Our 1953 Commemorative Edition Corvette Story
I emailed Steve about the couple of small things I noticed from Saturday's photographs and he's already fixed them. I like their style at Advanced Automotive Technologies!
Today we discussed the delivery choices. We had earlier talked about several options. AAT was trying to get both Buzz and my cars here by this coming weekend (we are going on the Esmeralda Rally, an automobile rally that I've been rallymastering annually for thirty-three years) and they were pressing hard on that objective. The best deal for us financially would be for our cars to share space in an enclosed truck. While they thought they could get the cars to Atlanta by Friday, Buzz decided he'd prefer to have his car delivered to Tampa (rather than dropped off here and driven home) -- and I can't say I blame him.
So, rather than having them by the weekend, mine will be delivered on Monday, October 21st and the Nielsen's in Tampa on Tuesday. I really think that's better for everyone. I would either have had to take the new car on the Rally or leave it behind for the weekend. And Buzz and Jackie would have had to drive theirs to Tampa (along with whichever C5 they chose to bring on the Rally). Just too darned complicated and extra miles on both cars. We'll both be happier receiving the cars next week. At least I think we will...
Hmmmmm..... let me think.....
ABSOLUTELY! What a fitting end to the Esmeralda Rally to have my CE delivered so my three dozen friends could see it! Since Buzz and Jackie's car would be on the same truck, and since they'd be at the rally hotel, they considered (for about 10 seconds) letting the driver drop theirs off as well -- but wiser heads prevailed and they stayed with the "get it on Tuesday" plan -- no, wait! They can have it on Monday! Even better..
Here are pix of the early-morning loading process:
Here's Buzz' car going onto Reliable's six-car enclosed hauler:
The hauler already had four cars loaded; Buzz' would be the middle and mine at the back of the bottom rank. Once Buzz' was loaded, there was only mine..
..to load. That's Tom, the driver, at the wheel:
All loaded up, Buzz on the left, me on the right:
Buttoning-up..
..and Gone!
Meanwhile, the Rally kicked off at 11:30a and we spent the rest of the day managing checkpoints, doing calculations, placing items on the route and so forth. All the while the truck was heading south from Michigan. Now, if the pressure of organizing the Rally weren't enough, all I could think about was getting THE CAR tomorrow morning!
Tom, the transport driver, called from the road this afternoon to confirm the plan. I made sure he had good instructions to the hotel (which was sixty miles east of Atlanta and out of his way). He said he'd be there between 7am and 8am. I made the necessary arrangements with the hotel for his truck to be admitted to the grounds. Sleep came hard...