Long time, no post!!! I hope you all are doing well and it is great to see you guys. Well folks, it looks like I might be making a comeback. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted because I sold my steel blue ZR1 and got heavy into a successful horse training/sales biz, and sadly pretty much got out of the Vette scene. A lot of you likely don’t even know me and hopefully the ones that do still remember me…I see so many new names here I just can’t believe it! But anyway, here is a little story of fate, love and possibly a bit of insanity. Considering I am long winded as hell, this is likely to be long, and potentially sappy, so just a warning. I’ve got a lot of pent up posting to let go. LOL

For those that remember, I joined the forum a LONG time ago, when it was much, much smaller and had a black 87 Corvette which was the love of my life. I had broken my back doing odd jobs and saving for years as a young girl to eventually afford this fine machine which I purchased, with parents co-signing the loan, in Jan. 1996 (at the age of 17). I doted on this car and practically lived in it (was dating my now hubby long distance and drove back and forth constantly)…racking up the miles, but it never faltered. For some stupid, stupid reason I decided to sell it. DUMB DUMB DUMB!!! I guess I thought the grass was greener…and well, you know how that usually goes. Since then I’ve had a POS Typhoon (just a particularly breakage-prone and misrepresented one…although I love Typhoons), a POS 90 Yellow Corvette (some might remember the saga on that…) which I lost my *** on, and then I got the ZR1, which was fabulous, but I just never drove it. When I had an opportunity to buy a really, really nice horse (training/showing horses is really my 1st true passion) right after we got married, I sold the car to fund the purchase. I actually don’t regret that too much, as I LOVE the horse and he’s a dream, but what I do and have always regretted was selling that basically stock 186,000 mile 87 with not a darn thing really special about it.

Luckily the car went to a super nice guy out in Idaho, who is actually now a member of the forum I found out. He flew in and drove the car all the way back in the dead of winter, Dec. 2000. I knew it would make it. I would have driven it anywhere. When he turned out of the drive and disappeared from sight, I broke down and cried. Luckily my now-hubby was there to comfort me. I knew then I’d made a mistake. It was as if part of me had vanished. I thought I was maybe mentally ill for being attached to a hunk of metal and fiberglass so I hadn’t told this story due to embarrassment...but from then on I always wished I had it back. Oh, well, so much for that, I figured…just get over it and move on. I toyed with the idea of buying another 87 or 88 to daily-drive, but it just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t THAT car.

For some odd reason, I got a wild hair about a week ago, I decided to try to email the person who bought it, as I remembered the name. It has now been about 5 years since he bought the car, so I was just sure it had been sold and I’d lost track of it forever. We had spoken about a year after he bought it and he said it was doing well. He probably thought I was nuts, I mean, who calls the new owner of their car to see how it is doing? I told him then if he ever wanted to sell it to let me know. Of course, since then I’ve moved and gotten married, and I figured the chance of someone even doing that was slim. Guessing I had nothing to lose, I searched through Google and found an email address I hoped was valid for him (thankfully he has a less common name) and dropped him an email. The next day, I had a response. I could barely click to open the email as I was so nervous – had he sold it? Wrecked it? Trashed it? I couldn’t bear to read it, but I couldn’t bear not to. When I got up the courage, what I found made my entire year.

He still has the car. And, he is getting ready to sell it due to purchasing a 2000 vert. He said it now has around 205,000 miles and has been his most reliable car. He has tinkered with it and done many, many things to it, including changing the body style and putting a Stalker bumper on it ( …but to each their own). The bottom line is that he’s taken supreme care of it. I was sure that by now he’d rebuilt the motor, which was strong as could be even with the high miles, but he said upon compression test it is still excellent and doesn’t “need” a rebuild. Of course, it would get one, thanks to my hubby who can’t seem to keep his hands off of our cars , but it still runs like a top and has had very few problems/issues, mostly those expected due to old age. I called and talked to him for nearly two hours a few days ago and we agreed on it. The car is coming back.

I know what you’re thinking. Why on earth would someone go through so much trouble and expense to get a nearly 20 year old, 200,000+ mile basically stock 87 across the country? Because I am insane, that’s why. It is official. I also plan on returning it to its original glory; again, I know I am nuts but I like an 87 to look like an 87!! So if anyone is interested in a Stalker front bumper or a 91-96 rear bumper, let me know. Not to be presumptuous, as it won't be mine again for a little while most likely, but just wanted to put the idea out. The bad part is that the timing could not be worse on my end, as we’re building a big new farm right over the VA line into NC, and we are stretched as thin as can be right now with two mortgages. He has to come this way likely in mid-June so we have struck a deal that will make the timing work for both of us (our current house will be sold = cash from equity!). That would save me some on shipping too if I can meet him maybe halfway. I will be sending him a deposit very soon so he will be sure I am serious (can't anyone tell?). What one won’t do for true love. I thought that you of all folks would understand. My friends want to admit me.

