Just a general thought but one that bothers me quite a bit.

You hear the term "driver" bantered around so much that it seems unless a car is fully Top-Flight restored to NCRS judging standards people tend to categorize it as simply a driver.

I have seen cars that were stripped naked, whole new frames, suspension, running gear, immaculate bodywork and paint and gorgeous interiors (but not an NCRS candidate) that in any right thinking world should be considered restored.

-- And someone calls it a driver.

I understand the NCRS concept of restored, I think of it more as re-created. But the NCRS is only a club of white haired codgers that wish it was still 1967. Who died and made them God of Corvettedom ?

Why is it that the enthusiasts all buy in to this degradation of many beautiful cars where they're lumped into a huge generic pile called "driver" unless they meet one thin standard?

NRCS-style or not, I think it's unfair to not recognize the fantastic work many people have put into their cars.

Not the original motor? Leather seats when only vinyl was offered? Side pipes on an AO Smith body? Wrong colors? My Heavens, it's as if someone committed a crime!

Long live the gorgeous Corvettes and the love and sweat people put in them to make them nice and I will call them all RESTORED.

 

10-4. Thanx and a hat tip to you. We are on the same page.

Rich

 

I've done a lot of the above to my car and still consider it a driver for the reason that it's not a NCRS Top Flight car. It will never be that car that rolled of the showroom floor. However with that being said it is a very nice ride that I'm not ashamed of... I don't think of it of degrading though that I think it's a driver.. Dave..

 

Dave, yours is one of the cars I was thinking about when I wrote the above. Those wheels with the sidepipes. Yeehaw !

 

If you drive it its a driver.

If you trailer it, roll it across the grass on diapers and keep it in your garage in a bubble. Well then it is not a driver. Its a Trailer Queen.


At least thats what its always meant to me.



Drive On. !

 

That's what I always thought the distinction was. Yes, a large percentage of the Trailer Queens are NCRS Top Flight, but not all. There are custom show cars that never see road dirt. On the same note, there are Top Flight cars that are drivers.

 

Restored top flyte = trailer queen. Don't run the engine too long you'l burn off the orange overspray.

Mine's not even a driver it's more of a beater.

rgs:

Where you at in Iowa?

 

To me "driver" is a badge of honor. It means that my car actually runs and that I drive it. I personally feel that only race cars and cars that don't run should be on trailers.

 

If it wasn't for the NCRS nobody would know or care about matching #'s
I remember when all you could do was find a 283 or 327 that looked close and ran good. Dressed it out to look original and nobody gave a crap. You had to scrounge and horsetrade for parts at every show you could find to put the car together and were just happy to drive it.

I mean reality-wise who gives a rats azz about a matching # engine ? How does that make the car better. If the engine hauls ash, the trans shifts like butter, and the rear puts the power to the ground, who the hell cares what #'s are on them. This whole #'s restoration thing has gotten out of control. While I understand peoples obsession for doing this,they for the most part have no patience for anyone who does otherwise.

To me the only truly valuable special Corvette are "Survivors"
(Hopefully the people that run Bloomington won't be pissed I used their word. ) The cars are only original once. How is a NCRS restored car any better than my driver that runs, drives, and looks good, but has jobber parts keeping it running, when it has a restamped engine, re-pop interior, repop chrome, nuts, bolts, alternators, horns, voltage regulators and whatnot off of 20 different cars ?
Dont' get me wrong I love all Corvettes and appreciate the work that goes into building a top flite car. I just don't think it makes it any more worthy of a car.


I won't even bring my car near a show, and I know many others who are the same way due to the abuse you get from know-it-alls with big checkbooks that just have to be superior to you. I think this is the major reason for the decline of solid axles and mid-years at teh shows

I took a few years off from the early cars and had a blast with my C5. None of those guys ever asked me why I had those wheels on my car, or the custom hood, headlights, tailights, headers, exhaust, air cleaner, etc. They just wanted to know where I got the stuff, and what worked and what didn't. I also learned why so many old Corvette are missing all these parts and the #'s don't match.

