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First off, apologies for the length of this post, but this is the story of my GS order, and then flying out to the Corvette Museum for delivery. And yes, to avoid being drawn and quartered by the Corvette Forum Illuminati, I have included photos.
Story starts out over a year ago. My step-daughter lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with her Scottish husband. They were considering moving to America last Fall, so I put off ordering a Grand Sport at that time because if they moved here and were driving my daily-driver pickup truck, I'd be faced with driving the GS on rainy/snowy days, and I live about 18 miles from work.
This spring of 2017 came and they decided to wait till sometime next year to move, and it now looks like my son-in-law will be getting a job in NYC. So that means they don't have to count on my truck for transportation. So that means last August I sent in a deposit to MacMulkin Chevrolet for a 2018 Admiral Blue GS Convertible, 2LT, gray top and interior and M7. Lastly I wanted to experience the Museum delivery option, as this is quite probably the last new car I'll buy in my lifetime. So without further adieu, here's the first photo.
This is Lori at the museum, she and Shane (coming up) coordinate all the deliveries with the customer and the factory. Lori was absolutely amazing to deal with, and would always go above and beyond to help me keep things on track.
This is Shane, the main-man at the museum, and he too was amazingly helpful with some things I wanted done. Namely, I wanted splash guards installed on the car before I drove it home to NC. No problem! He got them installed on the car prior to me picking it up. All I did was send him the guards and it was taken care of. Things could not have gone any smoother with the museum delivery. If any of you are contemplating the museum delivery option, I cannot recommend it more strongly! It was a day that will live in my memory forever. So here's more of my delivery experience.
I had spotted my car on the museum webcam about a week prior to my trip, so obviously I was over the moon with excitement. I was delivery bay #8, which to me didn't mean much, as I've never been to the museum before. But unknown to me, delivery #8 is the first car you see as you enter the entrance door. So here's what I saw as we entered the building. It couldn't have been sweeter to see this...
But... who is the guy bending over with his head stuck into the trunk? Simple, it was my personal-guide for the delivery experience. He was just checking out every last detail of the car.
This is Larry Crosbie, who took my wife and I on a personal tour of the Corvette Museum, offering a lot of great information and trivia about all things Corvette. He's retired from PPG and does this museum gig about 3 or so days per week. He couldn't have been nicer or more gracious with his hospitality. He then went over every feature of the car, so I'd have at least a rudimentary understanding of how to operate everything as we headed home.
Now on to the photos of the new addition to our family...
The museum was nice enough to give us this sign, which will be displayed in my man-cave.
really ended up loving the gray interior and top. I let the wife decide on the interior and top, and I think she made a great choice.
From the museum we drove back Wednesday afternoon to Nashville (where we flew into from Raleigh NC) and dropped the car off at Auto Armor in Old Hickory TN (a suburb of Nashville). Shane and Lori had said good things about Auto Armor's reputation, so I wanted XPEL film put on the car prior to driving it home.
So here's the car in Rudy Duarte's shop, getting ready for the film. Here is where things get interesting. The two weeks prior to the trip, the weather was forecasting snow and ice the days I was to be picking up the car. Then a week prior it said it would be warmer, so I was feeling better about it. Now that we're there, they're again calling for snow and ice on Friday morning, the day I'm supposed to be driving it home. I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach about now. So all day Thursday, as Rudy is working on the car, I'm checking and re-checking the weather, and it doesn't look good.
So Thursday afternoon Rudy calls and says he can have it ready by 9 or 10 p.m. and we can pick it up and get the hell out of dodge before the winter storm. So Auto Armor worked until 10 p.m. on Wednesday night after I dropped off the car, and then till 10 p.m. Thursday night to help us out of a jam. To me, THAT is customer service above and beyond the call of duty! Cannot recommend anyone more than I recommend Rudy at Auto Armor.
We picked up the car around 10, hit the road and drove east to Knoxville, where they were only forecasting rain. We hit the sack and got some sleep, then headed out Friday morning to NC. They got the forecast right, it rained HARD all the way home to NC. We ended up getting home around 4 p.m. and I promptly washed the car during a brief respite in the rain, and so here is the last photo (for now) of my adventure, a photo of the new GS in her new man-cave, safe and sound from the trip. Thanks everyone for all the information and comments I've seen here on the forum, to help me get at least partially ready for my new Corvette experience. Look forward to many happy miles in my new baby!
Congrats!! I saw your original post with the webcam shot, and started watching the various cameras at the NCM as I did not know they existed. On the day of your delivery,I happened to be able to catch a couple of minutes of your delivery experience and of another delivery!! What a thrilling time for you all!! I am glad that your return was a safe one. Thanks for the detailed account!!
Dan
Nice write-up Stan. I saw you guys on the cam. Glad things worked out for you. I was unaware that the Museum offered these types of services. Thanks for the info. I am considering going the same route sometime this year. I haven’t pulled the trigger though. Waiting to see the 2019 model year. Congrats on your beautiful C7. Did you put the 500 Miles on your vehicle on the return trip? Oil change?
Last edited by JumpingJackFlash; 01-14-2018 at 02:16 PM.
CONGRATES!! Hard to explain what you felt in words But,you did a great job.
Never wanted my GS to see rain.It did,300 Miles driving home from KERBECK With new GM guards.Good thinking
Wife like the Gray also.We went a little different with the 2 Tone.
Great Car,ENJOY!
thanks for sharing your experience Stan. I found with my 2014 that I took delivery of at the museum I always felt I had a “ connection” with that car that was different form my C5 which I bought off out of dealer’s inventory or even my C6 which I ordered but picked up at dealer. I hope you enjoy that same connection. It probably made losing the C7 in Hurricane more difficult than it otherwise would have been. I enjoyed the museum experience and that connection to the car that I’m doing it again with the 19 I have on order. One thing I like that you did which I didn’t the first time but will this time is get photos of the museum team that helped me. Thanks again for sharing and congratulations on the car, she’s a beauty and I really like the gray top with the body color.
OP, fantastic write up! Best of luck with that beautiful unique Vert!
Sounds like that shop is A++++as well.. very cool, something my buddy Matt who owns Tune Time Performance here in NJ would do (as he has done similar things for his customers in jams). those are the things that the big box places will never be able to duplicate..
Museum Delivery??? WOW.. it is a dream of mine, maybe when i retire in 13yrs 10mos!! (or with a little luck and some healthcare rule changes 10yrs 7mos lol)..
need more pics of your GS with the top up.. love the different, uniquely optioned cars so much more than run of the mill.. awesome.
Fantastic write up; thanks for posting it. I picked up my C6 at the museum 12 years ago, and will never forget the experience. I'll echo another poster here in wishing I'd taken more pix of the folks at the museum that made the delivery happen. I don't know if they still do this (hope they do!), but next time your beauty is on a lift, take a look and see if there are signatures on the underside. Those'll be the guys that detailed the car for your delivery.
01-14-2018, 01:26 PM
Museum Delivery adventure
CONGRATES!! Hard to explain what you felt in words But,you did a great job. 
