My Corvette Changed My Life
 

Hi All,

I'd like to share my Corvette story so far, seeing as how it really started with buying a C6 from a Corvette Forum advert at the end of 2017.

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'Clive' the $9995, 190,000 mile Corvette C6 took my wife and I across the States, from California to the Texas coast, unforgettable memories. We stopped at Circuit Of The Americas, Austin; more than two years later my son was born and we named him Austin.

Shipping the C6 back home to England I have added thousands more miles, have driven the car in eight European countries (so far) and won two Time Attack style championships. As I write in December 2022 I think it's up at 223,000 miles.

I'm not a writer by trade, I organize motor racing, but Corvette ownership and becoming a father inspired me to write first one, then two children's books, with 'Clive' as the main character. I really don't want to get in trouble with the moderators, so I'm not going to link to, or picture the books, but I do feel proud that GM have authorized them to be sold in the NCM. :cool:

Later this week I am leaving for another adventure in the C6, I'll update the thread over Christmas when I return, I'm driving to somewhere unusual.

The story starts back in October 2016. My wife, Beth and I enjoyed our first road trip to the USA, hiring a Mustang convertible (I know, sorry!) and exploring California. The highlight of this trip was driving on a trackday at Laguna Seca (in a friends BMW Z4M), towards the end of the day I asked a stranger for a passenger ride in his Corvette C6 Grandsport.
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This was my first time in any Corvette (they are rare in the UK), although I was very familiar with the marque as all good petrolheads should be. That night in the hotel in Monterey i started looking at adverts for sale! At the time I couldn't believe what great value they were in the States (before prices went a bit crazy over Covid).

There is only one Corvette dealer for all of the UK, we booked a test drive in a manual C6, to see how we'd get on with left hand drive on narrower roads. That went well, but the few C6's that came up for sale were automatic, with prices two or three times more expensive than equivalent cars in the US.

We hatched a plan to buy a C6 in the States and drive it to the port. It needed to be manual (as I track day/compete), clean title and as affordable as possible, given that I'd need to add the considerable cost of shipping and various taxes to the final price. I sold my BMW Z4M and waited. Almost a year later I was browsing the Corvette Forum classifieds late at night and I saw this advert: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...under-10k.html
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It would be perfect at just $9995, especially with a recent RPM gearbox overhaul. High miles don't bother me, provided the price reflects it. I've owned a few low mileage garage queens, where I started to worry each time I drove it, about how it might drop in value. I wanted a car I could use without that concern. I dropped the seller (Jay) a message immediately, but after a late night phone call (for me) he let me know I was third in line. I told him to contact me any time and I would send him a deposit. Fast forward a day or two, at 3:30am I woke to find a text message had arrived saying "Hi David - I've got smashing news for you. Please call me"
Bleary eyed I called Jay, who told me I now had first refusal! Deal done and a deposit of $1000 was agreed and paid!
My wife, Beth didn't share the same level of excitement at 4am; I couldn't get back to sleep so gave up trying and drove to work extra early! I worked out a roadtrip and then booked cheap flights, insurances, shipping, hotels and more. Ivan, a Californian friend we met on the 2016 trip was a huge help in arranging the car insurance through Geico.

I know plenty of people that would never send a $1000 to a stranger, for a car they'd not seen, but it 'felt' right and sometimes fortune favours the brave.
The advert remained on the Corvette forum and attracted other offers of more than the owner’s asking price, thankfully for us Jay remained totally loyal to the deal we struck.

Day 1: Sunday 21st January 2018

We left snow behind us and flew from London Gatwick to Los Angeles, arriving late in the evening. A nagging concern to our timetable was the notorious LA traffic combined with the mudslides that had tragically closed Highway 101.

