of Greg's cars are nice, many with long lists of show awards. No junk in his store. BUT . . . the other side of the coin is that there are no low end bargains in his store. Pricewise, his cars are high end. But, I guess you get what you pay for. High quality and over-the-top customer service doesn't come cheap.
-- Steve
Thanks for the reply-thinking about getting a car to drive and might sell the 63-not sure yet. Your experience is good to know.
Thanks-morly1963
12-21-2014, 07:04 PM
). But the seller lived at home with his parents and they seemed like decent people and assured me the car was in reasonable shape.
) Slapped the plates on the Vette, #2 buddy drove, #3 buddy stayed on our tail as "protection", and we finally got the car to my parents' place about 11PM. 
Literally 
