AgentEran

I will never forget mine.. Was a neighbor that owned a contracting company that did very well after the '94 Northridge earthquake. The year was 96, I was 14 and the car was a '95 ZR1, that he said had work done (who knows).

What I did know is that me and my buddies thought the car was sick and when he would drive down the street it sounded like nothing we had ever heard.. To us the IROC was a fast car.. and the new F bodies that has just come out at the time were like the fastest cars any of us had ever been around. So when he offered to give us rides one day as we ogled his car as we walked passed his house we did not hesitate to fight over who was first. I grew up in to foothills of the san fernando valley and the 210 was a relatively new freeway, there was never traffic. We did 125 on the on ramp before the ramp became freeway. Was the most visceral experience I had ever had. Been chasing the dragon ever since.

1993C4LT1

Hmmm. That's a tough one for me to answer. My dad had them before I was born. But I guess the first time I fell in love with vettes was when my dad bought a new 98 C5. I remember riding in it back home from when he bought it. Knew I'd have one, one day. But what really sealed it was when he bought his c5 z in 04. I was 10. We were on the way to a tuning shop and he ran a 996 Turbo on the way. We won and I was like fk yeah.
That's a wicked story! I'd to take a ride in a ZR-1 some day.

Tom400CFI

Awesome stories so far!


It was!


I grew up in the '70's and my parents always bought slow cars; Dodge Caravan, Mazda 323, Dodge Colt, '80 Buick Skylark. So that was my point of reference. In '88 or so, my parents bought this boat from a guy in Winchendon MA....



The seller had an '88 TPI/Auto 'Vette; red/red. After the transaction, my brother and I asked the guy if he'd take us for a ride in the 'Vette. He said sure and he showed off everything it had. We might as well have been in a rocket ship headed to the moon. It was wicked and the 1-2 shift with resultant wheels spin was "shock and awe" to me at the time.

I already lusted after any/all Corvettes...but that ride only sealed the deal further for me.

confab

I guess the first, sorta, experience was putting a bushing and front seal in an 84 or 85 once.. Didn't even test drive it because it rode so bad just pulling it around the building. Thought they were shiny junk and swore I'd never own one.

The next experience was a really weird thing where a friend kept calling me about the one I have now. It was sitting beside the road with the trans out. "It's perfect for you.. You should come buy this!"

And after about two weeks of listening to it, I went up to look at it. Kinda felt sorry for it and fell in love with the styling and the jet fighter dash. Guy couldn't get it to start. I couldn't even sit in the seat because it was all the way forward and the power track was messed up. Gave him 2K for it and told him I'd send a flatbed for it.

RVAVette

jnf91

I grew up in a family that owned a Chevy dealership. We'd sell a 'vette or two every year, and in the 70's dad put one or two in demonstrator. I remember a white '81 in particular.

We also always had a personal Corvette. When I was very young, it was a yellow 1966 roadster, 327 4 speed. In the mid 70's, we sold that and bought an ermine white/red vinyl 1963 two top roadster, with am/fm, power windows, power steering and brakes, a powerglide, and a/c(very rare). 2x,xxx miles. We kept that until '87-wonder where it is now?

darrensls1

When I was 13 there was a neighbor down the street who bought a white 1984 C4 corvette the moment they became available. I remember being in awe by his car because at the time I thought the C4 looked like an exotic sports car with the super cool digital gauges that were high tech for the time. I never got to ride in it but it was awesome looking.

Now flash forward to 1989. I was 20 years old so I still needed someone to buy me beer. I became friends with a guy named Jeff who was mid 20's and hosted a lot of parties in his basement which were always epic with live bands and tons of beer. So one Saturday night he had a party and I way too wasted to drive home so I slept on one of his couches. I woke up that Sunday morning and hung out for a bit with him and a girl that we were both friends with. She turns to Jeff and says "Jeff, why don't you give Darren a death ride?" Jeff says sure and we both head outside. Now Jeff drove a piece of crap pick up truck so I figured the death ride was his truck not breaking down in front of a Semi LOL. But then he opens the garage door and there is a bright red 1986 C4 Corvette sitting in his garage. I had known him for at least 6 months at this point and had no idea he owned a Corvette. So he takes me for the scariest ride of my life. I mean he drove it like he stole it, tailgated people within an inch of thier bumpers, passed multiple cars at a time, passed people on the shoulder of the road, hit 130+ multiple times, ect. That was my first experience actually riding in a corvette and my life flashed before my eyes.

