This is a story of a young boy’s fascination with an automobile that never went away when he grew up. I can’t remember the first time I ever saw a Corvette but to this day I examine every one I see closely. I was three years old when the first one was produced. My fascination with all things automotive came first from the fact that my father owned a Chevrolet/Oldsmobile dealership and second from the fact that my older brother knew just about all there was to know about cars (and especially Chevys). I suppose that I was about ten when I first started to get excited about the plastic models of Corvettes that the dealership got from GM. I guess they were to be given out to customers but I always got first choice. They were pretty much the same as the models you bought in the toy store except they were already put together. They came all painted the same color but I would often modify them by taking them apart and painting certain sections a different color. In my early teen years I put together quite a number of model cars. Many were Corvettes.
I can remember like yesterday the first Corvette that was sold through my dad’s dealership. Dad and his partner, John Cheeseman, were very conservative and they didn’t really cater to the “sports car crowd”. Their theory was that if you sold a Corvette the owner would hot rod it around, creating mechanical problems that would need repair under warranty. Even though great profit could be made by selling such higher-end cars, they never ordered one for dealer stock. So this first Corvette that I recall was a special order from a customer that they couldn’t turn down. It was a tuxedo black, 1963 Stingray "split-window" coupe with saddle tan upholstery and chrome side exhaust pipes. When it came off the delivery truck I stared in awe. I had never seen such a beautiful car in person - on the dealership floor where I could sit in it and touch it.
Unfortunately, models were the closest I would come to owning a Corvette for many, many years. Alas I was just about as conservative as my father had been. In 1974, when ordering a new Camaro I actually considered a Corvette instead. First, the price was almost double ($4,700 for the Camaro and $8,000 for the Corvette). Next there was the increased cost of insurance, and finally there was the problem of not having a garage in which to store such an elite car.
In the late ‘90s when the boys’ college expenses were winding down I began to think seriously for the first time about actually owning a Corvette (not a new one but a used one that I could afford to pay cash for). I took the first step by stopping by a used car dealership and taking a test drive in a well-used, red 1994 convertible. Even though I wouldn’t consider this car I was hooked by the performance and the feeling of being “encapsulated” in the driver’s seat. It seemed I was wearing the car and not merely sitting inside it.
While I continued to keep my eye out for corvettes on used car lots, I also began to utilize a relatively new tool – the internet. I found a number of used cars on-line – some from dealers and some from private sellers. I had a number of criteria for this search. The car had to be a convertible and have a 6-speed manual transmission. It had to be at least a 1990 and preferably a 1991 or 1992 (those were the years my budget could afford). Low miles were a bonus but I didn’t want more than 50,000. I really wanted the same saddle tan upholstery that I had fallen in love with in 1963 but I didn’t want the black paint job that car had - too difficult to maintain. My first choice was dark (polo) green, followed by silver or pewter, bright yellow, or dark blue. I would consider maroon but not bright red or white.
A private seller’s posting near Akron, Ohio caught my eye on autotrader.com. It was just about everything I was looking for and in my price range. The added bonus was that it only had 18,000 miles! I contacted the seller and we arranged to meet half way, in Boardman, Ohio, to take a test drive. It took all of about 2 seconds for me to decide I wanted the car. His asking price was $18,000. I would have paid it as it was a steal for a car like this. However, I posed the simple question, “Will you take any less?” He obviously didn’t have the car sales savvy that I do as he blurted out, “I will take $17,000 but that’s as low as I can go.” My response was, “When can I pick it up?” To my surprise, on the day we picked the car up, he came out carrying a bra, a car cover, and numerous boxes of original parts that had been upgraded with high performance parts. These represented thousands of dollars of upgrades of which I was unaware previously. Talk about sweetening the deal! The car came stock with 250 hp but these added parts took it easily over 300.
The only improvements I made to an already heavily modified car were to change the wheels to a ZR-1 style with new tires. I got these at a Tom Henry Chevrolet for a significant discount ($1,100) after someone had taken them off a used Corvette before trading for a new one. I sold the old wheels and tires to the friend of a co-worker for $800.
