It all started by chance for me in the late 1970s. I enjoy working on old cars and was in need of a new project. My wife, Mary Rae, suggested we find an early Corvette. My brother was looking for a mid-year Corvette at the same time and he got word of a 1967 project located about 26 miles away. After returning from the outing he told me, “It’s not what I what told it was, but I found what you’re looking for. It’s a 1958 basket case.”
After some time, I was able to bring home two pickup loads of parts and a bare body and frame on a car trailer. Question was, what did I have?
Living, in the middle of a cornfield in Illinois, there are not a many Corvettes owners to visit with and find out.
Later that summer, while attending Mary Rae’s Registered Nurse class reunion, we caught up with an old friend of mine. It turned out he was very active in the Corvette hobby and told me about Bloomington Gold. He also knew the Editor of VETTE VUES at the time, Jim Prather. At last I had sources for Corvette parts.
I then found an ad in the magazine for a club being formed for early Corvettes. This new club introduced me to a Noland Adams, who has become a very close and dear friend. Unfortunately, growing pains caused the demise of that club.
Along with others, we have co-founded what is now called the Solid Axle Corvette Club.
I am so amazed at how a basket case old plastic car has opened doors, introduced me to the key people involved in the Corvette hobby, the families of the owners, and the places I have visited, the list is endless.
Every day and every mile is a memory.