it was that got you into the car hobby, and especially C3 vettes?? meaning ancient history.....

GENE

 

I was a teenager in Los Angeles in 1962 Enough said. C-3's came later

 

Jume 1971, I was 11 years old, and my dad took delivery of a '71 Impala Custom Coupe, which was sitting next to a '71 Vette, MSRP of $7000+... I thought I'd never see that kinda money in my life...

In '73, my dad started selling Chevies part-time for that dealer, and we always had Vettes in-stock (one of the oldest & biggest Corvette dealers in the East at the time);
I tagged-along in the evenings and weekends to wash & wax cars for delivery.

On Saturdays, after my 'chores' were done, a salesman would have me detail his Corvette, then take me into the P.O. and Dairy Queen for a ride.

The years past, and in '78, I bought a brand-new '79 Z28 (still have it), and I drifted away from Corvettes, into drag-racing;
in '00, my neighbor had an '82 for sale, with just 11,137 miles.

It's now mine, and has 23,270 on the clock.

 

Always loved the c-3 body style the best of all........ always wanted one until I met the wife .... When we were dating, she had this thing she would say about guys in vettes ..... Wow, nice car, sorry about your d*ck. ....... This kinda kept me from getting one ....... but SHE bought this one and we will share the fun ........ It is an awesome vehicle and I'm glad we own it ......THis vette gives us something to do together in a couple of years when the kids are out of the house ........Robert

 

It was my dad and grandpa. Without them, I doubt I'd be a car guy!

 

My Dad bought a mild custom 69 Vette convertible in the early 80's. It was candy red with a black top and the silver gill inserts. It had chromed Hooker sidepies and a 4 speed.

I was allowed to drive it to high school a few times . I can still remember leaving school one day with 2 girls in the passenger seat. Pam and Karen were having a blast and I was in heaven. The principal was standing there in his suit and tie just shaking his head as he watched the scene. I pulled out hard ahead of all the busses, (which was a big no-no! at school) and for some reason, I was never called down to the office the next day. Hmmmm... Squeeling girls and squeeling tires.

That about did it for me

-Mark.

 

As a child for 3 years I walked past a blue 1975 on my paper route. I thought to myself "one day I'm going to buy that Vette." Just after I turned 16 it came up for sale. Almost eight years later....

I'm frustrated as heck with it trying to restore it. But I love it!

 

As a youngster back in the '60s, I got to see 2 show cars that forever formed my mind. They were the Dodge Charger III and MakoShark2 concept cars. It took me until 1974 to get my "MakoShark". Charles

 

I've always been interested in cars from the General starting with a 1960 Chevy Station Wagon with a 348 (wierd valve covers ) and next a '69 Chevelle 350/350 when I was a senior in H.S. ('74). A friend of mine always talked about a friend of his named Ty and stories of their adventures together in Ty's '69 427 Vette. About ten years later, I almost got another friend of mine to buy a '69 427 coupe. We looked at it everyday for a month but he just couldn't swing it. About 15 years ago, a fellow engineer got me interested again after riding in his '72 406ci Accel SuperRam roller cammed 6 speed monster
I started shopping for a '69 coupe but ended up with my '72 vert once I saw it with the top down . That was 10 years ago and I have been working on it ever since

Craig

 

Building car models as a kid got me hooked on cars in general, especially street rods. What got me interested in owning a Vette was a friend of my wifes who let me drive her C4 vert a few years ago. She asked me if I would like a ride ,I said definitely. I thought she was going to take me for ride ,but she just threw me the keys and said "have fun and if you get pulled over the owners card's in the glove box". Felt really cruising around it that.

 

I could not tell you how many model cars I built as a kid. One year for Christmas my dad had me a whole garbage bag full of model cars. There must have 20-25 cars in that bag. I was in heaven. So, when it came time to get a car, I wanted a 69 GTO bad. Well, I wound up with a 65 Galaxie 500XL. I had more fun in that car than I would have ever had in that GTO. Anyway, the Galaxie was always needing something and I learned on it.
I have no idea what got me to looking at corvettes. Never knew anyone with one. Just decided to go out and get one. I finally bought the third car I looked at, a 79. I am now on my 3rd vette. This one will be around for a while.


Good topic mrvette.

 

Growing up, my uncle brought me models from his Dodge Dealership. I blew most of them up with firecracker s. I was 12 the summer of 1969, and worked on the lot washing the used cars and straightening the brochures in th Showroom. That summer, we delivered a Orange Hemi Charger, and a 340TA Challenger. Big Dodge fan at the time. At 15 I got my learners permit and a friend of my fathers brought over a 1968 327 ragtop that I was allowed to drive around with my mother as copilot. I can still hear that engine. The hook was set.
rob

 

I have loved Corvettes since I was very young. My family owned a gas station where I pumped gas since I was seven. A friend of my dad's bought a new vette every other year when he took a trip to see his parents. He would sell his old ones to ther friends that liked vettes. This guy would often give me rides in his cars. And in turn, I would always keep his windows clean and his oil checked.

On my best friends seventeeth birthday, he bought a 74 vette from this guy. I would help him maintain the car. And on occassion, we would trade cars for the day.This only fueled my interest in America's greatest sports cars. But the following year, my friend got killed in a freak head on collision with at dump truck. My best friend, his brother, and his brother's best friend were all killed instantly when the vette went under the front bumper of the truck. For a short time after, I lost interest in performance cars period.

Up until the time of the accident, my friend and I spent all of our high school time working on fast cars and taking girls for rides in them. The vette was always a head turner. But it was not the fastest one in our stable. I had a Chevelle and an El Camino that both had modified drive trains and capable of beating the vette in a drag race. All three sported custom paint jobs and aftermarket wheels.

