Greetings~
Allow me to introduce myself...Cowboy Kevin is the name I perform under, but most of my friends, including my girlfriend, just call me Cowboy.

Recently, I purchased a 1987 Corvette. We were looking for a convertible to have fun in, but when I began looking at prices, I realized that I could once again own a Corvette.

I used to own a '68. I have to say, although I like the C1s and the '63 Split, and even the '69s, the '68 was my favorite year. Not a "Sting Ray" nor a "Stingray" it was just a Corvette, plain and simple. The Ignition was in the dash and not on the column, the Brights switch was on the floor, and it had all the style and class you would expect out of America's Premier sports car. T-Tops, Wide Tires, Hide-away Wipers, Chrome headers and side pipes-- man it was a sharp car!

I usually don't abide by customization much, but this vette was unique...or at least I had never seen one like it. It had louvered rear window, very much like the one in the picture, except that the tail lights were different (more like a Trans Am's)



and the headlights were scooped out of the fenders, kinda like a Datsun Z, except they were square lights and the scoop that held 'em was square and edgy, not round like the Datsun. It was painted a '72 Cadillac color called Royal Blue Fire Mist.

I loved that car and only paid $6000 for it back in 1984ish, but as fate would have it, it just wasn't going to be good to me. The first week I had it, one of the calipers seized up; the shop that did my brakes stripped my lug nuts with the zip gun, and as I was driving it a few days later, the wheel fell off and tore up my whole right fender.

I was a kid in my 20's back then and didn't really have the money to fix it right away when insurance refused to pay, nor did I know enough to fight the shop that caused the wheel to fall off.

Eventually I fixed it, and the week after I did, a truck backed up into me. Of course the bumpers didn't line up, the nose of my vette being lower, he put two huge gashes all the way up my hood as he basically wedged my car under him. Then he ran, taking half my front end with him.

It took me a while, but I got that fixed too. But one day, happy to have the car back, I saw a beautiful girl standing at the bus stop. She looked right at me when I passed, and she smiled.

I was pretty shy back then, but I got to thinking that THIS is what that car was made for. So I made a U turn and went back. I pulled up to the bus stop in front of her and smiled and asked her if she would like a ride. She smiled really big, and I could tell there was an attraction, but she was cautious and turned me down, so I smiled and drove away.

But then I got to thinkin' that I was in the nexus...a beautiful day, a beautiful girl, a beautiful car, it was all perfect and I reckoned I may have given up too easily. So I made another U turn and I went back. I said, "Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

She was now grinning ear to ear at the fact that I came back again. We made small talk, as she stood at the bus stop, and I asked her where she was going...as it turned out, she was going to work in the same building I was!

I just about had her convinced to let me drive her to work when the bus, which had pulled in behind me, started beeping its horn. She said she had to go and got on the bus.

I drove away, and I was thinking "Dang! It wasn't supposed to happen like that. She should be riding with me!"

Well, having taken that bus to work a few years earlier, I knew that it went to the bus terminal about 10 blocks from the building where we both worked. I knew that once there, one of two things would happen...she would either transfer to the next bus (as I had done back when I took it during the winter), or she could walk the rest of the way. Since it was such a glorious day, I gambled that she would walk it, and I went around the block where I knew she would have to go right past if she chose to walk.

About 10 minutes later, she turned the corner and there she was! She smiled brighter than 100 setting suns when she saw me, and this time she got into my car.

It was great, I was on top of the world. We really hit it off on the short ride to where we were going and I asked her for a date. She said yes, and said she would meet me in the bar in the lobby after work. She kissed me on the cheek goodbye and said that I was sweet.

Then she stepped out of my car and burned her leg on my sidepipe!

The burn was so bad that her skin stuck to the chrome leaving a huge wound. I wanted to take her to the hospital, but she said if she was late for work, they wouldn't believe her and they would fire her, so she would go in first and then leave.

I never saw her again.

I got into another accident with it shortly thereafter (my fault this time) and I sold the car with a broken nose in 1987 for $7500.

Now, 27 years later, I finally own another Corvette. It is white, it is fast, it is clean, and I named it the Mach 5. I even have a toy Mach 5 velcro'd to my dash.

So, this is not my first rodeo, but hopefully this Corvette will treat me a might nicer.

 

Welcome to the forum from So Cal !!!

 

Welcome

 

welcome Cowboy!