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My favourite memory is two fold... I have been lucky enough to own a '71 Stingray, '00 C5, '14 C7, '15 Z51 and my current car - 2017 Grand Sport Collector Edition. When I first went to the dealership to see my car rolling off the car carrier and realized that after all the searching and negotiating it was actually mine!! In Canada, they only imported 61 GSCE - 50 coupes, 11 convertibles so it was rare in the first place to find it. Once I found the car in Quebec, I made the deal and had it shipped out to BC - it was amazing to see it. Since then, the second part of my story is that I sent the VIN to the National Corvette Museum and to GM and they both came back and told me with my options, the car is "one of one"!!! Very cool. I have entered the car in two car shows now and have won first place in both, the last being a Mayor's Choice award for best in show! Thanks for reading!
First let me say I’m terrible with dates so I can’t remember the exact date of my favorite Vette memory but I’ll come close.
In the early 90s I owned a 1989 vert, red with red, white top, manual tranny. Beautiful car! Loved that car and kept it pristine.
I live outside of Pittsburgh, PA. Every year Pittsburgh holds a “Vintage Grand Prix” that’s a week long event with all kinds of car related activities. Vintage races through a local park, car shows, awards, dinners. A really big deal for car guys in my area. Google it for more info
Each year they choose a “marque” to feature throughout the week. One year (91, 92, 93 ??) the chosen marque was the Corvette. The show organizers asked the local Corvette club to locate a nice example of each model year to be shown together during the activities. Through some folks I knew in the club I was asked to represent the 1989 model year. It was so much fun! Not only did I get to participate in the showing but I also got to do a lap around the race course with all the other years of Vettes, one representing each year. It was more of a parade lap than a race but it was still very cool.
The icing on the cake...that year Zora Duntov and Larry Shinoda we’re guests of honor at the event. After the parade lap I got to meet both Zora and Larry and had them sign the underside of the hood on my ‘89 Vette. I also had them sign the owner’s manual.
The car is long gone and has been replaced by several other Corvettes since. I still have the signed manual with the signatures hanging in my garage.
I've only been a corvette owner since jan / 2017, but I have to say my best memory was a recent road trip.
my older daughter & I, completed almost 6k mile, 9 day tour of 15 states. heading out from the San Fran bay area,
to reno ( to pick daughter up, she goes to UNR ). we heading up throught the s/e corner of Oregon on to Pocatello, id.
then on to a run through Yellowstone park stopping at casper, wy. made our way mt. rushmore the next day,
spending the night in Sioux falls, sd. got as far calumet city ( Chicago area ), il.
heading to our eastern end of the trip, we stopped by to see relatives in Toledo, oh.
now heading south, we made our way to the corvette Nat'l museum. then bedded down in Memphis, tn.
next day we did a bonsai run to Henderson, nv. ( over 1,110 miles! ). saw some friends there, then headed back up to reno.
daughter picked up a few things, then we headed home to bay area.
I love to drive and on weekends, will regularly take a Saturday or sunday of 200, 300, or even 600 miles.
I would have been happy to go just by myself. my younger daughter passed on the invite.
I was pleasantly surprised when the older one said yes! she seemed to enjoy the trip, but also sure she enjoyed the sleep too.
car was great too. averaged 29.2mpg for around 5,700 - 5,800 miles. this was probably about 95% all freeway miles.
this also included some extended runs with a speed limit of 80mph, but would guess a trip average of low 70's mph.
the only downer will be when I get mileage request from allstate. they don't like people who rack up the miles.
let me rephrase that, they like to penalize people who rack up the miles.
anyways, I would do this again in a chevy-heartbeat!
Posted this almost verbatim in C2 gen a couple of years ago:
I had been on the forum for quite some time with my 77 that I bought about 20 years ago from my uncle, the original owner. Although it has never been a daily driver, I have tweaked it over the years into a nice weekend car with a 425HP motor, 3.73 gears and cold AC for my wife.
The reason I am in this hobby to start with is my dad. He has owned a few Vettes over the years, and we did a father son trip to Corvette Expo in Knoxville back in '93 or '94. He ended up snatching up a '63 vert on the spur of the moment, and we decided to drive it back to our hometown of Miami. As it happens, that was the year of the Storm of the Century, and Knoxville got socked with 2 feet of snow that very night. We holed up at the hotel for a day or so before we said screw it and had the adventure of a lifetime getting back to Miami on old 2 lane roads since I-75 was closed. We dragged the exhaust loose on snow ruts, ran across a crazy mechanic straight out of National Lampoon's Vacation in Macon, and had some very meaningful conversation once we got far enough south of the weather.