For the entire time we lived in Pennsylvania we really enjoyed the car. We took it to car shows around the area and developed a regular Friday night car cruise at our church. We had friends that had either classic cars or hot rods and they went along. My favorite memory in this car was a trip to Florida with my late brother to visit my parents and my sister and her family. I let my brother drive most of the time as he was an even bigger Corvette fan than I but circumstances had never been right for him to own one. His car toy at the time was a ’98 Camaro coupe he had dubbed “Blue Thunder.”
Alas, when we moved to Omaha, the Corvette got driven sparingly (less than 500 miles per year). It was too hot on most summer days to put the top down, we never enjoyed the drive with the top up, and we didn’t have any friends to cruise with. Since we had a three-stall garage we hung onto the car expecting the next move might change things. However, Texas was not much different weather wise and worse – we only had a two-stall garage. We put the car in storage and almost immediately advertised it for sale.
Autotrader.com had worked once, I tried it again. After a couple months and a few folks who made low offers I sold the car to a guy who was retired Navy, working as a security contractor in Iraq. He sent me the money in advance and I delivered the car to DFW airport and met him on his way home to Oklahoma. He was so impressed with the car he said, “I’d like to buy all my cars from you.” He said he was going to surprise his wife with the car. She must not have liked the surprise as I got word several months later that he had traded it on a Chevy SSR. I got this word from a guy who bought the Corvette from that Chevy dealer. He was so pleased with the car he told me he would guarantee that he would be the final owner.
From 2005 to 2008 I wasn’t thinking about Corvettes. We only had a two-stall garage in Texas and we needed two “mundane” cars – one for work transport and one for my wife and for longer trips. A Corvette just didn’t fit our lifestyle. However, as my retirement loomed I began to think that a Corvette might just be the ideal second car for a retiree such as me. Once again, the search was on. I already knew a great deal about the Corvettes produced since my ’91 (a C4). (There have been six iterations of the Corvette – C1 are 1953-1966; C2 are 1963-1967; C3 are 1968-1982; C4 are 1984-1996; C5 are 1997-2004; and C6 are 2205-2010.)
While a person could get a real bargain on a C-5, I decided there had been too many important technological improvements to pass on a C-6. Now the decision would be new or used. I decided used because these cars lose so much of their value in the first couple years. I decided against a 2005 because, while they looked pretty much the same as newer models, the ’06 had several better features. For one the ‘05 still had the satellite antenna on the roof as opposed to concealed inside. Also Chevrolet had pulled a cheap Malibu steering wheel out of the parts bin and slapped it on the ’05 Corvette (tacky). The biggest item in my decision was the upgraded ’06 six-speed automatic with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Because we had transitioned to a preference for automatics in our old age, the 2006 made much more sense from a performance and drivability standpoint. So the search was narrowed to an ’06 and later, automatic, and a coupe (since we live in Texas). Colors were limited to orange and maroon (tied at the top), yellow next, and then dark blue. You can’t believe how many great deals I found on black and silver Corvettes (the greatest % produced). The upholstery had to be cashmere (light tan). Desired options were the adjustable ride system, an in-dash navigation system, chrome or polished wheels, and the LT-3 option, which meant everything was powered (telescopic wheel, heated seats, etc.). Mileage had to be less than 20,000. All of these desires made finding exactly the right car, at a good price, and close to home difficult.
After more than a month of searching the newspapers, local dealers’ lots, autotrader.com, vehix.com, classyauto.com, and e-bay, I found a strong possibility on Ebay at a Chevy dealer in San Marcos, TX (about 200 miles south). It was a maroon ’06 that met all of the search criteria and more. It had the added option of double roofs (clear and painted) and also just 3,800 miles. It was on sale for $18,000 under the original sticker price (a depreciation rate of $1,000/mo.). On the MLK holiday in 2008 we drove down to make the deal. It seems a local businessman owned the car and had little time to drive it before he saw an identical ’08 on the showroom floor and traded for it. It was raining the day we picked it up and the salesman said that would be the first time the car had seen rain. As of this writing, it is also the last time it saw rain. The only modifications so far have been a high performance air intake, painted door handles and spoiler, painted brake calipers, a car cover, and bra.
