Topic: Re: What Did It For You
in Forum: C3 General Discussion
My Dad always loved Corvettes and he would show me the Stingray brochures that he collected each year. I had a poster of a Red '73 convertible on my wall through my whole childhood. I had a bleach blonde teacher in grade school that drove a an Orange Flame '75 Vette to work every day. I had many toys and model Corvettes as a kid, but when the '78 Pace Car came out, that car sealed my fate as a Vette owner. I don't have a Pace Car yet, but it is on the list.
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As a teen in the 70s, I was a sucker for late 70s Trans Ams. The mean 77/78 front end was my favorite, but I ended up with a blue/blue 403 79 T-top. Beautiful, comfortable and wonderful car. It finally died at 223,000 miles. I still miss it.
As long as I can remember I've been a "car nut". From the late 1950s and well into the 60s watching the annual styling changes was fascinating...!!! I have to admit though I never paid much attention to the Corvette until "Route 66" came across the air waves. The '61s/'62s are still my overall favorites but way beyond my means. My first Corvette ride was in a C2 big block roadster with sidepipes. I don't remember what year the car was but the ride was AWESOME...!!! Then in high school a gym teacher had a '66 Laguna Blue coupe that I got a couple of rides in and that opened the door to wanting a sports car.
The following year is when I took 'em hook line and sinker after my Dad pulled up in front of my grandparents house with his co-workers '69 Stingray, red w/ a black interior, Hooker sidepipes, Recaro buckets, Turbo Vec rims, 350/300 hp upgraded w/350 hp cam, 4 speed Muncie. I never forgot that ride.
I ran into the guy that owned the vette a couple years ago and thanked him for addicting me to the expensive hobby of Corvettes. lol. I couldn't believe he had a picture of that very car still in his wallet. That really brought those distant memories back.
TKO500 5 spd.
Borgeson Steering Box
Born 8/1981
Sequence #3975

Click here to see more pics of my Vette on CarDomain.
Lifetime Member #26
I remember seeing a brand new '74 when I was about 10 years old. My uncle and some other men were walking around it, loudly verbalizing about how Chevy had "ruined" the Vette with those hideous rubber bumpers. I saw something totally different, and fell in love with that one car and wanted it my whole life.
30+ years later, I retired from the Navy and finally had the financial means and square footage to buy and work on one. There was no other year that I even considered, and I went straight for a '74. Buying the car from eBay, I got totally suckered and ripped off. I thought I was buying a car that needed a new interior and some minor work, and I got a car that needed everything. I considered sending the car back or filing fraud charges, but to be honest, I didn't want my "First Corvette" story to end that way. So my budgeted "nine months" is now into year four, and I'm doing the car the way that I want it.
My Dad turns 70 this month, and I'm very fortunate that he's still as youthful as he was at 40. When I bought mine, he picked up a '69 a few months later and we are working on them together, along with my 13-year old son when he'll come along! We also owned C5s together, although I've since sold mine. Work and family obligations keep the pace slow, but it's fun.
So to this day, the only time I've driven the '74 was when I backed it into the shop and started tearing it apart.
You guys have made me jealous talking about your first cars. Cudas, Camaros, and the like. I was unfortunate enough to come of age driving an '81 Chevette, followed by an '86 Dodge Colt, and a string of other embarrassing four bangers. I've since owned some muscle, including a Mustang GT and a C5. But nothing stirs the soul like the shape of that Stingray.
So I'll keep dumping money into it, against the advice of myself and my financial planner. But you only live once, eh?

"Let them that don't want none have memories of not gettin' any."
- Brother Dave Gardner