Hey everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to post about a very special day in my life - today marks three years with my Yellow '96 Corvette. I cannot believe it's been three years! (On top of that, I've been a Corvetteforum member for over five years! :eek: )

Anyway, for the past two years I have enjoyed posting a thread here in C4 General just to celebrate my "anniversary" of owning my car - I love this car more every day :) It is my pride and joy :yesnod:

This year, I actually got to install my chrome wheels, Eradispeed rotors, Grand Sport calipers (I painted the rear calipers instead of replacing them), Hawk pads, stainless steel brake lines, and Goodyear F1GS-D3 tires all around. It was a lot of fun to install all these parts! Unfortunately, I didn't live up to my promise to put a lot of miles on - my yellow baby sits with a little over 13,500 miles... will try to do better this year :steering:

(By the way, I have a really nice set of 17x9 Camaro SS / ZR-1 wheels for sale, please see... http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=764578).

I wanted to include links to my one-year post and two-year post, but my picture links have changed, and since I can't change those in the original archived posts, I hope no one minds if I copy and paste the original story here... I enjoy sharing :D

Here is a link to my post the day after I bought the car... posting from Flagstaff, AZ (note some names have changed, perhaps due to user id changes, turnover, etc.):
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=39521


Here is a link to current pictures of my car with its upgraded wheels, tires, exhaust, and brakes.
http://www.96lt4.com/LT4/yellow/schr96.html

Now here is my fixed one-year posting, which includes the story of my purchasing the car...

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Dear all,

Exactly one year ago today, I purchased my very first Corvette, fulfilling a longtime dream. Not only did I get to purchase a car that was so uniquely and perfectly what I wanted that it was amazing, I also took my dad along and drove it back home!

Let me start my little story... in December, 1999, I put my name on a list for a 50th anniversary Corvette. Well, I got to the point where I just couldn't wait any longer to buy a Corvette! I had always wanted a yellow one, and I wanted something unique. Plus, I loved C4s, and had regretted not keeping the yellow LT4 my dad had owned a couple years prior.

I looked for several months, and a few cars came up, but none caught my attention like this one. A forum member, NavyVet, saw this one on his way home from the dentist in Phoenix, AZ, one day (4/4/01, I think) (just happened to, by chance :yesmod: ) and he posted a thread on it, addressed primarily to Scorp508 (since he had been looking for a yellow LT4). The car was a yellow LT4, and it had Z51. The yellow with LT4 combination was very hard to find at all, let alone with Z51. Add to that, the tan interior... it wasn't very long before forum member Rottie posted the stats of the yellow LT4 coupes that year. Only 6 yellow coupes with tan interior and Z51, and that didn't count the number of those cars with LT4s (that breakdown still is not known). Oh yes, the car had 8177 miles on it, too.

Okay, that's it, gotta apply for a loan, I can't stand it! I tried Eloan.com and Peoplefirst.com. Eloan.com responded in, I'm not kidding, two minutes, and approved me. Um, okay, another call to the dealer (I had already called twice that day), and I put a deposit on the car. The dealer was Midway AutoTeam out in Phoenix. My salesperson was extremely first-class. She could not have been much older than me (I was 24). She picked us up at the airport, drove us back to the dealer, rode with me on a short test drive (not much of a test drive needed on this one), and with very little hassle over the paperwork, the deal was done, and at about 7:30pm Phoenix time, 4/7/01, my dad and I were on our way back to Kansas City in my new baby :D I, uh, convinced Dad that he didn't want to drive. What can I say... he had already owned one of these, this one's mine! I did sincerely offer him the opportunity, but he (thankfully) declined :)

I could not believe it, I was actually driving [/b]my[/b] Corvette to its new home! Oh my gawd, I could hardly control myself, I probably could have driven back straight through on just adrenaline! Unfortunately we had a bout with, of all things, SNOW, in Flagstaff.

Here's what I woke up to on April 8...

Isn't it beauuuuutiful??? All I could do was smile!

Here's another view of some beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery in Flagstaff:


Then we headed out on I-40 East. Man, this car gets better gas mileage than anything I've ever owned!


Wow, I-40 was great, 75mph speed limit, and awesome scenery! Here are a couple pictures:



Hehe, here is another picture from my econo-Vette :)


That was 552 miles from the dealership, still nearly 800 to go to home. But, I neglected to take a picture of the 1 reserve bar that was showing just prior to this picture :crazy: :sad: :bb

Call me **** retentive, call me goofy, or just call me in love with my car. It turned 9000 miles and I had to take a picture (3 months later, in July, it turned 10,000, and I have a video of that one):


(Note that I'm still getting 30.2mpg)

Anyway, we stopped in Elk City, Oklahoma, that night, and slept (I think I was just a little too excited and worn out as a result). Got up the next morning bright and early and headed out on the final stretch home, and my new baby arrived at its new home at about 4:00PM CDT, April 9, 2001. After I cleaned it up from its trip, here's a picture:


Over the past year, I am quite ashamed to say I've only put a total of 2894 miles on it (including the trip back). Part of the problem is I work too much, plus I'm trying to finish a Master's Degree in Computer Science. Hopefully I will graduate with that In May, 2003, and put that behind me, so I can thoroughly enjoy this car!

My only "mods" are a set of ZR1 wheels, a set of carpet savers, and a set of doorsill protectors (these are really cool, but hard to get a picture of in the garage). Here are two present-day pictures:



To some people, they're just a car. To me, this is the most valuable thing I own. Aside from people and pets, this is something I value more than life itself, because it represents so much hard work (yes, I am paying for it completely by myself) and such a longtime goal. I love it dearly, and I'm glad to have been able to share my story :)

I figured it might be appropriate on my car's one-year anniversary with me :D

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So, it's now two years since that post... still haven't finished the Master's Degree... haven't put all that many miles on the car, but I still love it to death, and it's almost paid for!

Thank you very much for reading if you've gotten to this point - here's a great big Corvette wave to ya :seeya :seeya :seeya

See ya later...

Mike


[Modified by zyal8r, 7:48 PM 4/7/2004]

 

:cool: :cool: :cool: :cheers:

 

:hurray: :hurray:
Lookin Sweet :cool:
I like this one :thumbs:

 

:cool: :cheers:

 

Ah spring... and love is in the air! :thumbs: We understand completely. :seeya

 

What a great story and a beautiful car :thumbs: :cheers: :cheers:

 

Thanks for the compliments, guys :yesnod: Agent - yeah, I like that one, too :lol: It's one of my favorite pictures! I almost didn't want to drive it again after the brakes and wheels... almost... :D

I'll post again next year, only it'll say four years!

Mike