I just can't stay away from the real Corvettes, however I do tire quickly of some of the owners. The only thing I yearn for from the old days is the Corvette onwership connection that used to be there.


I just want to know. What is the big deal about matching #'s Why does the correct #'s on the muffler bearing make any difference as long as the replacement looks close and performs at least as well. How does that make it more valuable. I don't get it. I'm not saying people shouldn't do it or that I don't like cars that are done this way. I'm just asking why it is so important and makes the cars more valuable. Who decided this ?

Sorry if I **** anyone off that doesn't understand the question I'm asking.

 

I used to call mine beater with a heater. Now its too nice. I need to drive it some more to achieve that lived in look.

 

There has to room for all aspects of the Corvette world. The beater, driver, top flight, modified, race prepared, driver, daily driver, Vetterod or whatever. If we become fractured by our seperate tastes or ability, it will hurt us all. We must be able to form a common front to the powers that would mandate what we drive. Ever notice how the media loves to point out that an evil SUV was in an crash. One of my nighmares is an effort by the greenie crowd to start attacking performance and old cars like they have done to SUVs'. Everone from the brass era guys too the ricers should stand togeather.

 

We have collectively become what I hated back in my 20's. We are like the old grey haired Model A and Model T owners back in the 1960's who endlessly argued over every nut and bolt. "Henry never used a 1/4-28 to fasten-------------------" Show up with their latest find in 'original condition', never mind that the paint was almost gone.

Here is an example of the mindset. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...028&forum_id=4
No offense to the poster, I'm sure someone with a survivor or such would have a use for an original mint spare tire w/wheel for a '63.


I'll prolly get in a pickle over all this.

 

They are ALL drivers - thats why GM built them. Some just choose to drive them less than others or not at all. Definitely NOT what they were built for. They're missin out on a passel of fun!!

 

Hey I don't fit that mold... You guys might be the old geezers like my pop that got me into this mess However I'm one of the younger crowd trying to hang with you guys that have been around for awhile.. Not to be to morbid but I can't wait for Midyears to go the route of the Model T's.. Now I know that won't happen anytime soon and may never happen.. Not really trying to start that debate again but only that Corvettes will never go the way of the Model A... T etc as they can be driven at above the modern speeds...etc..

 

My Grandfather had a 09' Model T' that he brought home in boxes and restored. He drove that sucker all aroud the country in the Glidden Tour. He had a special rear for highway cruising and everything. He was all about driving them. When I was about 4 he drove it from NJ to Mn. to see us and broke down. He had a little book of Model T owners across the country that would help, and some guys came over, threw it on a trailer and fixed it and wouldn't take a dime. Just asked that he extend the courtesy to someone else.

He also had a survivor 31' Packard, a restored 08'EMF, 31' Model A
roadster. an Austin Bantam and a 38' Buick. |All drivers. Towards the end he got away from the shows for the same reasons I stay away now.

My opinion on the tire is. If it makes him happy then great. So long as he doesn't care about the flares and flames I'm putting on my 57'

 

Pretty cool that you grandpop drove it everywhere...FWIW... If anyone is ever in Eastern NC and needs any help my work van has enough of my tools to rebuild almost anything and if not I have enough space in my garage to always help out.. Dave..

 

[QUOTE=youwish2bme] Pretty cool that you grandpop drove it everywhere...

I definitely got the driving gene from him. I've got a picture of him driving in the snow with the top down in his new J2 Olds way back when.




Same goes for anyone near NJ. We tried a list like this here once before, but didn't get too far.

 

Yep I remember that.. Still I like to offer it. I think that a lot of it has to do with that most midyear owners don't venture out away from home. I'll drive mine about four hours or a little more with me or a friend.. With the wife on board that gets cut by more than a third before she starts complainin... Dave..

 

Just North of Ames

 

crank it up and put that sucka in gear!
that's how you maximize your smiles to the mile count.
did you ever tell the mrs. that the last time she opened the grocery getter door, she came dangerously close to bumping the holy grail?
enjoy life, it'll be over before you can blink your eyes!
respectfully,
chuck