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Hello to everyone on this forum. I wanted to join what appears to be a very thoughtful group.
I can't say I will be able to buy a new ME, but am very interested in learning about it as it is revealed. I have liked cars since I was a little boy, and loved Corvettes since I was 16 in 1959.
At that time, Moorpark, CA was a small farm town of 1500 people, with a single Main Street, and a drive in hamburger joint in the middle of it. It was a summer evening and I was hanging out with friends when a couple of "older guys" pulled in with a new fuel injected Vette. We started talking to them about the car and it turned out they were Airmen from the nearby base in Camarillo. As they backed out onto the main street to leave, we all said: "burn some rubber." The driver replied: "this thing can't hardly do it." Then he proceeded to do just that, the entire length of the block in front of the burger stand. We were in shock, and simultaneously all yelled: "I gotta get one of those!"
Needless to say, by the time I was 19, I managed to foolishly finance my way into a year old 62 "fuelly." I only managed to hang on to it for nine months as it was causing me to become bankrupt. But, I got one!
Several years later I was able to buy a used '67 Stingray coupe for $1,600. That car was ahead of it's time, as it was a luxury cruiser. It had factory AC, PS, PB, base 300hp 327 engine, and Powerglide transmission. It was Milano Maroon with a black interior. I really liked that car, but couldn't keep it running right because it suffered from a chronic carburetor heat soak problem that I didn't have the diagnostic skills to detect at the time. One night, when I was on the fence about keeping the car, a guy knocked on my door and wanted to buy the car for his wife. She wanted an automatic, which was hard to find. He had $2,300 cash in his hand as a persuader. So, I caved and the car was gone that night.
I was Vetteless until 2007 when I was able to buy a mint 2002 C5 with only 12,000 miles from a good friend who bought it new. It was exactly the car I would have ordered if I could have afforded a new one. It now has 136,000 miles on it and is no longer mint, but it still lookes pretty good. I get frequent compliments on it.
As you can probably surmise, my Vette is not a recreational vehicle. I don't race, show, tour, or hang out with it. I daily drive it, and especially like long distance endurance driving. To me, a good day is 900 miles in 15 hours. If I need to be somewhere far away, why not drive a Vette, instead of tortureing yourself on a flight, or driving a boat like my wife's Jeep or my Ram.
I didn't mean to write a book, but wanted to start a dialogue about how people use their Corvette. I feel that the group of owners who actually utilize their cars, are under represented on forums, and subject to mockery about valuing features like storage space, fuel mileage and resulting range.
So again, I feel honored to be part of this group. Victor
I can't say I will be able to buy a new ME, but am very interested in learning about it as it is revealed. I have liked cars since I was a little boy, and loved Corvettes since I was 16 in 1959.
At that time, Moorpark, CA was a small farm town of 1500 people, with a single Main Street, and a drive in hamburger joint in the middle of it. It was a summer evening and I was hanging out with friends when a couple of "older guys" pulled in with a new fuel injected Vette. We started talking to them about the car and it turned out they were Airmen from the nearby base in Camarillo. As they backed out onto the main street to leave, we all said: "burn some rubber." The driver replied: "this thing can't hardly do it." Then he proceeded to do just that, the entire length of the block in front of the burger stand. We were in shock, and simultaneously all yelled: "I gotta get one of those!"
Needless to say, by the time I was 19, I managed to foolishly finance my way into a year old 62 "fuelly." I only managed to hang on to it for nine months as it was causing me to become bankrupt. But, I got one!
Several years later I was able to buy a used '67 Stingray coupe for $1,600. That car was ahead of it's time, as it was a luxury cruiser. It had factory AC, PS, PB, base 300hp 327 engine, and Powerglide transmission. It was Milano Maroon with a black interior. I really liked that car, but couldn't keep it running right because it suffered from a chronic carburetor heat soak problem that I didn't have the diagnostic skills to detect at the time. One night, when I was on the fence about keeping the car, a guy knocked on my door and wanted to buy the car for his wife. She wanted an automatic, which was hard to find. He had $2,300 cash in his hand as a persuader. So, I caved and the car was gone that night.
I was Vetteless until 2007 when I was able to buy a mint 2002 C5 with only 12,000 miles from a good friend who bought it new. It was exactly the car I would have ordered if I could have afforded a new one. It now has 136,000 miles on it and is no longer mint, but it still lookes pretty good. I get frequent compliments on it.
As you can probably surmise, my Vette is not a recreational vehicle. I don't race, show, tour, or hang out with it. I daily drive it, and especially like long distance endurance driving. To me, a good day is 900 miles in 15 hours. If I need to be somewhere far away, why not drive a Vette, instead of tortureing yourself on a flight, or driving a boat like my wife's Jeep or my Ram.
I didn't mean to write a book, but wanted to start a dialogue about how people use their Corvette. I feel that the group of owners who actually utilize their cars, are under represented on forums, and subject to mockery about valuing features like storage space, fuel mileage and resulting range.
So again, I feel honored to be part of this group. Victor
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