You know me tryin to play devils advocate.. You guys know I just drive the crap out of mine. Okay could I be wrong about the parts availablitly.. YEP... Could things be worse... YEP.. As for the other cars YEP they have parts houses too.. I don't have any experience with em.. I have been happy with all the parts I've ordered from the above mentioned parts houses and have been happy.. Maybe I'm just oblivious to the bad parts... Smily...

Oh and I'm all for making the know it alls look like asses.... I try to do it every chance I can... It's funny how many know it alls no nothin at all.... Dave...

 

Threads without a Devil's advocate usually get about 4 posts. Someone has to stir the pot or we'll all fall asleep.

 

If you drive it, you will get dings, chips, stress cracks, bug death, tar, dodging animals and cell-phone blonds in SUVs, and the usual issues with driving. THAT is fact! So.... THIS is the price for the fun. In my case, the fun part FAR exceeds the downside. My '66, ~90% "correct" L72, with a dynamite "correct" color-incorrect modern CC/BC paint job has gotten stone whacked and bug whacked (not SUVs to date, thank goodness...). When things break I fix them (with LOTS of hands-on help from the great CCC friends I have met in this hobby). When the paint wears out from dings, chips, stress cracks, bug death, and tar, etc., I will refresh it. If it gets totaled by the SUV and I survive, I will collect on insurance and (probably) get another. When the 427 gets tired, I will refresh it (probably with things like better heads, cam, valve train, etc.). If I blow the motor, I will cry, and then when the mourning has passed, I will replace it and continue to drive it. When I burn up the tires, I will replace them. I drive it 3000-4000 miles a year in very high altitudes at times, and over long distances in heat and rain, and even snow at times. When I die, which (as with anyone) could be at any moment in time, my spouse and son can do with it as they wish. In the end, ITS JUST A FREEKIN' CAR....it really is nothing. Its a fun, expensive toy that can be enjoyed on the road (yeah!) or in the garage, if that is one's bent. I show mine. I don't win anything, but I do it with friends, some of whom do win stuff once in a while. THAT makes that part worthwhile. People at shows make strange comments. They do that because they are strange people. Do I care??!!

Drive'em. Drive'em hard. If you don't, when you check-out, your spirit will mourn.

I think the NCRS is outstanding. I have been a member for years.

I am the NCRS.

Cheers........
**********************

********************
Jeff; Charter CCC
1966. Modified L72
The Silver Beast

 

I don't post very often, I do, however, read practically everything on this forum every day, I've been away from corvettes since 1972 when I for some still unknown reason I got rid of my last '65, purchased used in '65 after the army. I've heard the expression that "once a corvette owner, you're only between corvettes", even if at the time you're driving a minivan, and in my case it's true, had to get kids in college etc. and take care of the day to day BS that life consists of,waiting for the day that the right deal came along and it finally did, four years ago I found a freshly painted '65 coupe, needs an interior,probably an L76 (maybe L84, can dream can't I) sidepipes, power windows, tinted glass, telescopic steering wheel flares, three taillights and plenty of bubba to go around, nom, but it was just what I was looking for, to build "my" corvette. Then the fun started, didn't have a place to work on it, so I started on the garage, 1600 sq. ft., by myself, the vette is in a friend's barn so pretty soon I'll have a barn story to tell too. The garage is weeks from being finished, then I can start on the vette, and that's what this all about. In following the forum daily I've become really torn at what the car will become. I respect both views on our obsession, but I guess I realize to go the resto route with my car is totally impractical, and I really intended to build a stock appearing hotrod,enough said, thats what it will be. The one thing I have come to appreciate though is that the riceburner with the obnoxious exhaust or the '63 chev. with the goofy suspension means as much to the kid that's driving it as our vettes do to us, whether it's a dd or a trailer/show queen, but it's lots more fun coming down through the gears and being in the apex at the right speed and the right gear than shining the the bumpers, but both are an important part of our chosen hobby...let's just enjoy it, do what's important to yourself and realize that the other guy's ride just has to make him happy, and the same with yours.

 

One common bond. We own them. Let's DRIVE and SHOW 'em.....

 

NCRS people, sit down- this could get ugly. Not only does my car not have the original engine in it, I used to have the original engine, numbers matching but apart, for my 67 vert. Not only is that engine not in my car, but I gave it away, heads, exhaust, intake, dist., all that I had, for free, to a C1 owner, a nice guy that lives out by me. My car will never be correct, and the car(s) that end up with those parts won't be correct either, not original parts, OMG! I feel sorry for some of the "correct" people that cannot really drive and enjoy their cars. The car becomes a trophy, a holy grail, an albatross.

Me? I'm driving my car around enjoying the car for the purpose it was designed for. Driving. Do you think all those efforts back in the 50's and 60's to bring this car to market by designers, engineers, Duntov and Shinoda, were so the car could become a trophy on the wall? They expected some to be saved I guess, but by the fact that all or most of the design cars and mules were either destroyed or sold off, I thing the original intent was to drive these cars.

