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Hey folks, nice forum you and community you have. I feel like I've watched a ton of videos on youtube about the c8 and order process; after finding this forum I'm still learning new things and staying up late reading posts.
I've got an order in at MacMulkin; I learned very quickly the local dealerships without allocations wanted $20k-$30k markup. No thanks!
My grandfather had a '57 vette in Venetian Red. I loved going for rides in it. No seatbelts; can't believe my parents let their kid ride in it; dangerous!
My grandfather worked in an autobody shop his whole life and could fix anything; he taught me to change my own oil (which I still do) and how to weld (under my car outside in the rain!) He claimed his father opened one of the first garages ever in Canada (we're American), and he had tools "for parts they don't make on cars anymore" from his dad. When I was maybe 3 I remember he gave me an odometer pulled from a wreck for me to play with; I dismantled it, but couldn't get it back together. I think a lot of the reasons I'm an engineer today is that my grandfather taught me the patience required to diagnose what went wrong with a complex system, and the importance of fixing things the right way without letting problems languish. I remember my first ever pinewood derby race as a cub scout (now an Eagle); my grandfather made me sand the **** out of that car. I remember melting sinkers to add weight to the car and he painted it for me at the autobody shop. I won that competition with my first car ever! Pepere (as I called him) was always hanging out at my Uncle's barn which was an auto shop with lifts, jigs, and tools inside working on late model cars my Uncle would race. He was very much a GM guy; anything else "was ****" and to him cars painted green were "unlucky." I chipped the paint on his Corvette when I was very little (by accident, let the door to my grandmother's car swing open and it hit the vette); I can't believe my grandfather didn't beat me! That was not in his nature. He was a member of his local Thunderbird club though he would always show up with his vette. I remember leaving a club show with him in the vette once. A small electrical fire breaking out under the hood. My grandfather pulled over and Macgyvered it up enough to get us home.
Pepere was diagnosed with Dementia (with Lewy bodies) 5 years ago. It was a long slow decline to someone I barely recognized in the end and incredibly difficult for my grandmother (she drops hints; I can infer there was a lot of heartbreak). He passed away last year.
I'm not sure I ever processed my grief from that loss. I lost 3 grandparents that year; COVID, pancreatic cancer, then dementia. At some point, you don't even cry anymore.
Not having a car for the past 10 years has allowed me to save aggressively (been commuting by bus). We're financially stable. When I saw the mid engine placement I was in love. When I saw the performance per cost, I was sold. I talked it over with my wife, and much to my surprise she was very much in favor of getting a Corvette; my father in law has two (c3 and c5, not sure of the years)! So to her, we're a Corvette family. I thought what better way to keep the memory of my grandfather alive than to drive the car he loved so much every day, albeit "not your grandfather's version." (He left his '57 in good hands with my Uncle; he has the skills, tools, and garage to maintain it, I would not).
So I've got an order in, and expect allocation from MM soonish. I'm tempted to carry some of my grandfather's ashes in the car somewhere. I think he would appreciate his final resting place being in a corvette. Is that dumb or weird?
I really wish I had the means to buy the car when he was around so he could have seen it and so that I could have seen it make him proud. I do worry if this is a reflexive purchase done in a moment of unsound mind dealing with grief, but I've run the numbers (they don't worry us in the slightest) and have had quite some time now to think more about it. So I don't regret it; more so acknowledge that spending money is a way that people process grief. If that's what this is, I accept it. Carthartic.
Probably not the happiest introduction, but it's the first time I've taken the time to think about what my grandfather meant to me, and cry about it. Having my own Corvette will be another way I can be like my Pepere.
I've got an order in at MacMulkin; I learned very quickly the local dealerships without allocations wanted $20k-$30k markup. No thanks!
My grandfather had a '57 vette in Venetian Red. I loved going for rides in it. No seatbelts; can't believe my parents let their kid ride in it; dangerous!
My grandfather worked in an autobody shop his whole life and could fix anything; he taught me to change my own oil (which I still do) and how to weld (under my car outside in the rain!) He claimed his father opened one of the first garages ever in Canada (we're American), and he had tools "for parts they don't make on cars anymore" from his dad. When I was maybe 3 I remember he gave me an odometer pulled from a wreck for me to play with; I dismantled it, but couldn't get it back together. I think a lot of the reasons I'm an engineer today is that my grandfather taught me the patience required to diagnose what went wrong with a complex system, and the importance of fixing things the right way without letting problems languish. I remember my first ever pinewood derby race as a cub scout (now an Eagle); my grandfather made me sand the **** out of that car. I remember melting sinkers to add weight to the car and he painted it for me at the autobody shop. I won that competition with my first car ever! Pepere (as I called him) was always hanging out at my Uncle's barn which was an auto shop with lifts, jigs, and tools inside working on late model cars my Uncle would race. He was very much a GM guy; anything else "was ****" and to him cars painted green were "unlucky." I chipped the paint on his Corvette when I was very little (by accident, let the door to my grandmother's car swing open and it hit the vette); I can't believe my grandfather didn't beat me! That was not in his nature. He was a member of his local Thunderbird club though he would always show up with his vette. I remember leaving a club show with him in the vette once. A small electrical fire breaking out under the hood. My grandfather pulled over and Macgyvered it up enough to get us home.
Pepere was diagnosed with Dementia (with Lewy bodies) 5 years ago. It was a long slow decline to someone I barely recognized in the end and incredibly difficult for my grandmother (she drops hints; I can infer there was a lot of heartbreak). He passed away last year.
I'm not sure I ever processed my grief from that loss. I lost 3 grandparents that year; COVID, pancreatic cancer, then dementia. At some point, you don't even cry anymore.
Not having a car for the past 10 years has allowed me to save aggressively (been commuting by bus). We're financially stable. When I saw the mid engine placement I was in love. When I saw the performance per cost, I was sold. I talked it over with my wife, and much to my surprise she was very much in favor of getting a Corvette; my father in law has two (c3 and c5, not sure of the years)! So to her, we're a Corvette family. I thought what better way to keep the memory of my grandfather alive than to drive the car he loved so much every day, albeit "not your grandfather's version." (He left his '57 in good hands with my Uncle; he has the skills, tools, and garage to maintain it, I would not).
So I've got an order in, and expect allocation from MM soonish. I'm tempted to carry some of my grandfather's ashes in the car somewhere. I think he would appreciate his final resting place being in a corvette. Is that dumb or weird?
I really wish I had the means to buy the car when he was around so he could have seen it and so that I could have seen it make him proud. I do worry if this is a reflexive purchase done in a moment of unsound mind dealing with grief, but I've run the numbers (they don't worry us in the slightest) and have had quite some time now to think more about it. So I don't regret it; more so acknowledge that spending money is a way that people process grief. If that's what this is, I accept it. Carthartic.
Probably not the happiest introduction, but it's the first time I've taken the time to think about what my grandfather meant to me, and cry about it. Having my own Corvette will be another way I can be like my Pepere.
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