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Well my first Corvette run was my test drive for the 1972 Vette I ultimately bought. Had saw a few clunkers before finding this one. Some wouldn't even start to test drive and some were not worth test driving!!!
Here is the first picture (by me!!) on the ferry crossing from Connecticut to Long Island NY. It was about a 1 hour drive to the ferry and I was pushing the car. My wife was struggling to keep up. On hindsight, it was not too smart of me running a car in a unknown condition with 11 year old wheels, but like a kid in the candy store I could not help myself. Luckily she was in great shape and ran perfectly. The disease is in full blown mode!!!!! Did someone say i need a convertible???? HMMM
Last edited by general ike; 03-12-2018 at 11:03 PM.
First Corvette I rode and drove in was a 68 300hp 4 spd lemans blue convertible back in the early 80's when I was in middle school. Our next door neighbors owned it, and the wife took me for my first ride. Another day, the husband took me for a much more spirited ride. They later sold it, but wound up buying it back for thier son, who is the same age as me, and therefore, it became the Corvette that I first drove as well. I'll never forget as a little kid how cool it was to sit in that passenger seat and look out over those fender bulges. Man I loved that car, and we wound up putting a lot of miles on it, many at much higher than legal speeds!
My first corvette experience was in a shiny red 1985.
It belonged to my Marine Recruiter. He made Sgt and purchased it.
He took me to lunch in it.
Yeah, he suckered me into joining the Corps.
And left a lasting impression as I purchased a BB '68 in 2011.
Marshal
Spring 1975. My brother worked for an outfit which bought and sold Corvettes. He had been to Florida and had picked up a yellow 73 convertible with tan leather and stopped by the house on his way home. He took me for a test hop and I've been a believer ever since.
In the Fall of 1977 Motor Trend had an issue featuring the 25th Anniversary Corvette. Thought maybe it would be a fun car to have. Went to Parkwood Motors on Yonge Street and ordered one from them. Salesman was Wilf Medwith (might be misspelled) and I took delivery on January 5, 1978 (my birthday). That was the first time I'd ever ridden in or driven a Corvette. Still have my car and 490,00 Kms later it's still the only Corvette I've been on the road in.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-‘18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Originally Posted by gdm78vette
In the Fall of 1977 Motor Trend had an issue featuring the 25th Anniversary Corvette. Thought maybe it would be a fun car to have. Went to Parkwood Motors on Yonge Street and ordered one from them. Salesman was Wilf Medwith (might be misspelled) and I took delivery on January 5, 1978 (my birthday). That was the first time I'd ever ridden in or driven a Corvette. Still have my car and 490,00 Kms later it's still the only Corvette I've been on the road in.
We share the same birthday! Thanks for sharing the pic and story.
First ride was at a charity event back in the early 70’s. You donated and the car owner would take you for a ride around my father let me pick what ever one I wanted, I think it was a 65 and it was awesome. There were plenty of older cars there but I chose the at that time not really a old car but relatively new corvette. First drive was in the mid 80’s at a small Chevrolet dealership. My father was buying a 62 Caddy they had, he talked to the owner who came over and let me drive his 73. We left that day with both and I was about the happiest 17yr old in the world.
In 2015 I had been looking for my retirement hot rod for 3 years or so. I wanted the Mopar A body of my teens but Mopar muscle was too far out of my price range. My wife found a local C3 for sale and when we saw it sitting at the back of the house we both thought it was the prettiest car we had ever seen. After about an hour of poking, prodding and looking into every crevice we put a small down payment on it and went home. The car was owned by a young man in the Air Force and his father, the guy who showed it to us, had to contact his son to okay the price I had offered. After a few tense hours Bob called us and said the words we were waiting for, the price was good and we could close the deal the following day. Bob had POA and was able to sign all the necessary paperwork and agreed to accept our personal check for the balance. So my first time driving a Vette was on my way home from purchasing our "75 Flame Orange beauty. As a plus to this story, about 10 months ago my wife found the A body I always wanted. A "70 340 Dart Swinger for a decent price. All is good and we are happy being a 2 hotrod family.
In 1964 I was driving a Porsche 356 (1600cc) and working flags at SCCA races. The only Corvettes I had seen driving fast were solid axle cars. I went to a drag race at Conroe, Texas for my first attempt at quarter mile racing. I ran in "sports" class and ran a time of 17.8 seconds at 82mph. One of my competitors drove a 365HP 1964 Corvette. When we ran together for fastest "sports" car, he "pedaled it" and then drove off and left me (even tho I got a substantial lead). After the race, they had "quarter runs" and allowed passengers. So I asked the Corvette driver if I could ride with him for a run. His car was a dedicated drag racer. It ran slicks and 4.56 gears. He told me the chassis mods he had made and the parts he had broken.
SOooo We staged and he reved to 7000rpm and dropped the hammer!!! I was shocked at the violence of the initial acceleration! I was also shocked a the violence of each shift!!! We crossed the finish line in 12.87 seconds at 112mph! The "overrun" or shutoff area was only about 50ft (it seemed) and there was a barbed wire fence to stop us. I didn't believe we could stop in time....but we did....
