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My earliest memory was sitting in between my father and uncle in my uncle’s new to him C1 (don’t know exactly what year). He drove across the Brooklyn Bridge. I was between 3 and 4 years old. I remember looking up at the bridge cables, it was my first ride in a convertible. It blew my mind.
I get a thrill every time I put the top down on one of my cars. I never put the top up on my 60.
In high school, last period, gazing out the window to main street one fall afternoon. A white red interior 61 Corvette would drive by the school entrance tentatively shopping for a local beauty. Top down, highly polished, blonde hair blowing in the wind, he was king of the world. The bright work glimmering in the sun light was a sight unmatched by any form of transport. The car was spectacular. There was no way I would survive without owning this combination. Although we have owned twelve Corvettes, seven still in custody , the last purchase was a 61 project in many , many pieces paint stripped showing a light green primer. It came with a complete red interior in boxes . The instrument panel is red as well as the seat covers. Scratching through the primer in the trunk indicated the original white paint was present. No need to do a color change as my first impression combination appears decades later. Robbed of original drive train and some interior trim it may not reflect a show room example. Late model components will enhance old technology. Outward appearance will take one back to the 60s when this futuristic design turned heads and the imagination of youth counting the days for the freedom of a drivers license.
I was about 14 sitting on a split rail fence on Astoria Blvd and 74 St. First was the sound of a black with silver coves '57 fuelie turning on to the Blvd, at the wheel was the oldest McCloskey brother, Patty, all 6'4" 260# of him. He floored it out of the turn and I've lusted after that car ever since. As a side note he traded it for a '61 Starfire a few months later. He claimed it was a better fit. I've yet to pull the trigger on a '57 but I do have a '65 fuel coupe.
It was 1967 I was 7 riding to the store with my mom. I told her I was gonna have a car like that. It was a 1963 coupe.
This is the first 63 I bought in 1989. It is what I saw parked in La Jolla Ca. waited next to the car for the owner and bought it the next day. Still have it.
Pic. is pulling up to the car in 1989 and getting a pic.
Back in the mid sixty's there was a gentleman about 4 houses up the street from me that had a 63 Split Window fuel injected Coupe that he would road race every Sunday. I was about 12 or 13 and I would walk up to his house every Saturday because he would back it out of his garage and work on it to get it ready to race on Sunday. I remember the rumble from the hooker header side pipes he had on it and I was hooked.
Of course I would be drooling and asking him a million questions. He wasn't much of a talker. That's when I first fell in love with Corvettes even though I was never a fan of the Split Window Coupe.
By the time I was able to drive the 67 Coupe was my favorite car and still is today.
I can't beat all of these stories, but here's mine:
I was born in deep eastern Kentucky in the early 50s where the hollers are so steep you have to pump in sunlight, and we only saw technicolor in the movies. My Dad drove trucks for the local gas distributor, and we lost everything in the flood of '57. To say that things were "simple" would be an understatement. We used to joke that if you gave a Great Depression in eastern Kentucky, would anyone notice the difference? No disrespect, but economics there were not unlike the 1930s.
Anyways, a distant relative showed up at a family house in a four-headlight red/white C1 sometime in the last 50s (Im not sure but I think it may have been a '59 or '60). It might as well have been a space ship. He piled my brother, two cousins, and myself into the passenger seat and drove us up and down Two Mile Hill from Meally to Williamsport and back. It struck me like a bolt of lightening - there was another world out there. I suppose I never got over it.
When I was 7, My Dad had a 66 Coupe (small block, powerglide) and he used to put my sister and myself in the back parcel shelf and ride around with him and my Mom. I remember the cool look of the dash from that perspective to this day. That is why I'm totally into the C2's. When my little brother came along, Dad got rid of it to buy a BB Chevelle so all of us could fit in the back seat. Boy do I miss those carefree times!
My first memory of a Corvette probably isn’t too remarkable. In 1954 or ‘55 I was in the Chevy dealership (think it was called Gibson) in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (I was in 3rd or 4th grade) and I found they had this little miniature version of a Corvette that they were giving away. I studied every angle of a Corvette in their showroom as I made up my mind I was gonna own that small car. I was in that showroom so often they finally asked me to stay home...and that was the beginning of my love for the Corvette.
I purchased my first, a 340 hp ‘62 in early ‘65, and there has been at least one Corvette in the garage ever since. Currently we have my ‘66 (owned for 50 years) and my wife’s ‘13 427 convertible. SAVE THE WAVE!
Great Stories and a fun read.
Mine was simple, I was around 10 years old so I am guessing the Vette was a 66 or 67.
My cousin purchased the car, we were visiting my Aunt when my cousin got back from his maiden voyage.
He jumped in his brand new Corvette and drove from California to Salt Lake City. There were no Speed Limits in Nevada back then unless you were coming into one of the towns on the highway.
He got 4 tickets going and 3 coming back on his 3 day maiden voyage.
I remember the car being really cool and him laughing about the tickets while my Aunt was chewing him out.
I wish I was older so I could have picked up some of the details of that drive of his. It must have been fun.
I really wanted one.
When I came of age and had saved my money I started shopping.
