It all started when I was 15 years old. I loved Corvettes! I passed a Corvette parked on the street as I walked to school every day. As the days went by the car seem to get sadder. It was dirty, the tires needed some air, and it just looked sad. Then 1 day a For Sale sign appeared on it!
I went to the door and a lady said, "It is my son's car and he is in Vietnam and isn't sure if he is coming back." I asked her how much she wanted for this 1960 Corvette. The price was $1,100.00.
I had $100.00 saved and no license, mind you. I went home and begged my Dad for help. He took me to the bank, set up the loan and said, "You will have to make the payments...and oh by the way – your Mom is going to kill us!"
The car was mine! I got my permit and at 16, my license. I worked to pay off the loan, then I started improving the car. I replaced any bad chrome; had it painted; put a high performance 327 in it (the 283 that was in it blew a piston and destroyed the engine); added new top and anything else I could afford. It went to car shows, winning several.
Then I got married and my husband decided I couldn't drive it anymore. He took a floor jack and put it into the corner of our garage. There it sat for 40 years. My heart ached every time I looked at it. After recovering from a bad divorce and rebuilding my life, I knew that I needed to drive my Corvette once again. At the time, I had a 1968 427 Corvette and had a 1961 Corvette. I sold the 1961, but still have the 1968. I found some wonderful people to restore my car. I had to have complete trust because the car had never left me for all those years. After a few months they called me to pick her up. She is not a show car and never will be again, but she is my baby and the love of my life! And just a little note that love of Corvettes – it runs deep! The original owner of the 1960 did come back from Vietnam and looked me up to see if his car found a good home!