THAT was mu very first ride (ever) in a Corvette, and altho I was stunned at the violence, I was also HOOKED on the experience, forever
First off, I'm amazed that two of you are like me in that the first ever drive in a Corvette was the day you drove it off the sales lot. But even more amazing to me is that both Alan 71 and gdm78vette have both only driven or ridden in their own Corvettes. That's pretty special in a way.
I'm probably almost unique in that a Corvette was not on my list of "Dream Rides" when I was young. Over in the UK I always wanted a Mini Cooper, a dream I fulfilled when I was 19. Fab little car that I probably never should have sold. Other than that, on my list was a Porsche 911 (Yes I know!) and a '37 Packard - long story!
Brands Hatch circuit in about 1972 was my first "up close and personal" experience of a Corvette, a fellow spectator parking in front of me on a couple of weekends. Never met him though.
Fast forward to 1990 and my wife and I decided to re-live our youth when we used to attend the Chelsea Cruise, well known to any Brit. We thought of buying a rod or custom, but saw a few Corvettes for sale and decided they were a bit "special", plus the name always sounded pretty exotic! A few months later we'd done a deal on our '78 with Tom Falconer at Claremont Corvette in Kent. We'd seen the car, heard it running, but I'd never even sat in it when Tom reversed it off his forecourt for me to drive away in. I still remember the feeling of peeping through a letter box when I looked out of the screen - so different to the 4x4 we had then!
We still have it and the old girl is up to 130k miles now, just under 100k of those with us! It was was a true life changer, as its brought a whole new life and way too many great stories and experiences to include here, not to mention playing a major part in our decision to move here to France in 2004.
However, I have been very fortunate to have ridden in a few other Corvettes (C3, 4, 5 and 6) owned by friends, driven a C2, and driven thousands of miles in a friends C4 ZR1 and C5 convertible, as well as 3000 miles in a Hertz C6. Still love our old '78, but can't deny I'd love a C6!
Well, bought my first Corvette (my 69 convertible) 10 years ago, in USA, had it shipped to Denmark, 8-10 weeks after, I backed it out of the 40" container, and drove it home.
That my first trip in a Corvette :- )
What a great thread! This is so fun to read with all the history that you guys have had with Corvettes and all the different types you've been in. I've only ever had the pleasure to drive and ride in the Vette I bought. Would love more opportunities as my dream is to have one of every generation...if not more. Well, my actual dream is to have one for every year and to have my own Jay Leno garage.
I turned 30 in September, and have been a Corvette lover my whole life...came from my Dad.
It all happened August 2016. My wife had a family reunion at our house on Saturday. Her family stayed over Saturday night and on Sunday, I wanted something fun to do. I saw that there was a 74 Vette for sale about 30 minutes away and wanted to look at it. I wasn't going to buy it, but just wanted something fun to do. My father in law and brother in law went with. We looked at it, and he asked if we wanted to test drive it, so, obviously I said yes. That was my first drive and ride. I wasn't planning on buying it, but my father in law pulled me aside and said I'd be stupid not to (the wife actually told me to buy the car if I liked it before we left but I told her I wasn't going to buy the car). The car was VERY rough and had been sitting for awhile. I said I'd think about it for a day and ended up pulling the trigger to the tune of 3k. It needed all new interior, had been sitting in the barn for at least a couple years, lights don't work, lots of bubba wiring "fixes", wipers don't work. I wanted to learn to work on cars, and so it's definitely a project that I'm happy with, albeit an expensive hobby. I love it, except when it's time to purchase things. Nothing like driving after work. It is the greatest stress reliever after a bad day at work. I did some homework before the purchase, but not a lot. Wish I would have gone with someone knowledgeable about C3's before I bought it, but it's done and I got my goal of getting a Vette before turning 30.
Gotta say I'm surprised that Alan has only driven one Vette. Would have never guessed that!
Oh man........My 1st Corv was a 60' 283,3 sp with overdrive!. I've had 15 more since then,including a 63' SW,various 64's,a 65' 396/375 cpe,a 67" 427/435 cpe,now orig owner 78' S/A with 34k on it. The worst one of all,believe it,was the 63' SW cpe,off-set mirror and leaked like a sieve! Hdal
First ride - 1984 - grade 12 - was in a buddy's 1975 L48 auto medium saddle metallic coupe. End of grade 12 I bought it from him. 165HP but I thought I was fast. I was hooked - it left an impression. Owned a Vette ever since.
My first drive was in a '63 split window with a built 327. It was not my car but owned by a friend's brother. So basically we were on a joy ride without the owners knowledge.
When it became my turn to drive I ended up over reving it and threw the water pump belt. We limped it back home and there was the owner.
I was 16 and a cousin of my dads came to the lake for a visit. He drove up in a 1971 Ontario Orange Ls5 convertible. What a beuity that car was and still is. I was hooked for life. I own a 1965 Mustang Coupe now which is a fun car in its own right.
03-12-2018, 11:01 PM
