ExRedRacer

My story exactly.

I started noticing Corvettes when I was about 12 or so...I'll never forget the first one I saw...a green C2 passed us on the road one day and I was hooked.




Soon as I got my first job, (still single) I went down to buy a C3 vert with the chrome bumpers and had it all lined up until I figured the insurance would cost more than the car. So I kept my Camaro Type LT.

Marriage and family and all that deferred the dream for another thirty years until my girls were grown and gone and it was my turn to play. Got my first Vette in '04, a Torch Red C5. Now driving my 2nd Vette, my Victory Red C6 and loving it more every day.

ls1121

I first noticed Corvettes when I was 13 in my Freshman year of H.S. I took my 1st test drive in Nov. 1997 and bought my 08 Z51 in Nov. 2012. I had to do all of life's normal things before I could buy such an expensive toy.

JakeC6Racing

I fell in love with Corvette's when the c5 came into production in 96 (1997 model year). I was 6 and have wanted one since then. Finally picked up my 2011 GS in May after 18 years at the age of 24

Gars08vert

In my case, I did have to wait almost as long as you Hammy. I was 56 when I got my first vette (last year).

I too had the reasons I had to wait, as I always wanted one from when I was about 12 yrs old. But alas life gets in the way...2 kids, divorce, lost the house in that divorce, remarried, helped with college etc, etc... After that I Was lucky enough to have a paid off pristine 08 350Z with 22k on the odometer, and got a decent trade on my 08 Z51 vert with just 3200 on the odometer (last August) which I thought was a typo when I found it online. Been lovvin it ever since, it now has 8000 on the odometer. No real issues at all save 1 code thrown for a exhaust sensor and wire harness (the typical one).

Hammy, did this classmate of yours in high school treat his (free vette) correctly, or did he just beat the snot out of it and not keep it right?

HOXXOH

The last business I went by every day, as I started my paper route, was a Chevy dealer. When a new '55 Vette appeared in the showroom in late '54, I stopped in and immediately knew I had to have one.

Like most other dreams, reality seems to take priority, so it took until late '07 to own one. Of course, the new '55's were all gone by then, so I had to settle for an '08.

j_digi454

Bought my first Vette, a 70 454 Corvette Bronze Coupe (my Avatar picture) in January 1970, it was delivered mid July 1970.

TxLefty

I was (under supervision) washing my Dad's 1964 Impala SS convertible when one of his buddies came by in a new 64 Corvette Coupe. They left, I dried the car and decided I needed me one of those. Got one about 3 months ago. 50 years.

CheckSix

I was 16 when I bought my first Vette, WITH MY OWN MONEY, earned cutting lawns, working at horse stables and working in gas stations. I not only pumped gas and checked under the hood, I was allowed to change tires and do oil changes and chassis lubes too. The hardest thing for me to pay for, was the insurance and my old man helped me out with that part of it.

I had learned to drive on the farm since I was 10. When I was 16, I had 2 older friends that had Vettes. One was a tricked out '59 and the other was a '61. Both had '67 327/350's in them. I bought a '64 that had a non-original motor in it for $1500.00 (everything I had) and we changed that out after I bought it, to a built 327 with headers.

That car was really special to me. I only have a few Polaroids of it... here's one of them.

See5see6

I love these stories. As a young teenager I sat in a new 1957 Corvette in the Rosen-Novak Chevrolet dealership (Omaha, NE) and knew that someday..............Well, that "someday" came 43 years later when I took delivery of my newly ordered 2000 convertible. (still have it although I drive my '08 much, much more.

ruxvette

Man, I just get so confused anymore...I used to be a drunken sought until I sot help but I am proof the Cliff Clavin buffalo theory is hog wash, er...bull crap, er...horse manure...hell, I'm going back to drinking.

su8pack1

54 years to get my first new one.

Hameister

Ya know, I really couldn't say??? We were not friends, just H.S. acquaintances.

