Corvetteditorial
Rear View Mirror - November, 1992:
Homecoming events jinxed by rain;
Magnificent cars at the Otis Chandler
museum; Decision to change from
Thanksgiving dinner to Christmas dinner;
Palm Springs Road Races; First flyer for
the West Coast Corvette Expo; Happy
hours at Spoons, Jolly Roger, Marie
Callenders and the Fisherman; '62 Vette
stolen in '71 returned to owner; Route 66
display at San Diego Automotive
Museum; and Dave McLellan announces
intention to retire.
Well, the ZR1 hasn't sold yet. Having it up
for sale has made me very nostalgic,
however. Since many new members don't
know me very well, this is a good time to
recount my years of Corvette ownership.
It all started long, long ago. I was a relatively klutzy kid, and my father decided to help me improve my motor skills and coordination by having me build and race slot cars. At the time, my father was head salesman for a company called Bruck Braid and Associates. Bruck made all sorts of braided and woven materials, from the fringe for patio umbrellas to control wires for the Saturn V rocket. One of their customers was Revell, a model car manufacturer in Culver City (right near our home, and near Guildstrand Engineering and Traco, too). The braid they bought was for the electrical contacts for the slot cars to pick up energy from the track. My dad took me on a tour of the plant, and I acquired my first Vette - a 1/32 scale white '64 coupe. Later we together built a 1/24 scale blue coupe. I still have both, although I severely modified the '64 and would run it on 1/24 scale tracks (the model equivalent of putting huge drag slicks on a real car). I also got a Ferrari GTO, but fortunately for my pocketbook never quite got into them quite so much!
A few years ago, a track opened up in
Vista, and I tried racing them there. The
local kids were amazed that someone
would try to run such valuable antiques on
an open track! Unfortunately, the
permanent magnets have lost their energy
and they can barely move.
The bug had bitten. When I was 16, I had
a summer job fixing commercial washing
machines. I scrimped and saved, and with
a little help from mom, bought a '63
roadster for $1400, August, 1973. The guy
thought he was ripping me off, but all it
needed was a valve job on one side (as
well as CA emissions, but that's another
long, sad tale). I rebuilt the Holley, and
managed to improperly thread the
secondary fuel line, which burst into flame,
boiling some paint off the hood and burning
up the wiring harness, but luckily not
catching the fiberglas afire - it was close.
Champion Chevrolet put in a new
harness, but it was from another year, and
probably still causing electrical problems.
The next summer, my friend painted it Pearl
White with Metallic Blue stinger and a field
on the back deck. Most of the five years
after that I was in college, and only was
able to garage it during the summers.
Every rainstorm would soak the carpetting,
which eventually rotted away. 1976 was
"rebuild the tranny" time, 1978 the engine
went, so a friend and I rebuilt it. It had
been hotrodded by a previous owner as a
tow car for a drag boat (!), and I kind of
liked the performance, so I pretty much did
the same - dome-top trw's, 1/2 race cam,
etc.
When I graduated, I bought a pocket-rocket
Plymouth (1600cc Champ with Twin-Stick -
eight forward speeds) and the Vette
became a weekend car. By 1981 I was
finally starting my programming carreer,
and in April when I saw the ad from
Champion Chevrolet in the paper that said
"Yes, we have 4-speeds!" I rushed out and
bought one. Everyone thought I was nuts
spending a years salary ($17,248 with tax,
if memory serves) on a new Vette,
especially when I already had one. 1983
saw my first unexpected layoff, just after I
bought a house, so I sold the '63 to some
Joe-Blow specialty car lot. They painted it
the original Riverside Red and put in a new
interior, displaying it on their lot on
Sepulveda Boulevard in Hermosa Beach,
where I often saw crowds of tourists
salivating over it. They eventually sold it to
a teenage girl who lived near my parents,
so I would see it every so often and
become morose. She continued to have
electrical problems with it. Then, I saw it no
more. Later that year, I started working in
downtown LA, so I started buying
commuter cars and relegated the '81 to
weekend status. By '84 I was a contract
programmer, so I was able to move to
North County by '86. That's when I bought
the Lincoln, as I would sometimes work
from home, and sometimes have some
killer commutes (to Long Beach, Burbank,
Upland among others).
Around 1988 I became involved with North Coast Vettes, and started showing and autocrossing the '81. I won a big trophy at Reno in '89 for autocrossing. I have a video of me on a twisty course at Lake Havasu, too. In 1991, I took a Formula Ford course at Las Vegas (different from the raceway they use now), and during one of the lunch breaks I spun the Vette going about 15mph in the infield and cracked a rear fender on a pole sticking up in the middle of nowhere. I checked into having it fixed, and even changing the color of the car (I had always wanted a blue one, and the lying salesman that sold me the car told me they weren't making blue ones that year), but I was fairly depressed about spending thousands of dollars on the bodywork and more thousands hopping up the engine when there were all these new ones around, especially those ZR1's... so I tried unsuccessfully to sell it, and eventually got a pretty good deal selling it to Corvette Mike, who promptly shipped it to Japan. It had around 52 thousand miles on it. Now, it's deja vu all over again...
http://www.garry.to/
Membership News
By Shawn Silva
Membership Chairman
North Island Naval Aviation Depot American Heritage Celebration
October 22,1997 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM - Classic Car Show
By Anne Lamache
Andrew & Anne Lamache entered their 1967-427 Stingray, along with over 30 cars, mostly owned by employees of the Depot. The Over the Hill Gang displayed some of their vintage cars, which are always a delight to view. The assemblage of these timeless vehicles was well received. A grand stage, an excellent sound system, good band, American Indian, African and Polynesian dancing provided professional entertainment. Concession stands offered ethnic food, information and shopping. As the noon hour approached, employees streamed from the buildings to join in the
celebration. Mother Nature blessed us with
beautiful weather. We were all thanked for
participating in the event with the hope we
will return next year. Each car received a
dash plaque. Folks, this was a very well
planned event, but let's hope for a better
showing from the Car Clubs for next year's
festivities.
For Sale
1991 ZR1, Black/Black, Both Tops, 30,200mi, $28,000
1993 ZR1, Bright Aqua, Lt Gray Lthr, Both Tops, 13,200mi, $36,000
"Mark" @ 406-443-6333 (MT)
Presidential Prattle
-----
Terry Shrock
e-mail sungo19@connectnet.com
North Coast Vettes
P. O. Box 188237
Carlsbad, CA 92009
Sponsored By
Weseloh Chevrolet
Car Country Carlsbad
5335 Paseo del Norte
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 438-1001
Advertising rates are $5 per issue for
business card size.