I was 12 and my friend's dad had a silver 77. He took us for rides in it in the Summer. I remember telling my friend that I wanted one some day. I think that's when the seed was planted. Only took me 23 years to pull the trigger and get one. His car was stock, but it made quite an impression on me.

 

Lets see, what turned me on to corvettes was around 10 years old. I was at CORVETTES OF CARLISE. We were sitting up in the bleechers watching the award cars going by and presenting the awards, Then a Spirit of 74 race car came up, You could feel the thumping of it in your chest, it was LOUD. Then he stalled the car, It was beautiful.....

Sad part is this if you seen me for the first time and my brother was next to me, you would probably think he owned it(hes 19, and dreams of corvettes, but he bought a 93 steath, and im trying to get him into a vette) Until you got talking, and i knew more on the mechanics, and hardware of the car.

Now i was 15 and bought my first corvette, June 05' saw it in the paper for Baltimore MD, next day had my dad Drive after work for 3 hours out of his way, with a little of my cash, to go put a deposit on it. Lady lost the title, and didnt find it for 6 months, then in Dec of 05' she found it, i went down and paid with cash from working since i was 13. Brought her home and now she sits on jackstands, being worked on. I just got my permit May 7th of 06 and can drive my baby by my self legally in Nov 17th

ps... my g/fs dad said that it shows alot seeing her daughters b/f having a job and a car that he buys parts for and works on, and he was like i like that and admire you for that.....

 

Jw what did you mean.... 53 or 62????

 

My very first Vette experience was when I was about 12. My friend and I were sitting on my front yard and this grey haired fellow pulls up in a Brand New 68 silver 427 Coupe and asks for directions..My jaw just dropped seeing the new style Corvette for the very first time in person and I remember the smell of a new car with fresh "hot" paint.

My first ride was in a 69 427 "Baldwin Motion" style coupe in about 1970.what a rush that was as he wound it through the gears with the side pipe howling...wanted one ever since. Finally got my 73 a few months ago and hope never to be Vetteless again

 

Like it was yesterday.My parents knew this couple and the husband had a Midyear vert,Marina Blue,the frontend was busted up pretty bad ,its been close to 40 years and I can still see that car in my mind.He gave my dad a ride and I sat in the floor.I remember the wife saying he really needed to sell that pile of junk.

 

My first Vette experiance...the first time it had an impact on me...?

It was about 1978-79....I was all of 7-8 yrs..old..We lived in an apartment in Exton Pa...

It looked like a race car to me...not like anycar I had ever seen..it must have been a 74-77 Vette...because I was struck by the 160MPH Speedo..I thought it meant that it could go that fast..whatever the speedo said....I believe it was Red and as I remembe it was plastic bumper Vette..couldnt have been newer than `77..it was the most incredible car I ever saw...and still is basically...outside of the exotics..thats why I own a C3 today...

 

I was nine, the Corvette was a 53 - it was new! I sure wish I had that one.

 

I was 8 and in second grade. We had just moved to FL near Eglin AF Base. Had a jet pilot living in our neighborhood and he had a 78 pacer. I remember the first time I saw it. I said 'Dad what's that?' he replied 'That's a Corvette son.' To which I said 'I want one!' Ever since then I've wanted a Vette. I dated a girl in HS whose dad had a 72 LT-1 and ever since it's had to be a chrome bumper for me. So just this past April, 20 years of waiting and my dream was realized. Got a 72 4sp coupe to call my own. And interestingly enough my Vette is the first that I ever got to drive or ride in!
-CR

 

My Buddies Dad bought a 74 brand new and passed away about a year later.The car sat in the garage till we were around thirteen or so and started taking it out on romps up and down the street.Wanted one ever since.

 

Like it was yesterday, and it was 1984. My buddy (and next door neighbor) was playing middle school basketball after school and his mom drove their 68 Convertible to the game. His dad showed up after work in his car, and they had already agreed to give me ride home. You can guess which car I got to ride in! Too bad it was winter so the hardtop was on, but I will never forget how those fenders looked looking out over the hood from the passenger seat at 13 years old! They sold that car not too much longer, but later wound up buying it back for my buddy for his first car, and then I got to ride in it almost daily, and it was the first Vette I ever drove.

 

In the mid 70's my dad had a 58 or 59 project. I can still remember riding with him in that orange vert. He traded it to a guy for a van. To this day he says getting rid of that car was the biggest mistake he has ever made.