I was in the 10th grade, and he was a senior, graduated, and went off to collage.

I never saw him again.

At the time, my dad made about $8,000 a year, and his dad made about $25,000 a year, so we weren't exactly in the same social set.

DenverdansC6

My first ride in a Vette was in my aunt's boyfriend's 58 or 59 when I was in 5th or 6th grade...walking home from school with friends...and he rode up and took me home. Very cool at that age and at a time when a Vette was as rare or rarer than a Ferrari is today. It must of made an impression as when I had just turned 22 yrs. old I bought a used 66 Laguna Blue L79, M4 coupe with a/c. Only had it a little over a year and it took me another 41+ yrs. to get my 2nd Vette...and about a yr. and half to get my 3rd.

wayback

Bought my first Vette in 78 at the ripe old age of 18. It was a 1969 coupe 350/350 with 4 speed muncie and 4:11 rear. Not new by any means but the motor had just been bored/balanced by Sun Motors and it put out 390 bhp. Miss that car.

Bought it for $4500 in Lubbock, Tx and sold it for $12,500 3 yrs later. It was my 4th car to buy on my own.

Did not get another till 2004 when I bought a 2000 C5. Have been driving one ever since.

Globeman

I wanted a Vette since I was about 12 Y.O. Finally bought this used '61 six months out of H.S.

Hameister

That ol' sepia photo is fantastic!

I thought you might like a newer looking, cropped, B&W crisper version as well.

rsparks64

My story is somewhat similar, but for my second corvette. My first ride in a vette was about 1961 in a 1958, coincidentally, red with white coves. Ten years later as a junior in high school spent my savings for all my jobs since the age of 12 and bought a rather used 1964 vette. It was stolen five years later. Because of the twists and turns of life I got my second one only recently once the offspring graduated from college and got a job (this summer).

dvilin

Bought my first Vette when I was in my 20's. it was a used 1968 427, kept it a couple of years, than bought a used 1973 454.
I then moved on to Luxury cars for awhile, Porsches, and back to the Vette in 2008.
Not sure what my next purchase will be.

4SUMERZ

I'm not sure how to answer the poll. I can't say that I was a vette admirer growing up. There were very few if any vettes in my small town in the late 60's to early 70's. Most of the muscle or sport cars were Pontiac GTO's (66-69) Plymouth Roadrunners, AMC Machine, Javelins
and a bit later, the Firebirds and Camaros were hitting the streets.

I bought a new 77 Trans Am, and buying a vette never crossed my mind.
An acquaintance and co-worker bought a 77 Vette for about 3 grand more than my T/A.

I never thought of owning a vette until I saw a C6 on the highway in 2008. I thought it was a European car with the headlights showing, but upon closer scrutiny, I found out it was a vette and started to look for info on the C6.
Once I put the kids through school, I started looking for a road trip car, as I was recently retired, and my wife was soon to follow in a few years.
I initially looked at the Mercedes SLK series, but limited truck space etc. had me look at other cars, including the C6.
In 2009 I pulled the trigger on a 2006 with 11K miles on it. Flew in to Dayton, picked it up in St Mary's and drove home some 1200 miles. It was so much fun, and to this day, we both enjoy road trips in this car.

csf

I'm 54, first became a Corvette fan when I saw all the astronauts driving them in the 60's. Became a high performance car fan as I grew older, but didn't have the money to do much but fantasize about Corvettes in high school. Got married after college, then also raised 2 daughters, paid for summer camps, vacations, colleges, mortgages, etc.

Youngest daughter went off to college in summer of 2013, ironically also the last year of the C6. I noticed those incredible discounts and rebates. I looked at the C7 but really wanted the "classic" Corvette look with the curved rear window and targa top, so I bought a silver 2013 Grand Sport coupe. I had never driven or even sat in a Corvette. Very happy, love the look and the way it drives.

So maybe its been 45 years since I first wanted a Corvette till I bought one. I guess thats a pretty long mid-life crisis.