Day 2: Monday 22nd January

It was an early, 4am start to pick up the hire car and get out of L.A. before the traffic crawled to a halt. We were relieved by the news that the highway was re-opened ahead of schedule, saving us hours of detour. Uber and a hire car took us north on the Pacific coast via Santa Barbara, for breakfast on the pier as the sun rose.
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Back on the road we dropped in to the Santa Maria Chevrolet dealer, Home Motors, to pick up a few spares I had pre-ordered, plus the first upgrade: Z06 brake cooling ducts, to help with track use. We're pretty certain their parts department had never had a phone order from so far away!
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It was then just a short drive to Jay and Michelle's house in Santa Maria, to see our new car. It was an exciting, if slightly strange moment to first meet them. Michelle exclaimed "You're real!" as she was certain we didn't exist and this was some sort of elaborate confidence trick! After all, who travels thousands of miles to buy a cheap (relatively) car?
We were shown through the house into the huge garage, where 'our' C6 was covered up. They let us uncover the car and stood back waiting for our reaction; they needn't have worried, it looked great, even better than described.
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During our email conversations I'd asked Jay if there was anything we could bring from the UK. He jokingly asked if we could get him a McLaren P1! Thanks to McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt (and wife Mia), who race in the club I run, we were able to bring him a P1, although only a model and brochure would fit in our hand luggage, along with $9000 cash!
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We said our goodbye's, dropped the rental car at the nearest airport and started driving East. The weather was warm for January, the roads quiet and I finally had the keys to my C6. We name all of our cars, the name 'Clive' stuck, for no particular reason, not realizing the importance this name would have later on!
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The distance between gas stations nearly caught me out, coming very close to running out before finding gas. Your country is HUGE, you can drive so far between towns.
We drove on for a few more hours, booking a motel in Tehachapi, CA, best known for its railroads, with noisy trains rumbling and honking past all through the night

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Day 3: Tuesday 23rd January

A chilly start with frost on the car. Crossing the Mojave Desert took hours, it wasn't hot at that time of year, but it was certainly barren each side of Highway 58. Crossing the Colorado River saw us enter our second state, Arizona, along with small traces of snow at the side of the road; not surprising as we were regularly up at 4000 feet altitude.
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After turning off Interstate 40 at Kingman we were on Historic Route 66, a road famous worldwide and certainly one we wanted to drive parts of.
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Travelling in January meant we were able to travel for 30 or 40 miles miles at a time without seeing another car!
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Dinner was at the famous Roadkill Cafe at Seligman. After reassurance that they didn't actually serve creatures scraped off the tarmac Beth was happy to eat there. We arrived at Williams, another Route 66 town, in the dark. There was plenty of snow on the ground, it was very cold being 6800 feet up. A small coolant stain under the front of the Corvette was partly expected as Jay had warned of a joint that weeps after a run, something to keep an eye on.
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Another broken night’s sleep, this time by an amorous French couple in the next room, ooh la la!

Day 4: Wednesday 24th January
Wrapping up warm we explored Williams in the early morning, it had a friendly, traditional feel. We visited a couple of shops selling riding gear and cowboy hats, well, you've got to have a few souvenirs?
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The snow on the ground increased in volume as we headed North, towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The partly snowy car parks were almost empty, the perfect opportunity to check the efficiency of ‘competitive driving mode’!
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The viewing points nearest the visitor centre were busy with tourists, but once we walked away on the Rim Trail we were mostly by ourselves, in peace and quiet. The views were astonishing.
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Reluctantly moving on we drove North East, pulling into various 'turn outs' and taking these photos with parts of the Canyon in the background.
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To explain the license plate, it is the name of an Album 'Face Melter' from a Californian rock band 'Y & T'. Jay has followed the band for decades, becoming friends, the band members have driven the Corvette too.
We entered the Hopi and then the Navajo Indian reservations. We entered our third State, Utah, as darkness descended.

