Like Gary I honestly can't remember when I first saw a Corvette.  I do remember my first ride in one tho'.  I was 14 and it was in a brand spanking new '66 BIG block convertible with side pipes and a 4 speed.  I was hooked...!!! 

Before that was the TV show Route 66 which starred a Corvette convertible (MYs '60 thru '64).  C1 and C2 years were outside my budget when looking for a fun car but the C3 years fit the budget better resulting in "The Toy" ending up in the garage.

Jim Olson 

"The Toys"...!!!  Save the Wave!

Where I've been in a Corvette...!!!

In 1957 I built a model of a 57 Vette and set my goal of owning one. Graduated college in 68 and ordered my 69 when they were released in Sep 68. Still own it after 54 years. 

I was 10yrs. old. A C2 corvette was parked on are street. It looked amazing. My buddy had 71 454 when we were 21. Everyone looks at a corvette. 44yrs later, i bought a 69 convertible.  Love the rag top.

1965, while in Jr High, a C3 had a fatal crash outside the city limits of my small Nebraska town. A few car enthusiasts came out to see the dark blue w/silver interior convertible, or what was left of it, at the local wrecking yard. Had a 4-speed and a 327. 

Sad, but was my first recollection of a Corvette.

I remember going with my mom to pick up her new car and seeing a new Corvette on the showroom floor I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen not sure of the year I believe around 1968 or 69 

I think the first one I saw in person was outside of Boston -- an early 50's Chevrolet and a C-1 Corvette were in a minor accident.  The Chevrolet had major damage to one side (to my 13 year old eyes) and the C-1 showed no damage.

My first ride was in a brand new 60 Corvette that my cousin had just bought.

I came a bit late to Corvettes - they were not even on my top 10 wish list as a youngster!

So the first time I actually spent time looking at one was what was then a newish 70's convertible, that I used to see regularly parked close to my Austin Cooper, on South Bank at Britain's Brands Hatch, back in the early to mid 70s.  It was white, with some mild custom paint work on the hood, rear deck and in the coves, that I later discovered had been done by Pete Darwell, a bit of a UK paint "legend" in the 70's and 80s.

I also remember that in 1986, in Ipswich, Suffolk, my wife and I actually turned our car around and stopped to look at a "new" Corvette parked by the kerb, a red C4, as we would call it now.   

I remember first hearing the name abbreviated to "Vette" on an episode of The Rockford Files - it took me a while to realise what Jim was referring to!  

But I confess that back in 1989 we were actually looking to buy a hot rod or custom car of some sort when we decided a Corvette might be a better proposition - literally a life changing decision! 

It was just outside the front door of my parents 24 hour a day restaurant in early 68.  It was a 68 C3 convertible in yellow.  Blew me away.   My very first Vette was my uncles brand new 65 blue vert with the optional removable hard top.  The C2 is my second favorite car.

Been hooked from there on.  In 65 I was 9.   When I saw the C3 I was 12.  Now I'm 67 and still love them.  I presently have a 76.

In 1960 I think it was. Our very rich cousin got a new one for his birthday and gave me a ride.

The first time I saw a corvette was in a Chevrolet sponsored movie maybe around 1966. I think it was called the Chevy show and featured a current model corvette convertible traveling on winding (country) roads. I kind of remember it was in a temporary tent, like today's I-Max but in a much smaller venue.

Then in HS working at Brimbal Ave Sunoco station, there was this Goodwood green, 1967 convertible, stinger hood with brown interior, 4 speed Corvette that would show up weekly. I made sure I was scheduled to be working. 

I guess it was inevitable!

I had a teacher in high school (1983), that handed me the keys to his 1974 "Corvette Orange" Stingray to run an errand and pick something up for him during health class.  Who hands the keys of a pristine C3 Stingray, to a high school senior teenage boy???  It planted the seed/dream, and I've loved the curves of a C3 corvette ever since.  Took me almost 40yrs to get one of my own.