Now flash forward to 1995. I was car shopping with my mother who was going to co-sign on a loan for me to help me establish credit and finally get a nice car. So I was looking at new Camaros and Firebirds since I was not able to afford the payment + insurance on a new Trans AM or Z28 at that time. So we are at the Chevy dealership and the salesman goes to see what's the best deal they can put together on a new 95 black V6 Camaro with T-tops. We are hanging out in the showroom with all the new 1995 models on the floor and my mother walks over to a black M6 Z28 convertible and says to me "I bet this one here would be your dream car huh?" I replied "that is a sweet car but it's not my dream car". I then walked her over to a 1995 M6 Corvette and I sat behind the wheel and said "this is my dream car. I'd give anything to be able to afford one of these." But it was not meant to be and I ended up buying a bright red 1995 Firebird with T-tops which I though was super cool at the time with the pop-up head lights and the red back lighting at night.

Now three months ago in July of 2018. I was hunting for a 2011-2014 5.0 mustang or a 2010-2013 Camaro SS. I really needed to find one in the 18-19K range which was very hard to do unless they had 100K+ miles which I wasn't interested in. I was looking for a car in the 40-80K mileage range. So I'm stuck at a red light light and I look to my right and see this little dinky corner car lot with mostly older cars. But they were mostly cool cars like Camaro's, Tran's Am's, Mustang's, Corvette's, Caddy's, Hummers, ect. So I decide to pull in and take a look at some of these cars just for fun. I figure they are too old to get financing so I didn't expect to be buying anything. The only car they had that was really cool, in decent shape inside and out and was also a stick shift was a 1995 dark purple metallic Corvette with 80K miles. The salesman talks me into taking a test drive (really had to twist my arm) and I was impressed with how quick it felt for only being a 300 HP LT1 car. I had previously owned a 99 LS1 trans am that I modded to run mid 11's in the quarter mile so I was spoiled on speed. Anyway he tells me with 1K down they can finance the rest so I pulled the trigger. So that's how I got to own my first and so far only Corvette.

So it took 23 years but I finally got the 1995 Corvette that I told my mother was my dream car all them years ago. I guess dreams can come true. It just takes 23 years and depreciation to bring the price down to $6,800 LOL.

poor-vette

I went to Carlisle (2012?) when I lived in the area. I got a lot of stickers from the vendors and laughed at the guys with "kool designs" on the fuel rail covers of their stock cars. Chevy brought a C6.R and a ZR1 to the show, so that was interesting.

Or maybe it's the old, tan dbag who'd cruise around my college campus in his yellow C7 with his music at an obnoxious level. Pretty sure he totaled his car by crashing it into a ditch.

Now I own a 1993 C4. It's not as fast as you guys make it seem like you thought it was when new. Hell, even a 4-cylinder Ranger can chirp the tires on a quick 1-2 shift. I need something scarier

pologreen1

I was about 5 years old when I first took interest in one.

My Dad had a '67 mustang drag car that was a project. Very loud, never driven and never finished.

Our neighbor was like 30 years old and had a green / tan '72 4 speed stingray. with sidepipes in perfect condition never hardly drove it. This would have been early 80's.

I always asked who would win, but my Dad said his car will destroy the vette, but there was something cool about that vette.

I liked c4's in the '90s , and in '98ish I drove a modified c4 right out of my modified mustang GT. I got back in my mustang and realized it was a toy and the corvette felt like a real sports car.

confab

Same here.. I had a GT and I loved it at the time. But it was a kids car.

Not a real sports car like the Vette.

ex-x-fire

Corvette Central is based in my home town of Sawyer Mi. The original store was a smallish building in the middle of town, across the street they owned a lot that had a high privacy fence, it was hard to see through when driving by. Back in the mid 80s, I was old enough to go into town by myself. I would peer through the fence and look at all of these mid year & stingrays that were in different states of being stripped. I never saw wrecked or junky vettes before that. It was pretty cool.
About 5 yrs later, in around 90-91, this kid from my high school used to drive his daddy's 89 vette to school daily. About 100' from the Corvette Central there's a rail road crossing that is built up on a hill. Well this kid was running from the cops straight through town, some say over 100mph, till he hit that hill at the rail road crossing. I guess he went air born ok but the landing was a mess. I always wondered if they just put his car in CC corvette junk yard since it was right there.

