I'm putting this in the C3 section because my first Corvette experience was in a C3. I had been a car freak since I was a small child. My dad was a foreign car guy and the coolest car he ever owned was a Datsun 2000 roadster. He would take me for rides on back country roads which was fun but it was no speed demon. I was into muscle cars and hot rods and was always a big Corvette fan.

I lived out in the country so didn't see many Corvettes on the road but I remember seeing my first one in person. It was in a Pizza Hut parking lot, a red '67 big block roadster. Man, that was a good looking car and I must have stared at it for an hour. Then when the '68 came out I saw a photo in Popular Science magazine and was struck by how different it was.

A few years later in 1973 when I was 17 I was in a volunteer fire department and one of the older members (I say older but he was probably mid twenties then) had a '69, 427, 4 speed coupe. He said it would do 160 and being a dumb *** punk kid that thought I knew everything, said I didn't think it would go that fast. So he told me to get in and I did (did I mention I was a dumb *** then?). It was the first time I had ever been in a Corvette so I was pretty excited. We took off and headed towards a newly constructed section of freeway with very little traffic. He took it easy until we hit the onramp and then he floored it. Holy crap did that thing haul ***! I was wide eyed but had an ear to ear grin on my face. When he got it into 4th and had it tach'd out he told me to look at the speedo but it was night time and the instrument lights were too dark to see so he grabs the door handle and cracks the door open enough for the overhead light to come on (in hindsight, I don't know why he didn't just twist the headlight **** to turn on the light but alcohol might have been involved) which scared the crap out of me! I could see the speedo needle was pegged and exclaimed, "Okay, okay, I believe you. Now slow the F down!".

A handful of years later when I was 23 my best bud had a '72, 350, 4 speed coupe. He was the second owner and had been friends with the original owner who had purchased a new one. That was the first Corvette I ever drove and a few years later I purchased the car from him so it was also the first one I owned. Sure wished I had kept that one.

Now I have an '02 C5 M6 convertible and the '79 C3 I recently purchased which are my 9th and 10th Corvette owned. The C5 is an amazing car that just does everything so well but I really like the rawness of the C3. I will be building the engine or replacing with a big power crate motor and would like to convert it to a stick shift at some point. I guess I'm trying to capture that feeling of my first Corvette ride. I will have working instrument lights on mine though!

What was your first ride or drive experience?

 

Back in the mid-seventies we use to stick out the thumb to get rides. Was thumbing home from the girl friends house and caught a ride in a chrome bumper. Not sure what year but it was dark green with tan interior....if I remember right. That sure was a fun ride, knew the guy from around town and was good enough to give me a ride all the way to my house.

 

Mine started pretty early....

 

My first experience was when I was a couple months from being 5 years old in March '70 when my father bought and brought home the very 1970 LS5 Convertible that sits in my garage now. Along with it I have had ten other vettes over the years.

 

corvette summer movie.. hated the storyline, but as a kid wanted all the scenes with paint booth body mods i could get..and the car..
actually in a corvette? not til i bought this one..2 years ago..
my first real car was sisters friend mach 1 blue and white.

74 base 250 straight 6 Nova was the family car and what my dad let me practice on..un-believably as the families only transportation..and for his work.. mechanical and body.

 

Back in 1969, I was 8 years old, my father had a heart attack when he was only 37.... After he recovered, I guess he wanted to drive something sportier than his '64 Catalina.
He bought a used '67 C2 convertible with a small block from our local Pennsylvania small town Chevy dealer.

After he passed in 1999, I took some of my inheritance, and bought my '71.

 

Oh come on.... Route 66 TV show... in black and white!!! LOL

 

Back in 1965 my dad brought home a '60 corvette with a 409 and 4 speed with a big hood scoop, black with all the chrome removed (but came with it) set up for drag racing. We lived in Detroit at the time (and yes he would visit Gratiot Avenue from time to time)

 

In 1958 my future brother-in-law from Sarasota had a 1953 Corvette, #14. I was 8 years old and my sister would take me with them on Saturday shopping trips in Tampa. He pulled out the straight 6 and put in a V8.

 

Greg beat me to it, I just had the same toy, just a later version with two C3's.

 

Back in 1965, I was a junior in high school. A friend, Ben Lyle, offered to take me for a ride in his C2. WOW!!!! Blew my sox off and I was in LOVE from that point on. November of my senior year, my parents called me into the living room - They wanted to get a car for me and wanted to know what I liked. First word out of my mouth was CORVETTE. First word out of my fathers mouth NO!!!!

It was 32 years later in February 1997 that I got my 76 from my best friend from High School - 2 months before I turned 50! Still have that car today, 24 years later. Just pulled Red out of the trailer yesterday and hoping I get the opportunity to hit the cruises and car shows this year. Fingers crossed!!!