Being relegated to the role of toy as opposed to transportation the Corvette gets an average of 100 miles per month (many just to keep the battery charged). I keep claiming that I will use it for a long road trip – either west on route 66 or east to Bowling Green and the Corvette museum. My story of these two Corvette purchases was published in Corvette Magazine in December 2009.
Now the biggest quandary for The Flig is that a brand new Camaro just debuted. The power train is pretty much identical to the Corvette. Could such a car lure The Flig away from his life-long love affair? Time will tell.
I can remember like yesterday the first Corvette that was sold through my dad’s dealership. Dad and his partner, John Cheeseman, were very conservative and they didn’t really cater to the “sports car crowd”. Their theory was that if you sold a Corvette the owner would hot rod it around, creating mechanical problems that would need repair under warranty. Even though great profit could be made by selling such higher-end cars, they never ordered one for dealer stock. So this first Corvette that I recall was a special order from a customer that they couldn’t turn down. It was a tuxedo black, 1963 Stingray "split-window" coupe with saddle tan upholstery and chrome side exhaust pipes. When it came off the delivery truck I stared in awe. I had never seen such a beautiful car in person - on the dealership floor where I could sit in it and touch it.
Unfortunately, models were the closest I would come to owning a Corvette for many, many years. Alas I was just about as conservative as my father had been. In 1974, when ordering a new Camaro I actually considered a Corvette instead. First, the price was almost double ($4,700 for the Camaro and $8,000 for the Corvette). Next there was the increased cost of insurance, and finally there was the problem of not having a garage in which to store such an elite car.
In the late ‘90s when the boys’ college expenses were winding down I began to think seriously for the first time about actually owning a Corvette (not a new one but a used one that I could afford to pay cash for). I took the first step by stopping by a used car dealership and taking a test drive in a well-used, red 1994 convertible. Even though I wouldn’t consider this car I was hooked by the performance and the feeling of being “encapsulated” in the driver’s seat. It seemed I was wearing the car and not merely sitting inside it.
While I continued to keep my eye out for corvettes on used car lots, I also began to utilize a relatively new tool – the internet. I found a number of used cars on-line – some from dealers and some from private sellers. I had a number of criteria for this search. The car had to be a convertible and have a 6-speed manual transmission. It had to be at least a 1990 and preferably a 1991 or 1992 (those were the years my budget could afford). Low miles were a bonus but I didn’t want more than 50,000. I really wanted the same saddle tan upholstery that I had fallen in love with in 1963 but I didn’t want the black paint job that car had - too difficult to maintain. My first choice was dark (polo) green, followed by silver or pewter, bright yellow, or dark blue. I would consider maroon but not bright red or white.
A private seller’s posting near Akron, Ohio caught my eye on autotrader.com. It was just about everything I was looking for and in my price range. The added bonus was that it only had 18,000 miles! I contacted the seller and we arranged to meet half way, in Boardman, Ohio, to take a test drive. It took all of about 2 seconds for me to decide I wanted the car. His asking price was $18,000. I would have paid it as it was a steal for a car like this. However, I posed the simple question, “Will you take any less?” He obviously didn’t have the car sales savvy that I do as he blurted out, “I will take $17,000 but that’s as low as I can go.” My response was, “When can I pick it up?” To my surprise, on the day we picked the car up, he came out carrying a bra, a car cover, and numerous boxes of original parts that had been upgraded with high performance parts. These represented thousands of dollars of upgrades of which I was unaware previously. Talk about sweetening the deal! The car came stock with 250 hp but these added parts took it easily over 300.
The only improvements I made to an already heavily modified car were to change the wheels to a ZR-1 style with new tires. I got these at a Tom Henry Chevrolet for a significant discount ($1,100) after someone had taken them off a used Corvette before trading for a new one. I sold the old wheels and tires to the friend of a co-worker for $800.
For the entire time we lived in Pennsylvania we really enjoyed the car. We took it to car shows around the area and developed a regular Friday night car cruise at our church. We had friends that had either classic cars or hot rods and they went along. My favorite memory in this car was a trip to Florida with my late brother to visit my parents and my sister and her family. I let my brother drive most of the time as he was an even bigger Corvette fan than I but circumstances had never been right for him to own one. His car toy at the time was a ’98 Camaro coupe he had dubbed “Blue Thunder.”