FWC

Around 1980, I was 17 years old and at a party / bbq with my parents. One of the guys there had a blue '69 corvette convertible 4speed and he was going into the corrections academy. Because he wouldn't be able to use it for a while and he needed a better car to commute to the academy and wherever after in NYS he wanted to sell it, for the lowly sum of $4000.00. Of course it wasn't in my budget and it didn't happen, however I can still recall walking all around it and drooling over such a car. From that day on they were in my blood, a few Pontiacs in-between but still there.

Joe K

I was about 18 or so back in 1978. First job in my auto mechanic career was a lot boy/gofer at a Buick dealership. Had a C3 there and one day I had to run an errand. Chose to drive it. Don't remember much about it other than I found out when I returned it was a consignment and I should not have driven it. Didn't get in too much trouble because I reminded them that they said I could drive any used car I wanted.

Other car I drove a lot was a Porsche 914? not sure of the year. It was fun too.

vader86

I grew up around mopars and old Z cars, I admired sharks as a kid. A buddy of mine had an 86 vert in HS, and I thought it was cool but at the time I had a thing for SUVs.

Then in college he got a 74 vert, and took me for a ride in that and I was hooked. I wanted a vette and got the 86 the next year. Never have found an early 70s vert available in my price range since but I'd be all over it if I did.

pacoW

Back in 1971 I think I was only 6, my dad bought a used/damaged 68 vert, 350/350. And I "helped" him work on it, he was just entertaining me. Later that year, my mom and dad took me to watkins glen July race 1971. Watching those vettes race, hearing the roar as they went by was a "religious experience" for me. We went back a number of times for the Oct races & July races. That red, white, & blue #49 made me fall in love with C3's, the rest is history.

AgentEran

Great Stories!

Greg Gore

My first experience is just as real to me right now as it was in 1973. I was a twenty year old out looking for the most car that I could afford at the time and one of the new car dealers in our area had an Ontario Orange 1972 coupe with 6500 miles up in the feature spot out front. I spent some time checking it out and taking it all in and got to test drive it for a pretty good while; that experience instantly turned me into a Corvette enthusiast and the memories of it have been with me ever since. The Corvette ended up being out of reach for me at the time but I'll never forget what that car did to all my senses 45 years ago.

95LT1ZF

Great stories.
My first experience in a corvette was three weeks ago when our family picked one up for a family project. For 40 years, growing up, I listened to my dad wish he had a Corvette. I swore two things to myself. One, that I would have a Corvette one day and go cruising with me dad and two, that I wouldn't wish my life away when I had a son. So, now my wife and my 11 year old have a Corvette and my son will have memories that he can talk about on this site in 30 years. Also, going on a Corvette cruise in with the old man in November,. Check and check.

ZWILDZR1

My first real Corvette experience I owe to my neighbor David. He bought a 68 Coupe from a police auction. The car had been stolen and relieved of it engine. It was an original L79 327, 4 speed with a tobacco interior. I helped with many things. From rebuilding the brake calibers, to many hours of sanding the body. David bought a L48, 77 that the owner torched cause he couldn't make the payments. The L48 was installed in the 68. Now Corvettes ran in his family. Calvin his older brother had bought a dark green metallic 76 new, trading in his 74 Monte Carlo with the cool swivel seats. Then in 78 he traded in the 76 for a L82, 4 speed, Silver Anniversary with dark blue interior. I really loved that car. Calvin's then girlfriend bought a L48, 4 speed, 75 convertible, with black standard interior. I enjoyed riding in the Corvettes and helping with changing the oil and filters.

Around early 79 we finished with the 68 and dropped it off for a new coat of Corvette Bronze. David had also bought a 58 Corvette in Snowcrest White. It was an original fuel injected car and still had it's 283 engine now with a two four setup. The 58 was awesome to ride in with the hard top removed. The exhaust note and tone was so cool. I really enjoyed hanging around and learning about these cars. It made a big impression on a young 15 year old teenager. We sparred all the time about what car was best. The Corvette or Trans Am. I had my heart set on getting a T/A. It was a great time for buying cars and working on them. Unfortunately David's dad passed away and the family moved to Naples, Florida in 1980. I have thought about David and wonder if he still has a Corvette. He really helped to cement in me the love for Corvettes and cars in general.


David's 58

ZWILDZR1

Calvin's 78 Anniversary L82