Actually, the Corvette story started more than once for me. My first Corvette experience came unexpectedly in the summer of 1961. A friend asked to trade me his 1958 Snowcrest White, 245 hp Corvette for the day. He wanted to try my 1958 Impala, only because of its 348 engine.
So there I was, top down in a Corvette that I dare not ding and that seemed so far out of my reach that it might as well have been a Ferrari.
But I was getting hooked. "Wow, this 283 really runs and the sound of those double 4's kicking in."
Flash forward to 1968. Our country is in turmoil with protests and the war. It was only because I was in graduate school that I wasn't already in Southeast Asia. That summer I came upon one of those new “Mako Sharks," a 1968 Le Mans Blue Coupe. I thought it was the most beautiful car I had ever seen!
The seed planted in 1961 suddenly burst forth in full bloom.
As it turned out, Uncle Sam didn't want me. I got my first real job, which was quickly followed by the purchase of a used 1968 Rally Red roadster. My Corvette proved to be a dutiful daily driver. I smile as I remember how we negotiated northeastern snow storms together--no snow tires of course--and how the windshield wiper cover froze open many wintry days.
Forty years of ownership and eight Corvettes later, I am still enamored. Corvette passion resides in my National Corvette Museum delivered 2000 coupe and carries on with the delivery of our newest and 9th Corvette in March 2012: a Carlisle Blue roadster which turned out to be much rarer than we could have imagined.
Here's how it happened. At the Carlisle Corvette show in 2011, the GM team brought along a few Carlisle Blue cars, a one-year color dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the show. My wife fell in love with the color. Several people and dealerships tried to discourage us from the color because it wasn't a true "Corvette color" in their estimation. So it turned out that our base Carlisle Blue roadster with Titanium leather, six-speed manual and a blue top is one of only 18 produced!
With fewer than 600 miles, Miss Carlisle Blue made her first trip to Corvettes at Carlisle, where she received Mid America Motorworks' Quad Cruiser cat back exhaust for just the right all-time rumble.
Seems that at every car show, she draws a crowd because of the color rarity. She was even chosen for the Chip's Choice display at the 2014 Corvettes at Carlisle. We are pleased and blessed that our Corvette story has continued for almost a half century. Our Corvette has given us countless pleasures and new friends.