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So what's your story. Mine was two part .Part 1, When I was a kid there was a neighbor a few houses down that worked at GM and always had a few nice cars Corvette's , GTO's he always let me hang around when detailing or working on cars . Part 2 In my early working career I managed a tuxedo shop and the owner had a 1982 white with red interior t- top One Saturday morning he was at store and we got a call from a groom who spilled coffee on white tux owner called warehouse and had new tux made up and tossed me the key's to Corvette and said go to plant get tux and get it to groom quickly. Well let just say he didn't have to ask/tell me twice I was out the door like a flash. I had a blast and was hooked on driving a Corvette ever sense. Just in case you are wondering yes I made it in time with new tux for groom, I hope that day worked out for him as good as it did for me! Took me quite a few years to be able to buy my own . I did buy a used 04 in 10 and ordered a new 17 GS last spring.
Last edited by Borntorun04/17; 02-18-2018 at 06:05 PM.
When I was 10, my father took a second job just to pay for a 1978 Anniversary Edition Corvette in silver. We worked on that car together, I drove it to High School Prom, I remember driving in the rear hatch (before seatbelt laws )... it was my father's favourite thing. He even named the car. That's pretty much the start of both my car and Corvette love.
For me it started early as I was probably 8 or 9 years old. My dear old Dad was always in the car business being either new car or used car manager at nearly all the major car dealers in Cincy then. He worked for Sweeney Pontiac before they became Sweeney Chevrolet, Spring Grove Dodge, Rockenfield Ford, Carthage Chrys-Plymouth, Fuller Ford, Woody Sander Ford and a few of his own smaller used car lots. He always drove newer cars but no Corvettes as he liked the big, box 4 dr sedans.
My real intro to Corvettes was my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ray who always owned new or nearly new Corvettes in the 1950's into the 1960's. They never had children, Uncle Ray was a retired airline pilot and Aunt Ruthie was a retired model and they never hurt for money and Uncle Ray always liked Corvettes.
Aunt Ruth used to come over to our house in the summer driving what I always remember as a 57 silver stick shift Vet with top down and her wearing her sunglasses and a big wind/sun hat. I used to wait for her to arrive in our driveway just to see the car up close. She would say "Come on Jackie get in I'll take you for a ride" The sound, sight, smell of that 57 with her rowing thru the gears always stuck with me. She was as cool as could be.
I'd never been a Vette fan. Never liked any up to the C5 that I'd driven or ridden in. However, a serious Vette buddy eventually talked me into driving a C5. I did so, once the local dealer finally got in a manual, came back after 30 or 40 minutes and ordered an '01, which I still have, along with the new C7... among other things.
I was into cars early-learning to name/recognize the makes when you could actually tell one from the other. My dad sent me a 1953 Corvette promo model while on a business trip-even though I was only three at the time-and I never screwed with it and still have it today.
I always wanted one once I got my license but settled for muscle cars (396 Chevelle, GTO, etc). Finally when I was 24 I bought a used '69 427/390 Riverside Gold coupe. Since then I've owned over 50 cars, 10 of them Corvettes. The model car collection grew as did the literature; I have original sales brochures for all the years. Met a lot of good people through the hobby and look forward to the mid-engine as my next purchase.
I was going to trade my 1979 Z28 in for a Nissan 300Zx but my brother who always loved Corvettes talked me into trading my Z28 in for a Brand NEW 1993 Ruby Red 40th ann.Corvette coupe. It was the best car decision I have ever made and that lead to myself purchasing 11 Corvettes after that first one and this being my 12th will be my last!
Last edited by Always Red Dave; 02-18-2018 at 07:32 PM.
Loved all sorts of cars but particularly Corvettes (C3) and Firebirds (2nd gen) growing up. The "nail in the coffin" was a guy who had a burgundy '65 convertible and let me take it for a very quick spin as a teen. Hooked ever since, distracted by Camaros and Mustangs (and a few others) for a while, just unable to realize the "real thing" for a few years...
At the age of five, my first sight of a brand new 1963 Stingray on the road is one of my first car memories and, without a doubt, my first memory of that feeling of excitement at just the sight of an automobile. It was like a vision from another world (in comparison to my Dad's 1958 Chevy Bel Air 4-door). Seeing that '63 Stingray turned me into a life-long "car guy" and planted a seed that would grow into full-fledged Vette-mania. Later, when I was 13 or 14, a neighbor down the street from us had a yellow '70 427 Vette with side pipes and Crager-type wheels that locked the C3 into my soul as an archetype ... someday, I thought, every time that car rumbled down the street.
It wasn't until 1997 that I could finally afford my first Vette ... a two-year-old C4. Then a 2001 C5 ... and now a 2016 C7.
In college back in 67, a friend took me for a ride down the shore with his new 67 coupe. I felt like a king in that car even though I was just the passenger.
When I was a kid I lived in a small town (Crookston, MN pop. about 8000) their was a Corvette club in the even smaller town (Fisher, MN population 400) nearby. Basically successful farmers buying Vettes for their kids. They had a club meeting next to our cabin out at the lake. I had never seen a group of Vettes before, and was fascinated. Of course, changing tires at my dad's gas station did not quite equate to buying one.
Fast forward to when I could afford one: I looked at them off and on, but just could not pull the trigger until the C7 came along.
One last factor: Living in MN, all my previous sports cars were all wheel drive and I changed tires and drove them all winter. My C7 is the first car that I have had sitting in the winter, so kudos to my wife for driving our truck all winter while I head to work in our SUV.
I was 7 and saw a split window............most beautiful car I had ever seen. Started hanging around used car lots every time a C2 showed up. After getting into high school and beyond have owned a '64 Coupe, '67 Coupe, '75 Vert, 08 Z51 Coupe, and now a '16 Z51 3LT Coupe. The C7 is a great car - but they all have memories for me.
To me, it was a case of the old order changeth, yielding place to new. Been driving my '97 3000GT VR4 almost 21yrs until it breathed out its last smoke a month ago. It had just the right combination of style, performance, and luxury that I was looking to replace. Found out that there aren't very many choices south of European exotics that check all the boxes; and was pleasantly surprised when the wife convinced me to testdrive a '17 Z51 3LT. Did a bit of research before deciding on a CPO '16 Z51 2LT convertible last week. What a find and a ride! Been loving it ever since.
In 1966 got a 63 split window & that is when I got hooked on racing at the track 1/4 r later the 1/8 mile at a time. Had a good friend that did circle track when I killed the 283 in it to do a 327 30 over.Robert
02-18-2018, 05:59 PM
How did you get hooked on Corvette's
)... it was my father's favourite thing. He even named the car. That's pretty much the start of both my car and Corvette love.
