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When did you first fall in love with America's Sports Car?
I was 9 years old and visiting my grandmother and my uncle pulled up in a brand new 1965 Stingray convertible 396 in Milano Maroon, black interior, knock-off wheels and factory sidepipes. He took me for a ride and I knew I had to have one someday. Ten years latter I bought my first.
How about you!
Last edited by Kevin A Jones; 08-12-2017 at 03:27 PM.
I was about 5 or 6, and the family that lived in the apartment next to my parents had a late-teenage daughter, and her boyfriend had a blue 63 split-window corvette. I thought it was the most beautiful car I'd ever seen. I've only had one Corvette so far, a 2000 C5 Convertible, and I modded the heck out of that thing. Shortly after getting that car, went through a nasty and painful divorce, necessitating the sale of the car. Fast-forward 7 or 8 years and I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world, that is enthusiastic about me getting another Convertible. So a week ago (today) I placed a deposit on a 2018 GS Admiral Blue Convertible. The adventure continues..........
My dad was the Production Engineering Manager at Chevrolet and always brought home awesome company cars. I was fortunate enough to have driven a '68 or '69 L88 (when I was 17 or 18 years old). With 12.5:1 compression ration, Sunoco 260 (102 Octane) was required.
1971 when my aunt bought a 1971 orange stingray, I was 5. We moved to England right after and did not get much exposure to American sports cars there, but I always remember that car. She still owns it with 1500 original miles! Car only sees parade duty once a year in Kent Ohio.suposedly she says it is willed to me when she passes.
Did not "love” Vettes as a kid. Can say I do “love” my 2017 Grand Sport, my 5th Vette. I got my first under strange circumstances, this is the story.
SHAGGY DOG STORY, FWIW
Tried to buy a ’74 Vette but the timing was such the dealers I worked with could not get one for months. Little discounts available. Bought a 260Z, really liked that car.
Got transferred from OH to corporate office in CT. Was during the gas shortage and could not get from CT to LaGuardia and back on a full tank of gas in my CJ5, V8 headers, big tires etc. Could only buy gas on a day dependent on the last number on your license plate! Stayed out-of-town several times to return on a day I could fill up! Traveled half my time and no way would I bring the 260Z to that airport. Sold the Jeep and bought a Dodge Colt Turbo. Great little car. Bought the wife a Plymouth Champ, same Mitsubishi, different name and no turbo!
The large multinational I worked for wanted to sell our Division so the few of us left at corporate picked SC, our largest factory to consolidated the other facilities. Two years later could not tolerate riding in a Colt without air conditioning so was looking at what to buy.
At a distributor/vendor association meeting in Hawaii the answer came but in a strange way! Was snorkeling in front of the hotel and very rough weather came up suddenly. The fish and lava rock tops were getting very close! Looked up out of the water and realized I could not swim the 50 yards parallel to the beach to the spot to get back. Waves were too strong. No choice swam into the rocks and go with the waves! Was exhausted, holding on to a rock when someone came in from the shore and helped me out!
I laid on the beach for ~15 minutes cut from the rocks and looking at the sky thinking "someone up there saved you!" It’s time to buy a Vette! It was two weeks before the market crash in ’87 and I had some appreciated stock, so sold it and ordered a new ’88! Great timing, that stock caved!
Now on my 5th Vette and can say I do love it! All have been my DD.
I was 10 years old when my uncle stopped by with his new white C3 convertible with chrome bumpers and red interior. For a kid who grew up on Speed Racer, this was the closest thing to a real Mach 5 I had ever seen. I was hooked ever since.
I was fortunate enough to have driven a '68 or '69 L88 (when I was 17 or 18 years old). With 12.5:1 compression ration, Sunoco 260 (102 Octane) was required.
Yikes! Did you know at the time what it was? I can't even imagine being behind the wheel of one of those things.
I was 8 years old when my uncle bought a late model 70's Stingray. Love at first site. As I got older I just did not love the C5/6 styling but C7 blew me away and I bought my first Corvette.
