My love affair with the Corvette began in 1958 when I first saw a green '58 fuelie belonging to my dorm-mate at the University of Colorado. It wasn't 'til almost ten years later when I could buy my first 'Vette -- a gorgeous '67 green roadster ordered while I was at sea in the U.S. Navy, and delivered to my home dealer when I left active duty. I still have that car, now a veteran of many misadventures: in 1970, it was briefly stolen while at a dealer's repair shop; caught in a fire in my storage area in '95 and resurrected to show status; and in '96 was in its first fender-bender while being test driven by my mechanic. But it's still a prize-winner (Survivor, Bloomington Gold, four times an NCRS Top Flight, Duntov Award winner, etc.); and the car was featured in the Feb. 2000 Vette magazine (along with its stable-mate, a '95 Indy Pace Car replica).
Frequently, Corvette ownership doesn't survive a growing family (my two children "matured" along with the '67), and sometimes get liquidated during a divorce. But the old roadster's license plate says it all: "IKEPIT" through thick and thin, and the '67 is still my longest-lasting continual "relationship".
The car I'll be driving in the 2002 Historic Motorama is a '92 aqua convertible which was originally intended to replace the '67. But I just couldn't let the old car go, so finally I went ahead and bought the new convertible anyway. The '92, a 17,000-mile car, will leave its home area in San Antonio for the first time for the Motorama. It will then have its own place in the family history book alongside its older "sibling".
And one day, my kids will have to decide who gets which Corvette. Nice dilemma, don't you think?
Noel Osborn
San Antonio, TX
NCM Lifetime #295
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