 

my brother sold cars in upstate ny in the mid 70's. well i was gonna drive my opel up and trade it in for something he had on the lot. well i got lost on the way and ran out of gas and money. he drives across state to rescue me in a 72 yellow coupe. lo and behold, that 72 ended up being my car. sold three years later as people kept running into it. ever since then i promised myself if i ever got another one it wouldn't be a daily driver. i've had my 71BB for two years now and haven't put 1000 mi. on it yet.

 

While I had admired all 'Vettes from the point I first started noticing cars as a kid in the '70's (long live the C3!) up through the present, the Corvettes that were always my favorites were the '67 and '69 models. My true interest in them really developed while working as a co-op student while going through college.

I spent a couple of years working with a C2 Corvette enthusiast who happened to have (2) 1967 Corvettes at the time. One was a coupe (red w/black stinger) and the other was a ragtop (blue with black stinger and sidepipes). Both were factory 427 cars. Although he had showed me the pair on previous occasions, it was getting the chance to drive one of them around for a whole evening that really hooked me.

Knowing my interest in his cars, my co-worker asked me if I wanted to see them up close and go cruising around some time. Of course I agreed! One Saturday afternoon, he showed up at my house in the red '67 coupe.

I was pretty excited just thinking about riding around in the car for a while. After about an hour of simply running around town and the country-side, we stopped to get a snack. While leaving the restaurant, he tossed me the keys and asked if I'd like to drive. Not giving him a chance to change his mind, I quickly jumped in the driver's seat.

Once that beast came alive for me, I got his blessing to do a healthy launch in the parking lot. From there, I got to row it through the gears a few times to really exercise it, and also do some general cruising around. After that evening, I knew I had to get a Vette someday.

Fast forward about 15 years and I started looking at the market prices for 67 and 69's. It didn't take but a minute for me to realize that a '67 wasn't going to happen, but the '69 was a possibility. Since I didn't have any strong bias either way and appreciated them both, I starting looking into 69's seriously. A few more minutes made me realize that a factory 427 in a '69 wasn't going to happen for me either.

However, I did find a fairly basic Cortez silver coupe with a 350/300hp, 4-speed, and leather interior and bought it just after my 35th birthday and have been quite happy with it.

 

I had noticed Vettes since I was about 7. I always had Hot Wheels, etc. in the 60s. My first real contact/exposure was a buddy of mine bought a '65 for $6500 in '78 (imagine; wish I had some foresight), but he would never let me drive it. My aunt bought a '77 which she tossed the keys to me with no questions asked. My uncle had a new '78 Pace and then sold it 10 years later to buy a new '86. I got to drive all of these, and from that point on always wanted a Corvette. I now have one, and am looking to buy another. I guess I'll never be happy.

 

Since I already posted my first experience, I thought I'd share my second. I used to play at a friends house back in elementary school (late 60's) and next door, behind a tall fence, was a blue 63 split window coupe covered with a tarp. We used to jump his fence, and dare I say it, use that car as a landing pad. It wasn't until we managed to drag the tarp off one day that we realized it was a corvette. I wonder whatever happened to that car...

 

Oops remembered some more "exposures". My buddy was seeing a girl around '76 whose dad owned a '68. He had a partner he installed blowers with, the friend had a blown '67 as well. Seeing that '68 and '67 with blowers was quite a sight and he would talk car talk with us as long as we wanted. Mind you these weren't the neat little blowers like they have today, but big ***, whining, belt spinning, gas guzzling, honkin' blowers that made your skin crawl. I remember telling my dad about a car I found; a hemi Cuda with a blower sitting on N50 rear tires. His response "I don't think so". Smart man, I probably would have died long ago. These new buzzy cars may be pretty quick, but hot rodding will always be rumbling, whining, ka chunkin' muscle cars!

 

I'd riden in many Vettes before my first real experience, but it was in 73, and my wife and I were dating. She was a senior in high school and I was out of school. Her sister had just bought a new 73 coupe, it was an L-82, 4 speed. She let me take it almost any time I wanted for drives, she also let us take it to prom that year. I knew then I would have to have one some day.

 

My first Corvette experience was in '64 when I was given a ride in my Uncle's brand new silver '63 SWC. My brother and I rode in the rear luggage compartment. I was 8. He still owns the car.


It went well, but I wasn't really hooked on Corvettes until the '68s came out - they still excite me at my resonant frequency!!!

My first drive was around 1974 when I got to drive my Dad's '60. I still remember alternately spinning the tires and dragging them as I alternatively floored the gas (spinning) and then was thrown away from the go pedal (dragging)!!!

 

That C3 Corvette was simmilar to the 2nd pic Vette shown in:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1426086