Alas, when we moved to Omaha, the Corvette got driven sparingly (less than 500 miles per year). It was too hot on most summer days to put the top down, we never enjoyed the drive with the top up, and we didn’t have any friends to cruise with. Since we had a three-stall garage we hung onto the car expecting the next move might change things. However, Texas was not much different weather wise and worse – we only had a two-stall garage. We put the car in storage and almost immediately advertised it for sale.
Autotrader.com had worked once, I tried it again. After a couple months and a few folks who made low offers I sold the car to a guy who was retired Navy, working as a security contractor in Iraq. He sent me the money in advance and I delivered the car to DFW airport and met him on his way home to Oklahoma. He was so impressed with the car he said, “I’d like to buy all my cars from you.” He said he was going to surprise his wife with the car. She must not have liked the surprise as I got word several months later that he had traded it on a Chevy SSR. I got this word from a guy who bought the Corvette from that Chevy dealer. He was so pleased with the car he told me he would guarantee that he would be the final owner.
From 2005 to 2008 I wasn’t thinking about Corvettes. We only had a two-stall garage in Texas and we needed two “mundane” cars – one for work transport and one for my wife and for longer trips. A Corvette just didn’t fit our lifestyle. However, as my retirement loomed I began to think that a Corvette might just be the ideal second car for a retiree such as me. Once again, the search was on. I already knew a great deal about the Corvettes produced since my ’91 (a C4). (There have been six iterations of the Corvette – C1 are 1953-1966; C2 are 1963-1967; C3 are 1968-1982; C4 are 1984-1996; C5 are 1997-2004; and C6 are 2205-2010.)
While a person could get a real bargain on a C-5, I decided there had been too many important technological improvements to pass on a C-6. Now the decision would be new or used. I decided used because these cars lose so much of their value in the first couple years. I decided against a 2005 because, while they looked pretty much the same as newer models, the ’06 had several better features. For one the ‘05 still had the satellite antenna on the roof as opposed to concealed inside. Also Chevrolet had pulled a cheap Malibu steering wheel out of the parts bin and slapped it on the ’05 Corvette (tacky). The biggest item in my decision was the upgraded ’06 six-speed automatic with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Because we had transitioned to a preference for automatics in our old age, the 2006 made much more sense from a performance and drivability standpoint. So the search was narrowed to an ’06 and later, automatic, and a coupe (since we live in Texas). Colors were limited to orange and maroon (tied at the top), yellow next, and then dark blue. You can’t believe how many great deals I found on black and silver Corvettes (the greatest % produced). The upholstery had to be cashmere (light tan). Desired options were the adjustable ride system, an in-dash navigation system, chrome or polished wheels, and the LT-3 option, which meant everything was powered (telescopic wheel, heated seats, etc.). Mileage had to be less than 20,000. All of these desires made finding exactly the right car, at a good price, and close to home difficult.
After more than a month of searching the newspapers, local dealers’ lots, autotrader.com, vehix.com, classyauto.com, and e-bay, I found a strong possibility on Ebay at a Chevy dealer in San Marcos, TX (about 200 miles south). It was a maroon ’06 that met all of the search criteria and more. It had the added option of double roofs (clear and painted) and also just 3,800 miles. It was on sale for $18,000 under the original sticker price (a depreciation rate of $1,000/mo.). On the MLK holiday in 2008 we drove down to make the deal. It seems a local businessman owned the car and had little time to drive it before he saw an identical ’08 on the showroom floor and traded for it. It was raining the day we picked it up and the salesman said that would be the first time the car had seen rain. As of this writing, it is also the last time it saw rain. The only modifications so far have been a high performance air intake, painted door handles and spoiler, painted brake calipers, a car cover, and bra.
Being relegated to the role of toy as opposed to transportation the Corvette gets an average of 100 miles per month (many just to keep the battery charged). I keep claiming that I will use it for a long road trip – either west on route 66 or east to Bowling Green and the Corvette museum. My story of these two Corvette purchases was published in Corvette Magazine in December 2009.
Now the biggest quandary for The Flig is that a brand new Camaro just debuted. The power train is pretty much identical to the Corvette. Could such a car lure The Flig away from his life-long love affair? Time will tell.
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