Day 4: Wednesday 25th January

After a breakfast in our room at Gouldings Lodge we headed to a very cold Monument Valley. The Corvette was too low to be able to drive around the trails, with limited time available this suited us fine, with a look around the museum, a horrible coffee and a long look at those unique views.
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Once again, thanks to it being winter time we were almost the only visitors, we were sure the place would be heaving in the summer, despite the high entrance fee.
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We headed north in the direction of 'Mexican Hat', towards a view I had wanted to see since childhood. I used to daydream of being there when looking at Dad's 'Best of the Eagles' album cover as a teenager. It was later a key scene in Forrest Gump of course.
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Past Mexican Hat we ate a Navajo frybread burger at a lovely native American cafe for lunch (we were still well within the Navajo reservation), called Twin Rocks, in Bluff, Utah.
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Back on the road we crossed the San Juan River. Having passed into our 4th state, Colorado, for a couple of hours we were then into our 5th, New Mexico, with lots more miles still ahead of us.
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We crossed the continental divide; the geographical centre of North America where on one side water flows west to the Pacific and on the other it heads East to the Atlantic. The mountainous scenery disappeared, with endless miles of dead straight roads with only scrubby grassland each side.
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I wondered if I could have reached the 186mph top speed but played it safe at all times, never sure if a highway patrol might be lurking. At last we had left the Navajo reserve, but not before witnessing the large amount of homelessness in Shiprock and an accident involving an Indian lady in a huge 4x4 who turned into a flat bed trailer in front of us. It had been a long day of driving and we were happy to get back on Route 66 and check in to the Sunset Motel in Moriaty.
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Day 6: Friday 26th January
This motel had been a pleasant surprise. It had barely changed since the same family started the business in 1959 and is now the oldest in New Mexico in original ownership. The hostess was as friendly as she was knowledgeable. With no dining room in motels from this era it was normal to take your breakfast from the reception area back to your room.
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Our longest day of driving lay ahead of us, well over 600 miles. The long, straight roads seemed endless, as did the huge trains, some comprising of 200+ carriages and 10+ engines.
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Texas, our sixth State. For hundreds of miles we saw little else but oil and gas machinery and what looked like snow (cotton). Dinner was at a Mexican in Lampasas, where I tried Catfish for the first time.
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We could see storm clouds ahead and rain hit as it became dark. 70mph felt fast on wet, twisty roads on pretty bald rear tyres. The wipers were possibly original as the rubber blades scraped across the glass. I couldn’t avoid running over a dead skunk with the back wheel and it stank! By sharing the driving throughout the long day we made it to the modern, but unremarkable, Motel 6 in Marble Falls in good spirits.

Day 7: Saturday 27th January
We experienced 'Biscuits and Gravy' for the first time at breakfast. White gravy? Very peculiar! This was my wifes special day, where her dream of being a cowgirl came true, with an exclusive few hours riding on a ranch with a wrangler guide, Dewain, giving me time to actually look at my car (rather than driving it).
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We tried that Texas speciality, BBQ food, and in the process enjoyed a complimentary Pecan Pie thanks to our accents and road trip!
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With the car having over 2000 miles of dust, rain and even snow on its bodywork and the aroma of dead skunk, I decided the Corvette (now named Clive) had to be cleaned. With Beth feeding quarters into the machine and pressing buttons whilst I got soaked, the car was rinsed, washed and waxed. The wax changed colour from pink to blue within seconds!
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Day 8: Sunday 28th January

The day I had been looking forward to, a trackday at the Circuit Of The Americas, Austin. COTA is a relatively new circuit, home of Formula One since 2012. Organised by a company called www.chintrackdays.com I signed on as a passenger and rented a helmet, having already decided that I couldn't risk using my Corvette on those worn, original brakes and worn rear tyres, especially as we still had part of the journey to complete. I had signed up for the lunch time parade laps instead.
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We wandered around the paddock chatting to various drivers, particularly those with Corvette and with the blessing of the organisers I enjoyed passenger laps in a white ‘base’ C6 like mine, an E46 M3 race car and finally a C7 Z06. All were exciting, with the C6 being a good comparison to how mine might behave (fast and tail happy), the M3 a reminder of how good my similar Z4M was, with the C7 impressing with its inbuilt data logger/camera and raw power.
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Austin was quite a place, we love the track. As mentioned at the start, in May 2020 we had a son and we named him Austin, such is the strength of memory from this trip. We hope to bring him here when he's older.

