Story of 1966 Corvette Passed Down From Father to Daughter Is Truly Heartwarming
This 1966 Corvette was one man’s prized possession for decades, and now, it’s keeping his memory alive.
Leslie Sisco‘s story is a familiar one – her father purchased a 1966 Corvette back in 1972, then she inherited it when he passed away in 2016. Cars are often precious family heirlooms, after all, and we generally associate memories of growing up with the ones that our parents owned and drove us around in, developing lifelong memories in the process. That’s precisely the case with Sisco and this 1966 Corvette, as she explains in this truly heartwarming video from Hagerty.
The story begins in a rather humorous way that most of us married automotive aficionados can relate to. “My father was a medical student, my mother was in pharmacy school,” Sisco said. “They could not afford a Corvette Stingray. And so one weekend when my mother went out of town, he got his mother to co-sign for him and it almost caused a divorce.”
Thankfully for all involved, that didn’t happen. Instead, Sisco’s father treated the Corvette like another child, hanging onto it for decades. “It’s definitely sentimental because it was my dad’s pride and joy,” Sisco said. “He obviously got rid of his other cars but the Corvette he kept. My earliest memories of this car would probably be taking road trips in Tennessee and I remember sitting in the back and looking out that big bubble window at the sky.”
Yes, as most of us remember, this was a time when riding in the cargo area of a vehicle was perfectly safe for children. Or at least acceptable. Regardless, Sisco’s father finally let her drive the C2 when she enrolled in college, but some time later, his health began to deteriorate. The conversations between father and daughter soon turned to the Corvette’s fate, as he obviously wanted to make sure the car was cared for after he was gone.
Regardless, Sisco did go against her father’s wishes in one regard – he wanted her to have the car repainted, as the original paint has quite a bit of patina. She, however, wanted to retain the car’s original character and didn’t want to do anything that would dissuade her from actually driving it. And even though it takes a bit of effort to drive a vintage Corvette versus something newer, that’s precisely what she does on a regular basis, for very good reasons.
“The Corvette mentally takes me…almost peace and freedom,” Sisco said. “I don’t even turn on the radio. And so, it’s really almost meditation, that you’re just so focused on driving and everything else is just not important. My dad will still be present as long as I have that car.”
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