 

driver shouln't be taken as an insult.

 

I'm not even sure how people own trailer queens. I mean, how do you just stand there (with full access to the keys) and LOOK at a Corvette?! That would be like just LOOKING at the hottest chick you ever saw.....You gots to ride her man!

My 64 has been dipped, stripped, epoxy coated frame (inside and out), rebuilt with new high zoot parts - professional engine rebuild, new trans, every bolt and washer new...blah blah - the point is most of the major parts are from Corvettes up to about 86 - a there's a lot of aftermarket stuff - I built mine to drive daily. (Actually, I built it twice..and I'm still tweaking it....)

It's been hit with rocks on the freeway multiple times, been attacked by jealous Ford owners, crapped on by every imaginable bird, been criticized by Corvette guys....

I appreciate those Top Flight cars. They are truly amazing. But they are more like a painting in a museum.

Call 'em what you want....Survivor, Restomod, Top Flight, Driver, Beater with a Heater, I just think they are a blast.

 

NCRS

NOT CORRECTLY RESTORED STINGRAY

Top Flight??!! What, are they Airplanes ???

How 'bout TOP VETTE = The Vette that's in the best overall condition along with the most miles on the odometer and with the MODS that GM should have had on the car to begin with (meaning your own opinion, anything goes).

More points for the mods that make more HORSEPOWER



Look for website in early 2006

 

They got so knowledgable because they have been doing it since they were the younger crowd. Hopefully we will do the same someday.

 

I talked to a man today that a '81 with 4000 mi on it. the only thing that I could say was WHY. Our '66 has been out and about on every day that we can. It hurts to leave her inside when the sun is shining. Firedog

 

Like others have said, I think there is room for everyone, just as long as nobody harassess me for having my car non-stock, as I will not give anyone a hard time for having theirs stock.

My car will never be stock again. It will be a driver, too. Before it was put in the garage for a while, it had over 200,000 miles put on it. Wasn't a trailer queen then, nor will it be now.

I can respect people who put their cars on blocks and not drive them, even if I don't understand why. Just as I hope they respect me for the decision I've made to drive mine just as my father did.

 

I have read the replies to this thread and I agree with most of them. When I see a corvette or any older car going down the road, I don't give a damn whether or not it is correct. I think it is just great that someone is taking the time and expense to get the car back on the road. Whether or not it has a $10,000 paint job on a $150,000 car or it is a primer job on a $10,000 car doesn't make any difference. If it is 100% correct, good for that person. That was what they wanted. If is altered totally, good for them. It is what they chose for their car. This BS about driver v restored v NCRS (or any other organization) is way over argued. Just enjoy the cars. If someone wants to trailer them, it is their choice. I prefer to drive mine. I drove my 66 for 9 years partially stripped and primered. I now have it done and I don't feel any different than when I drove it while working on it.

Reflog

 

NCRS is a club. If you join any club - you play by their rules. You can join the Elks if you don't like NCRS.

IMO "driver" is a derogatory term seen most often in ads to sell parts with defects that render them "suitable" for a "driver". The term is then extended as a derogatory remark on the entire car, since it is not in a museum, or trailered between shows and garages.

People who are interested in old cars and see these terms sometimes accept them as normal descriptive jargon. Owners of old cars who are looking for good parts for their streetmachines usually avoid "driver" quality parts like the plague. Conversely, people who want to drive an old car in the same reliable manner as a new one should avoid overpriced show cars like the bird flu.

While it is cheaper in the long run to buy a trailer queen (TQ), if you want a car that looks original and has been restored, I wouldn't trust the average TQ to get me home from a 100 mile ride in the rain (wet or dry), let alone from the 2000-4000 mile trips I take. IMO if you expect reliable performance from an old car, you have to "restore" it for road use, not "correctness" at all costs. The world has better automotive bolts, brakes, tires, seats, electronics, and paint than the old cars were made with. It also has reformulated gasoline and lubricants that alter performance of old seals and engine management devices.


PS English grammar is also important. I'm a driver. My 66 Corvette is a streetmachine.

 

IMO Drive all of them because some time in the future gas cars will be obsolete and then they will just be art.

 

We can convert them to run off soybeans or put a Prius drivetrain in there...

 

Used vegetable oil diesels are the future.

Thankfully not in my lifetime.

 

Thats the best name yet

 

I think everyone is right, its you car , your money, do as you please and when you end up not having fun with it sell it to someone that will just love to own one.

As for the guys that knock your car at a show. I ask them "what are they driving"? Usualy they don't own a classic old car of any make or model, their's is parked in the lot outside and is most times a bucket of dogs droppings. Most then tell you that they were gunna buy one once but never had the ***** to go and get one of their own.
All of what everyone has said here happens here in Australia with our aussie made classics, don't let them bother you, they are just jealous!!!
Like it said "different strokes for different folks"