It was time to leave the circuit to head for Houston, our last night with the car. It took some time to drive through Houston, despite so many lanes on the Interstate. The US has such contrast between empty rural roads and heaving cities.
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Here are a few video clips put together up to this point in the trip, really intended for my memories:
The hotel in Houston was just a few miles from where we would drop the Corvette to the shipping company the next morning.

Day 9: Monday 29th January
A very early start and probably the most pressured part of the trip. We were booked into a 10:34 flight from Houston to Nashville and the airline suggests we should be there two hours before. The only problem was the shipping agent didn't open until 8am and we would have to catch an Uber across the city after handing over the Corvette. It was a good job we were early as a transporter full of cars turned up. The lady from the shipping company took photos, rushed through the simple paperwork, I handed over the keys and we were off to the airport (after saying goodbye to Clive).
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Traffic was kind and we made it to the 'George Bush Intercontinental' Houston airport and through security in good time, panic over. After take-off we looked down on the Gulf Of Mexico, happy in the knowledge we had driven 2000+ miles from coast to coast with no problems aside from a small loss of coolant.
We landed in Nashville, Tennessee, our seventh state of the trip. Hire car collected we drove north for just over an hour, crossing in to our eighth state, Kentucky. It was cold and overcast, with some flurries of sleet and snow. Pulling into the Corvette museum at Bowling Green, the car park was almost deserted, excellent! First things first, food! Straight in to the impressive museum building and in to the Corvette Cafe, for burger, fries and thick shakes, what else?
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Feeling sufficiently fed it was on to the museum, passing the rows of new Corvette C7's awaiting customer collection.
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A friendly security guide got chatting to us and said that the very last car to be restored after the sinkhole disaster of 2014 was nearing completion and would we like to see? He unlocked a door and took us behind the scenes to see the beautiful, black 1962 model, we felt privileged to be shown (although he probably does that to everyone).

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We both absorbed plenty of new Corvette facts, with reassurance that our C6 was a youngster compared to the 773,000 mile C5 on display.
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With closing time approaching we left for the day as we knew we'd be back the next morning to check out the bits we'd missed and importantly visit the gift shop!!!! Just a short drive back into Bowling Green where we stayed in the Baymont Inn and Suites, for what would be our last night in the States. The local steakhouse was superb, belatedly celebrating Beth's birthday and what had been our best roadtrip ever.

Day 10: Tuesday 30th January

Up early and back to the museum. It was below freezing but clear.
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Having bought a cap, T shirts, magazines and a hoody we just had time for a final milkshake before heading south to Nashville and an internal flight to JFK airport in New York, New Jersey (our ninth and final State).
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We flew through the night with Norwegian Air on the comfortable Dreamliner, arriving on.....

Day 11: Wednesday 31st January, back to England and the drive west to Home, in Wiltshire, tired, but happy.

The waiting then began, checking the cars agonisingly slow progress on a tracking website. It sat for a month at the dockside before finally boarding the ‘Maersk Montana’, leaving Galveston, TX, stopping at Norfolk, Virginia, headed across the Atlantic and dropping the 40ft container at Antwerp.
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An even larger container ship, the Maersk Kawasaki collected 'our' container, stopping at Rotterdam before unloading at Felixstowe on the 9th of April. It was taken to the Ship My Car depot in Milton Keynes from where we drove it home on the 17th April (via a pre-booked MOT), on its California licence plate. After refusing to start and then overheating (it seems the coolant loss is more serious that first thought) it made it home through wind and rain. I will write more about the steps taken to get the car on the road and planned modifications for trackday use shortly.

The Statistics (prices as of early 2018)
Distance driven 2450 miles. Distance flown 10343 miles
Average fuel economy 26.9 US (32.3 UK) miles per gallon
Average speed 54.6 mph
Total mileage of the car by Texas 194,786
The Car Costs
£7688 Corvette $9995 based on 1.3 $ to £
£995 Port-to-Port Shipping (shared container) shipmycar.co.uk
£35 Cost for shipping items within vehicle
£140 Marine Insurance
£165 US Customs and Loading Fees
£175 UK Terminal Handling Charges
£245 Container Unloading, Customs Clearance and NOVA
£640 HM Customs Duty
£1408 VAT
£700 parts and technical equipment (Tech 2 and Blinker Splitter) to comply to UK lighting regulations (doing this myself)
£35 MOT
£12226 Total for the car on the UK roads