Actually, I had always wanted a Jaguar XKE. By the time I could afford a new sports car, the Jaguar XK was out. I purchased a 2008, Indigo Blue convertible and drop dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, "Dead" became the most descriptive word for the car. It was the most unreliable POS I had ever driven. Spent more time in the shop, then in my garage. Finally, after a particularly bad day with the Jag, my wife said, "why you don't go out and buy a Corvette?" I stopped and considered that for a moment, and quickly figured I might not hear that offer ever again. I immediately went out and bought my first Corvette, a Carlisle Blue C6 coupe. It was a GREAT CAR. Well, needless to say the C7 came out a couple of years later, and I had to have one. I now drive a 2014 vert that I bought new. It's an even BETTER then great car! I am now a Corvette guy for life....
Yikes! Did you know at the time what it was? I can't even imagine being behind the wheel of one of those things.
Yeah, I knew what it was. I was a car nut back then. To top it off, we lived pretty close to Woodward Ave. So, I'd take my best friend and we'd go cruise Woodward Ave with it. All the GTO's, Cuda's, Chevelle SS's, etc. took one look at it and just shook their heads saying "No".
For all the youngsters, here is a controversial GM ad from "back in the day":
And here's a book on "Cruising the Legendary Strip":
It was 1959 for me. My neighbor had a 1957 and a 1958 Corvette. He and his son, who was in high school at the time were constantly modifying the cars. From the motors down to the paint. I was 11 years old in 1959 and I couldn't wait to get home from school and see what they were going to tear apart next. The odd part was that they didn't drive them much. The would tear down, put together, and test drive to see if what ever they did worked. What a zoo that was! But it was really fun. They would let me participate. But those two Corvettes were just gorgeous. My cousin had a 1973 Corvette and by that time I was in my mid twenties and he would come up from Coos Bay on the weekends at least once a month and throw me the keys and let me have it for the weekend. I would drive the hell out of for two days. He would visit with my wife and family. I was hard to find on those weekends he was around. I absolutely loved the blue Stingray. If I remember correctly it was 275 HP. It turned just like it was a lazy susan. Perfect center of gravity in a car for that time. I lost favor when the C4 was introduced. But the C5s on up were always on my mind.
By 1967 the government and vehicle safety advocates were raising concerns that automotive advertising, specifically the marketing of muscle cars by GM and other manufacturers, was promoting illegal and dangerous driving behavior.
Pontiac was on a roll with its Pontiac GTO advertising with its blend of performance imagery and tiger theme. However, GM management decreed that no division could produce ads that encouraged reckless driving. So how could Pontiac show off the performance of its GTO? They did it by creating the perfect implied ad. The ad looks harmless enough: two men sitting in a Verdoro Green 1968 Pontiac GTO in the crossover median of a road by some trees. The ad copy reads “The Great One by Pontiac. You know the rest of the story.” “The Great One” referred to the GTO but what was the “rest of the story?” The sign behind the car gave the answer. Woodward Avenue in Detroit was the place for street drag racing and was famous nationwide. Therefore, the knowledgeable reader realized that the two men were waiting for someone to race.
There wasn't one event like others pinpointed. I remember having a toy Corvette when I was 6 or 7, then building a couple of C1 Corvettes with those AMT models around the early 60s. A young guy down the block bought a new 61, that probably gave it a real boost, then my neighbor bought a 63 split window, fuelie coupe. That certainly boosted my interest, a lot. Seven years after that event, I picked up my first Corvette.
I was never a Corvette guy. My last four cars were a 93 then 97 Honda Prelude and an 00 and then 06 Honda S2000s. I sat in a yellow 14 C7 vert at the LA Auto Show in November 13, just after he C7 came out. I bought a 14 crystal red C7 vert from Kerbeck off their website. It was on a truck headed in the wrong direction from Kentucky to NewJersey. I had Muntway enclosed ship it from Kerbeck to LA. It cost me $1,600. In spite of a snowstorm on the east coast, ten days after I wired Kerbeck a deposit, a transporter pulled up in front of my house in the LA area and the driver parked it in my driveway. I fell in love by the next day. I do a lot of driving in my business. I think about three days after I got it I turned it into a work truck. In 3 1/2 years I've put 59,000 miles on it. I still get compliments and conversations most every day, sometimes more than once. Today I've gotten four so far.
Last edited by F4 Phantom; 08-13-2017 at 01:22 PM.
08-12-2017, 03:26 PM
When did you first fall in love with America's Sports Car?