But things changed in the last semester of my senior year in high school. I fell in love with a 69 vette convertible that I saw at a local super market. When I went to college the following year, all I could think about was how to save enough money from my tuition budget to buy a used vette. And on my junior year, I bought an Indy Pace Car with the money that I saved and used as a down payment. I sold the car three days later for a $5,000 profit and bought a 78 coupe. Between the profit money and the money that I used as a down payment, I paid cash for the 78 at a bank reposession auction. The car was not fast in stock condition, but it turned heads with the looks that it got after I put Cragar SS wheels on it.

Now twenty five years later, I have owned over twenty corvettes. I currently own a 65 327 4 spd roadster, a 69 435hp 4spd convertible, an 82 with a 450 hp motor and a modified turbo 400, and an 86 with some slight performance mods.

Hopefully, next year, I will leave the island that I live on to take a vacation with my 18 year old son to buy a brand new corvette near the factory and take a drive across the mainland with stops at Bloomington and a trip thru a portion of Route 66 all the way to the California coast from San Diego to San Francisco where the car will eventually be loaded on to a ship for the trip home to Guam where I currently live.

 

In 1973 I was 16 and saw the movie "American Grafitti". I wanted a 58 Impala so bad! I found one at the junkyard and my dad was willing to buy it for me. The guy knew I wanted it, and that my dad would pay. He asked $1000 for basically a shell. My dad asked " Are you sure you want it?" "Not for that price dad." "I'll buy it for you if that's what you want" he said.
"I know you would, but this is a rip off. Thanks anyway."

Never got the 58. A few years later I was visiting western Canada (Alberta), met a girl yada, yada, yada phoned Montreal to tell my folks, "I'm staying out west". 1979 found a 1976 Dark blue & silver Oldsmobile 442 with the 455 engine, white interior, posi, etc. Paid $5,000 for it. Still have it. Took it to shows etc. I just love that car.

The car has all original body panels (no salt used in winter in Alberta) and original interior. Everything on the car works and there was nothing more to do to it except dust and wash it every now and then.

I remember in 1976 I saw a new Corvette parked on the road. I told a friend that if I ever got a job where I could make $20,000 a year, I'd buy a house and a Corvette.

The house came in 1992. I guess I needed the 'vette now. Told the wife, I was going to get a Corvette. The C3, in my opinion, the nicest body style of all the Corvettes. She said that I had the 442 and didn't need another car. I told her I didn't need the car, I wanted the car. She is not a car buff. She said "We don't need another car , and I don't want to hear anymore about it!" She has her 2001 mini van, and I have a newer daily driver for work and the 442. Any way, I respected her wishes and didn't mention it again....until I drove my 1976 L82 4 speed home.

When I pulled up in the driveway I asked "What do you think?" "It's a good looking car" She said. Took her for a ride and she said "It's not as smooth as the 442" So now I have two 1976 cars in my garage, one as nice as the other in different ways. Some say that I should sell them and buy a late 60's or early 70's car. But 1976, I was just out of high school and was looking to my future. The car hobby is partly about remembering the good times in life. In '76, I had some really good times, and now I have the cars to remember them with.

 

in the late 60's and early 70's my father built short track dirt stock cars. Ive been around cars since I can remember. My 79 was his and he signed it over to me a few years back when he was no longer able to work on it!

 

I've always liked cars but when I was 9 years old, in 1975, I had a Hot Wheels collection and my favorite was a little yellow 1975 Corvette. I told myself then that when I became an adult, I was going to own a real Corvette. It took another 20 years but my dream then is a reality now.

 

I was always a car nut. When I turned 16 I bought a 55 chevy. My dad went down to the wrecking yard and bought a old cadalac with the 4 speed hydramatic. He made all the parts for the swap and before long I was out hunting for the 220 horse 289 comets.
After getting married I drove a 10 second 69 cobra, sold that, built a sleek 1200 Kawi race bike, Almost got killed on it twice in one week. Sold that and bought the vet from a friend because it was fiberglass, No other reason in that is was fiberglass.
Well it evolved into what it is today, sell it, NEVER.

 

As a 3 year old in 1976, I spent most of my weekends staring out the back window of my Uncle's '72 coupe, sitting on the parking brake console with my feet in the cargo area. My uncle and Dad would go everywhere with me in that car. The coolest thing was going to Sonic with the tops off.

Dad was always into cars (mostly Mopar), but after the '72, my uncle had maybe a dozen more Corvettes, and I always had to have a shark. I searched and searched for the old Pewter '72 but never had any luck (last seen in Austin around 1980). I bought the '69 almost two years ago.

 

Well i dont have as many memories as some of you quite yet! But up until about 3 years ago, i had no interest in cars, knew very little, and pretty much could have cared less. Much to the contrary my father loved cars, he had a 63 and a 71(with an lt1 im pretty sure), and had gotten away from wrenching because his parents made him goto college to get an education. Well my parents got married shortly there after, and we always joke that the only reason my dad married was because my mom could fit her hand down into the engine bay where my dad couldnt. Well my mothers main hobby is riding horses, and at the place where our horses were there was an old 48 ****** jeep, and my dad wanted it so bad. So we towed that thing up to our old house in vail, and slowly started restoring it. My dad was in heaven, i was finally realizing why wrenching was fun, and not to mention, tons of knowledge directly from my dad. He always had stories of his vettes, and i wanted one so bad, and my dad started to look, and here i am, half way across the lake with a 79 torn to pieces and a 450 horse engine sitting in the garage