1974, I was a junior in High School. I could have bought a 427 1967 Vette for $1,500. Nothing wrong with the car but I could not insure it so I could not buy it.
Ended up with a Nova Super Sport 1971, same price but easy to insure, it was not classified as a performance car and with a 350 it was tame by 71 standards.
I also had to pass up a 383 Barracuda 4 speed and a big block chevelle SS 4 speed, same issue. My insurance agent told me no way. He would not consider insuring a 16 year old kid in a performance car.
He was probably smart.
Hitchhiking across town--1962--I was 15 or 16--picked up by a '60 and the guy had "redone" the engine and added 6-2bbl Stromberg's, cam, etc. Utility poles going by SO FAST I was both thrilled and scared you-know-what-less.
Three years later, a buddy lent me his '62 red/black 327/340 when I came home for a few days. Drove it like crazy--I remember stopping for gas a LOT (25 cents/gal.), but it was amazing; great brakes as I almost missed the 90 degree turn while driving the usual circuit from Hampton Shoney's to Warwick Shoney's with whomever I was dating at the time.
Never forget either car, obviously...no idea who the lady might have been.
Very similar to the OP's opening statement. I was 10 and watching Bonanza laying on the den floor. Cut to commercial and the "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" song started. When I noticed the 63 Corvette I sat bolt upright. It was like a spaceship to me.
Last edited by Vitaminmopar; 10-24-2018 at 02:19 AM.
Reason: changed wording
When I first really noticed Corvettes is when the 63 Corvette StingRay was new and a friend at junior high school was telling me about the new Corvette that his older cousin just bought and my friend had the chance to ride in it . Listening to this made me think he was the luckiest kid in the world . The chance to ride in the new StingRay for a 14 year old kid was like getting a chance to go to NASA and ride in a space ship . Right then I knew I would own a Corvette some day but life got into the way until 1978 when I bought my first used 68 Corvette convertible and have owned many since then and it just kept getting better right up to my present 57 Corvette .
1962 in Sligo Creek Maryland; I was 11. A C1 (I didn't know that at the time) went down the street of our subdivision; it was odd looking as all hell, noisy and I couldn't figure out why anybody would want to own one...
Just over a year later I saw two 63 coupes racing late one night in downtown Washington DC from stoplight to stoplight while riding in the family Pontiac Silver Streak. One driver knew how to use his, the other didn't -- still remember it though. Very exciting to a young boy.
Took me 1/2 a century to find, afford and own one...
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Like a few others have noted, my first exposure to Vettes was watching Route 66 on TV, and thinking those were cool cars & guys driving them, and they'd always get the girl
My first one that really blew my mind was a 1969 white convertible Corvette. I will NEVER forget it. I was about 9 or 10 and Mom was bringing me home from football practice. Well, this gorgeous white Vette goes by and my mouth dropped. I thought that it was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. Never mind that fact that there was a huge, female lion laying on the convertible deck lid! That's right. A full grown female lion was laying on the deck lid as it drove down the street. I was screaming “Look Mom! A Corvette with a lion on it!” She didn't believe me and knew that I was a car nut, even at such a young age.
Well, about a week later, Mom walked into the living room with two full length windows looking out into the front yard. There it was. A giant female lion standing in our yard! She stopped in her tracks, frozen in place, and was kind of scared. Well, later that week, we found out that two doors down from our house, there was a white, convertible 1969 Vette, a bulldog with chrome teeth (that later chased me on my bike), and a full grown female lion who had escaped and walked into our yard. Most of all though, I remember that white Corvette.
Really fun reading all these great memories...mine is pretty straight forward. I had to go no further than the garage at home. My Dad bought the '60 in 1962 and I didn't show up until 1974! My earliest memory of riding in the Vette was when I was in early elementary school and my Dad came and picked me up at a friends house. Hearing him pull up and the look in my friends' faces were great. The 'Vette didn't come out too often in the early 80s and it was probably one of the last rides until we got it running again about 10 years later.
It's been going great since and now has found a home here in my garage. So happy that it has stayed with us.
I was 16 in 1953 and - seeing advertising for the Corvette - my allegiance to the JagUar XK-120 immediately switched to CORVETTE! I attended high school in Braddock, PA. and the school was located 2 blocks from SUPERIOR MOTORS CHEVROLET dealership, so I visited there often. I just dug out - from a stack of paperwork next to this pc - a "double-fold" piece of literature that I got from SUPERIOR entitled "The Thrilling New Chevrolet Corvette
The First All-American Sports Car!"
It doesn't indicate a year, but - with the help of a magnifying glass - I can decipher "LITHO IN U.S.A. - 300M - 9-53" Also - written in ink, prolly by a salesman - is "$3515"
CRUZ
Last edited by Cruzmeisters; 10-24-2018 at 11:38 PM.
My story is essentially yours, 68 hemi. I am a year younger than you. I would watch Bonanza in black and white to hopefully see a commercial that included a Corvette. In 1970, my Dad gave me a '64 as a bribe to stay in school. Still have the car and am restoring it now but my Dad is gone. I spent 14 years in school after high school and he felt that I had honored his wishes.
Last edited by Dave Tracy; 10-25-2018 at 09:34 AM.
Reason: typo
10-21-2018, 09:14 PM
CRUZ 