We never had the closest relationship until that trip. It was definitely the game changer for us. We went to a ton of Vette events together for a number of years until my dad got other projects going, and the car ended up covered up and pretty much forgotten in the parking garage of his condo on the Gulf of Mexico back around the turn of the century.
In September 2014, my dad had the first of a series of strokes. He and my mom were at their summer residence in the midwest when it happened, and they felt that he was receiving the best care possible at that current location. Even though they owned their Florida property, insurance, property taxes, and association fees were soaking them for over 3K monthly on a property they had not slept in for over 18 months,and they decided to sell the place. Once they sold the place, the car found it's way to my garage.
This thing needed work, but it ran and drove. My dad wasn't gentle with it over the years, and the entire drivetrain has been replaced. The paint had been abused, and the salt air was not kind. The light buckets worked, but the heater controls and wipers did not. Oddly enough, the clock still works, but the only other gauges that work are the speedo and temp. Of course the interior was roached. I have been slowly working on things as finances allow. I have pretty much rebuilt or replaced everything downstream from the crankshaft underneath, and I have made it safe.
Sometimes I sit in the car and think about that relationship changing trip and how lucky we were to get stuck in that damn snowstorm. I can't say that we would still be butting heads, but it may have taken me another 15 years to realize he was my biggest supporter and cheerleader the entire time. We found a common interest in the Corvette. Something we could talk about to start a conversation. Now that he is unable to drive himself, we are making new memories with him in the passenger seat enjoying the ride.
In ~1960 I was 14 years old. All my friends were older than me. One friend was the guy that had the cool mom that everyone liked. She held gambling parties at her house and everyone played a card game called seven and a half (similar to blackjack). Anyway, everyone hung out there. One time my best friend and I went over and Steve, who was 16 or 17 at the time, was gone for a few days (I don't remember the reason) but his mom was there and Steve's "built" vette (Steve was always into fast cars and motorcycles) was sitting in the driveway. We sat and talked for a while and Steve's mom said "Hey, wanna go for a ride in the Vette? She started it and tried to back it out and get it going but couldn't manage the clutch and after the third stall she said "you drive". Woo Hoo. She swore me to secrecy and I never told Steve. Maybe I should come clean now? We are facebook friends.
Like most of you I have lots of good memories with my current and past Corvettes. I have to say today will be one of my best though. A lot has happened in the past three years, my Anniversary Edition got totaled, experienced financial and health issues, etc. I didn't think I'd ever have another Corvette again and late last year I was able to find one in great condition and well priced as winter was coming. So today I turn 59, my health is doing really well and I got to drive my Corvette to work listening to my Temptations CD! Enjoy everyday, life is short!
My favorite memory was when I bought my first Vette. It was a 2010 Coupe (red, of course), M6. Flew from KC to Denton, TX to pick it up. Took my best friend with me (bought his plane ticket), and we flew with no luggage, got a ride from Love field to the dealership, and within an hour, we were on the way home. We had an absolute blast driving that car from TX back to KC. Was a one-day round trip affair...will never forget it. http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2018/...vette-stingray CCleanerHappy WheelsVLC
The wife nabbed the box right away, took the mug out, handed it to me, and put the empty box in the closet. Said it would be a good Christmas box. Didn't even look at the mug!
I was sitting at a red light minding my own business when a guy pulled up next to me in a Mustang and tried to entice me to race him! Ha,I told him that I was too advanced for such stuff. He continued to rev it up and took off when the light changed.
As you would know it there was a local sheriff just down the road in a well known concealed spot. He had the Mustang pulled over as I cruised by doing the 45 mph speed limit.
Norm
I have several great memories but my favorite is actually my first. When I was a kid in 1974 my Uncle had just returned from Viet Nam from his tour of duty in the USAF. He pulled into our driveway in a 1974 red corvette. My brother and I lost our minds over how cool the car was. He took us for a ride and I was totally hooked. I remember when he put the car in drive the rear end seemed to squat down as he shifted it. Not sure why that sticks out in my memory but I can still see it. Needless to say that started my love affair with Corvettes and I have had several over the years. I just saw my Uncle at a car show in my hometown, it was the first time I had seen him since my Dad's (his brother) passing. As fate would have it my 2018 Grand Sport won directors choice at the show. My uncle was proud to see me win and I was proud to have the man that started it watching me grab the trophy.
08-14-2018, 11:55 AM
We are facebook friends.
