Bev & Jerry Kohn's ('62) Motorama Story
June 30, 2002
We just returned home from a wonderful week on the road with the National Corvette Museum's Historic Motorama. What a wonderful experience! We started in Flint Michigan with 49 Corvettes, drivers, and passengers. Along with people from various media organizations, support vehicle drivers, and several dedicated representatives of the National Corvette Museum. Most of whom we had never met. By the end of our journey we had become a family of Corvette friends. We had endured…and so had our Corvettes. Put 100 plus people together on the road and you can only imagine the fun we had.
Some Memorable Radio Chat:
"Lights on."
"Has anyone seen the '63?"
"Anyone (besides Rob) know the correct exit number for Larkin?"
"Lights off"
"Lights on"
"The '75, '76, '77, '78, '79 and the '80 are repaired and back on the road.
"What is it with the lights on? These cars look like s h _t with the lights on"
"Larry, do you read me"
" Hey '62, your blinker is on"
"Line up in year order, pass it back"
"Stay in the right lane, pass it back"
"Right lane is closed ahead, pass it back"
"Can we pick up the speed?"
"You're running a little fast for me"
"Traffic stopped ahead, pass it back"
"I'm getting off for fuel"
"We are right behind you"
"It's gravel parking?!"
"Who in a convertible lost a hat?"
"This is the 99, we have the lost hat"
"I'm in the middle of Chestnut St, where is everybody?"
"The 53 and 54 were abandoned at the plaza in St Louis?
"This is Larry in the pace car, do you read me?"
"The '53 just blew a tire, support vehicles help!"
"Here comes the 53, he is back with us!"
"The '59 lost his keys, everyone help look"
"What a rush, I have goose bumps and tears in my eyes"
My husband Jerry and I were in our 1962 Corvette and Alex and Lisa Rassuchine were in their 1961 Corvette. We both had support vehicle's being driven by our sons and traveling behind the Motorama. Just in case…. On the morning we left St Louis I drove our support vehicle so that Scott could ride with his dad Jerry in the Corvette. Alex drove their truck and had his son Jason driving his Corvette with his Mom Lisa riding shotgun. Driving a support vehicle puts you way behind the group so I decided to follow close to Alex in his truck and hopefully not get lost. We had not gone far when Alex took an unexpected exit, but motioned me to continue on. As a drove along trying to make sure at least one of the other support vehicles was in view I got a call from Scott and his dad in the '62. "We got behind you, slow down or pull off until we can catch up with you." I did wonder how they got behind me, but I just followed directions and pulled off at the next rest area. I tried to wave on the Les Stanford Chevrolet support vehicle that was following me. I am inexperienced at hand signals so he thought I was waving him to follow me off. While explaining to the driver that I did not mean for him to follow me I again heard my phone ring. This time it was Scott calling to tell me that they had just passed the rest area I was waiting in and wondered if I had seen them go by. I had not. I jumped in and took off. As it turned out Scott did not understand that the passenger also assumed the duties of navigator. They took a wrong exit and ended up behind their own support vehicle. Soon after I caught up with the '61 and their support vehicle and our '62 I heard Lisa on the radio telling us that they were getting off for gas. We followed them off at a slightly forlorn looking exit that had a sign that said "gas". We had driven a mile or so when Lisa commented on the radio, "The sign said there was gas". We were all beginning to wonder. Then we saw it… an old station right out of the 60's complete with gravel parking. Knowing how guys feel about their cars and gravel, I started to chuckle to myself. As we all got out of our vehicles we all just started to laugh. Needless to say Lisa was forbidden from picking any more gas stops. When we arrived at the no name gas station we were not the only Corvette there. We found the Bishops in their 1999 laughing along with us. I can't imagine attempting to keep 50+ vehicles together without the radios and the cell phones, however the most important thing to bring along for the trip was your sense of humor.
We will never forget the time we spent with all of our new friends. We can honestly say it was the most enjoyable Corvette related experience in many years. As many of your know, Corvettes started out as a hobby for Jerry many years ago. It evolved into a wonderful way to make a living for our entire "Corvette Central" family. However, when Corvettes are your business it is not easy to feel like you are on vacation when at Corvette related events. This trip was the exception. We had one of the best vacations ever! We are only sorry that we didn't get the opportunity to personally get to know everyone individually. We know that many of you have been and are customers of ours and we thank you for that, but more importantly we want to thank each of you for being a part of this unforgettable experience. We also send a special thanks to Larry Hayes and the NCM for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Save the Wave!
Bev & Jerry Kohn
Sawyer, MI
1962 Historic Motorama Participant
NCM Lifetime Member # 11
|