The Road Trip
£1053 Flights for two (£408 Gatwick to LA, £232 Houston to Nashville, £196 Nashville to New York, £217 New York to Gatwick)
£85 Car Hire
£24 ESTA (US Visa)
£507 Hotels (9 nights)
£483 Food
£130 Sundries (Razor, Car Wash, Paypal deposit fee, airport parking, Uber, Corvette Museum etc.)
£228 Petrol
£92 Travel Insurance (annual policy)
£94 Horse Riding
£45 Trackday helmet hire and passenger fee
£2741 Total for the Road Trip for both of us (excluding T shirts and Cowboy Hat!)

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That's it for this first post, tomorrow I will attempt to condense the next five years of ownership in Europe into something I hope you find interesting.

Thanks, David Smitheram :)

Now that is a helluva post. Well done & congratulations :)

That was a hell of a post and an awesome story! Enjoy that Vette!

Didn't read the word fortress only parts of it, but liked the pics

Cool story...:thumbs:
I think I'll take a nap now...:D

Great trip, story and photo's.

this pic jumped at me. I assume all that old american iron is headed to Europe? :bigears
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I loved your story. We took a similar trip 2 yrs ago but not in our C6. Couldn’t figure how to pack all the stuff we needed for an 8400 mi trip. Loved Williams Az and how it got it’s name among other places you visited. . Excellent work combining pics and words. We just did a 2400 mi trip in the C6 but I have been too lazy to write it all down. They are fun touring cars and those that are afraid to get them wet or cold don’t know what they are missing. Thanks for the story. :cheers:

To the op Fishy Dave. Wow what a story, you definitely have some good memories to share. Thanks for the story. :thumbs:

Wonderful story!
Thank you very much for sharing.

Your story tops mine of flying to northern Michigan last October to pick up my new to me 06 C6 and driving it 2100 miles to home in Arizona. 👍

Very good post!

Thanks for sharing!
 

Thanks for sharing your story!
My wife and I Also drove through Kingman and Williams AZ on Route 66 and then up to to the Grand Canyon. We crossed that off our bucket list in 2003.
Glad you, your wife and the Corvette made it safely back to the UK.
Looking forward to your next installment. :thumbs:

Congratulations- a wonderful story.

Wow, such a great story! I read every word and brought back so many good memories. For the last 44 years I've had properties in Albuquerque, Denver, Phoenix. And, at times, simultaneously.

From when you hit Kingman all the way to the Sunset hotel, this is my playground. I've driven these roads in some good road cars - A 2009 (Red just like yours) C6, an 81 Corvette, an M6, a number of Jaguars and MBs, a Bentley Continental GT and an AMG GTS. And soon to be, an R8.

You didn't mention it, but past Mexican Hat and around the area where you crossed into Colorado and the San Juan river, there is a famous monument called 4 Corners. Hopefully you stopped there (would have been a great pic) at 4 corners there is a monument "pin" you can stand on and literally be in 4 states at the same time - Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

Looking forward to more posts with your great adventures and hopefully you'll come back to the states and get more road miles in!

BTW, I love that 59 Caddy on the carrier! Those are worth some big dollars now; and I had a 59 Corvette, just like the red one, in blue/white.

Thanks David, great story and write up of a superb road trip. :thumbs:

Enjoy your ride, speed safe.

Welcome to the forum! You have the gift of gab. Wonderful story and memories for you. I will watch for your next stories.

Thanks for sharing your ride!

That was quite a road trip and glad to hear it went smoothly. The American west is truly a vast land. I read your entire post and have travelled to most of those locations over the years. Thank you for sharing.

Drives
 

Awesome trip. I daydream off a trip like this. We traveled Monument Valley in a family car years ago. Beautiful country sides. We did travel from Indiana to Colorado Springs this summer in our Vet. A great trip in a fantastic car. We made it to the top of Pikes Peak.
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