What is your first memory of seeing a Corvette?

Bonus question: Is this what caused you to want to own one?

One of my upper classmates had a 66 427 Burgundy coupe. If you rode with him, he would put a $100.00 dollar bill on the dash, and if you could get it you could have it. As you know, no one did. That was my first exposure to the Ultimate Bow Tie car. MANY years later I was able to get a Vette. Not a mid year for obvious reasons. The hook was set, and my desire never waned. A trip to Carlisle and a down payment was in my plans. A couple weeks later the truck delivered it. The road is long, from which there is NO return!

I actually don't remember.

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.

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!