So anyway, there you have it. If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for reading, you’re a trooper. LOL I can’t thank this kind gentleman enough for helping me reunite with the object of my obsession and how my passion for Corvettes truly began. I hope one day I could do something as nice for him. He actually told me he was going to start trying to find me relatively soon as he’d promised to do should he sell it, and was going to come here as a start to ask if I’d been spotted. There aren’t many people in the world that great.

I guess this means you might be seeing more of me, so get used to it. I hope I can balance my time-consuming passion for horses with my Corvette hobby. My husband has a 1994 Blk/Blk 6spd, so the last thing we need is another black Corvette. We don’t even NEED another car. But this has shown me that I married the right guy and a good one, as he agreed to this cockamamie proposition right away. So, this is a big hello to everyone out there and hope to see a lot more of you guys!!

 

Hey Jen, I remember you and you have been missed. There's a boat load of new people here but some of us old timers are still around. I'm glad you have been able to find your long lost love and that the car is coming home. I'm looking forward to seeing more of you around here.

BTW lilred checked in just a few weeks ago after a long absence too.

 

Welcome back Jen, it's good to see you on here again...

 

Hello there pretty lady.........really nice to have you back, along with that lost love '87 of yours!

 

Nice story! I am new here so you don't know me. nor I you but nice to meet you.

Reunited .........and it feels so good!

 

Welcome back!

 

I totally understand. I'd like to have my '86 back that had ~215K on it and was starting to fall apart and had a salvage title on it (I was the one that rebuilt it and it was my first vette). I didn't have the money 3 years ago to redo it, but am a little better off now and would take it if I could. Have no idea where it went though. If I had to guess it probably got parted


BTW welcome back and I remember you, I was new back then but you stuck out being a female owning a Z, just don't see that much

 

nice to have yall back

 

[QUOTE=TheAngelOfDeath]Nice story! I am new here so you don't know me. nor I you but nice to meet you.

What he said...

Please let us know the final outcome. (i.e. car makes it back okay, house sells okay, plenty of proceeds from sale to pay for car, hubby stays cool, girl lives happily ever after)

 

Welcome back! I don't think it's odd at all to have missed your old car and be excited to have it back. I live on a farm and have four horses. How do you keep hay out of your 'vette? I think it must fall out of pockets or something!

 

There's nothing wrong with that story. Good for you!

 

well, well, well... look who is back...

Just kidding! It's good to see you posting again, Jen!

WAY long time no see!!!

 

Jen, it's great to see you back You need another ZR-1 though.

 

Hey guys, thanks so much for the warm welcome. I knew I liked it here for some reason...now I remember

This is the only scanned pic I have of the car (I have like 10 rolls of film worth of hard photos but this was really before the digital age). Of course, that will change soon. Don't laugh, I think I was 19 in the pic. And it took my friends like 10 min to talking me into sitting on the car....paint ****-ness. LOL



It's nice to meet all you new folks! I used to feel like I knew every name that posted but now there are just so many new people! I know the oldies-but-goodies are still out there...you better check in too!!

I am glad to hear that people don't think I'm a lunatic.

 

Oooooh lord I knew I'd find you around here! Lee wants another one, believe me. What I didn't say is that in exchange for having to live on a horse farm instead of on the water he gets a gigantic garage with a lift, and way too much room for car collecting. So, we may have one again eventually. I loved mine but it just didn't have the same sentimental value - it was more of a unicorn!

 

Maybe I'm mistaken, confused, stupid, or all of the above, but aren't you the one who had the ZR1 "dropped" off the truck when it was delivered? Seems like I remember you with that story, but it could be someone else...about 3 or 4 years ago.

 

Car? I don't see any car (insert drool smiley here)!!!! j/k

Welcome back Jen. Good to see you posting again. You have been missed.

 

Oh yes, that was me. It was terrible, even though it didn't really "hurt" it (it got fixed) but it was "flawed" from then on. Oh yeah, then a small, dead tree fell on it in my yard. I have just been cursed ever since I sold the 87.

 

Welcome back. Geez, I have been here about 3 years and never heard of you. My loss! I just sold my 87 and will be moving on to a Grand Sport. It was a very reliable and fun car.
You might also be interested in a Forum spinoff at www.domesticmisfits.com where a bunch of the rowdier and banned members from here often hang out.
Again. Welcome!

 

So, Jen, ever hear from your best bud CJ?