 

Dateline 1968;

Local Chick in Neighborhood got good grades (I'll BET!) Daddy bought her a 68 Coupe, orange I recall, tan interior, auto.

Local 'gang' of boys standing on the corner, including me. Giving thumbs up's and other forms of approval.

"You want a ride around the block"? (nice girl!)

She honked on it 'bad' with me in the car.

About 5 seconds into the run....I said the following words...

" I gotta get me ONE of these!"

I've had 5! Own two now, with a third coming. Owned #1 since 1977 (the L-46 convt)

Unkahal

 

1968 high scool gradation day. My '55 pickup was toast. Dad took me to the Chevy dealer and said "I make the deal...YOU pay the note".
We walked into the small showroom...two. cars were on display : a '69 blue Camaro convertble $2,600, and a red Corvette coup $4500.
He said "NO car is worth $4500. Get the convertible or nothing!"
I was glad to end up with the Camaro convertble.
Fast forward 43 years...I located a basketcase '68 Vette convertible in a tractor shed. I bought it-evicted the racoons, and haven't regretted it!

 

My brother-in-law bought a brand new yellow 72 small block t-top...I was 10 at the time- WOW!!! Unfortunately he only kept it for few weeks because he couldn't afford the insurance-

So five years later at 15 - bought a 68 small block 4 speed vert. Wrecked it a few months later - then bought my 71 big block 4 speed vert that I still have today!




Then- painted re-sale red- rollbar - flares - L88 hood


Now- kept the rollbar and flares

 

in 1972 my uncle bought a 71 454 convertible (LS5) warbonnet yellow. in about 1973 i was 11 years old and visiting my grandparents in Amsterdam NY. and he took me bowling with him one night. on the way home going down one of the side streets that had cars parked on both sides he floors it from about 15mph. i can remember it like it was yesterday. it felt like the front end came off the ground and i remember seeing the tach fly past the 2:00 position like instantly. he did this twice. i was hooked after that. he sold me the car in 1980 and i've had it ever since.

 

I don’t remember seeing one till I was 16 years old - a ‘72 orange coupe . Never rode in one until I took a 1981 Corvette for a test drive in 1998. Bought my first Corvette - a used ‘86 that year.

 

Had a love affair with these cars since I can remember...while a freshman in High School I had auto shop and there was a guy I knew from around the neighborhood (Jimmy Quinlan) that had a small block 64 vert. The car was 4speed with about a 70lb clutch...I always "helped" him when the car was in the school shop for whatever mod he was making at the time. On day he asked if I wanted to learn how to drive the 4 speed "stop by my house after school and ill show you" I couldn't peddle my bile fast enough to get there..what an unbelievable feeling it was to sit in the drivers seat and fire up the Vette, sound rushing out the side pipes.. we were in his driveway and was going back and forth... first time I released the clutch the car bucked like no body's business...I felt really bad and thought I might have broke something but Jim only laughed and coached me on the proper way to release the clutch and work the gas ...after a few times I got the hang of it and have been hooked ever since...I look back fondly on that day and share rides with kids in my neighborhood in my vettes when ever I can.

 

I was 5 years old in 1971 my uncle bought a 69 and drove it from NJ to Florida to visit us he took me for a ride and sat me on his lap and let me steer I was hooked never had an opportunity to afford one fast forward to age 49 I told my wife if I dont buy a vette before my 50th Birthday I never would 3 weeks later I was taking home my 76 project I should have said something to her 10 years earlier

 

In about 84 I was in middle school and my buddies parents had a 68 driver, (and a 62 garage queen). My buddy was on the basketball team and I stayed after to watch him play, and his mom took me home in that 68. I loved every minute of it, but a few weeks later, I again stayed after for another game and my buddies dad drove me home then. Yeah, that was a much faster ride! Still hang out with the same buddy all the time. His garage has 3 Vettes in it now, and I've had my 79 for 15 years now. So yeah, my first Corvette love was a C3. Also, in elementary school, the neighbor across the street had a silver 75 4 speed side pipe coupe, (yes I now know factory side pipes weren't available in 75) but I used to watch him leave just about every morning.

 

My love affair started as a 12 year old in 1963 watching our black & white TV after school one day. The local Chevy dealer, Benz Chevrolet in West Palm Beach, FL ran an add for the new 1963 Corvette. It was on a carousel and hidden with by a cover. The guy pulled off the cover of new C2, split window coupe and I jumped out of the chair and got my face as close to the blurry screen as I could. It was the most beautiful car I'd ever seen and to me, it still is. My C3 is as stunning but the 63' will always stand out in my mind as the car I always dreamed of but alas, will never possess.