This US economy sure is tough and there are a ton of great bargains out there in both new and classic Corvettes. My problem is, I am also in the tough economy and I am unable to pull the trigger on any of these great deals. This is very frustrating for a person who appreciates the intrinsic value of this hobby. Considering also that Chevrolet sold just over 12,000 new 2010 Corvettes for the model year, that bears out what a tough economy it has been. Of course, a good percentage were ZR-1’s AND Z-06’s so I am sure they didn’t fare too bad given everything GM went through last year corporate wide. An upcoming blog entry will concern the 2011 Corvette models, stay tuned.

I came across a 2007 coupe the other day at a dealer’s lot, a base model (1LT) with the six speed manual and bright Velocity Yellow paint. The mileage was only 1,695 and the asking price was $35,495.00 (USD). Now, I have seen many a C-2 and C-3 with low miles and understand why you come across them, especially when still owned by the original owner (looking to gain a return on an investment). I do not understand why someone would buy a new one, drive it for 3-4 years as sparingly as this one was and then trade it in. Believe me, if my situation had allowed, this yellow 2007 would be residing in my garage. I mean, a ‘new’ Corvette for less than 36K, seems like a no brainer to me.

This entry concerns Corvette salvage yards. I am wondering just how many Corvette exclusive salvage yards exist in the country. I live in close proximity to one of the more re-known ones, that being, Contemporary Corvette in Bristol, PA. The owner, Ron DeSchmidtt, is a life long Corvette enthusiast and runs what I feel is one of the most reputable, fair priced operations in the automotive industry. I have walked the grounds there and can tell you first hand that I understand Ron when he calls the yard his ‘field of broken dreams’. Indeed, when you look at some of the conditions some of these Corvettes are in you almost have to wonder about the circumstances behind the wreck, how did the driver fair. Certainly the car is a total and there had to be a few fatalities involved in some of these. That’s enough of the bad thoughts and I mention this because the human factor has to be considered. On the point of used Corvette parts, there is no finer (in my opinion) vendor on the planet and I want to post their phone number here 1-800-FOR-VETT (1800-367-8388) and if you call, you may very well speak to Ron (the owner) or Rocky. But, whoever answers the phone will be able to help you out. They deal in Contemporary Corvettes, those being 1968-current year (2010). Give them a call and see what they can do for you.

Talk about having your cake and eating it too. This is what a couple of guys I consider great friends and mentors did. Ron Nowacki an Ed Lieb in 1987 decided to take their love of Corvettes to the ultimate level. They both were dissatisfied with the direction the companies they worked for were heading and decided to open up their own business. Enter Corvette Paramedics located on route 206 in Mount Holly, New Jersey (phone 609-265-2702). They started out working out of Ron’s driveway and garage selling parts and doing minor repairs. They purchased a trailer and truck and hit the local Corvette shows, gaining a loyal customer base along the way. Long story short, the success they realized led them to buying a building and opening the business to include minor repairs to full blown restorations. Parts are still the main-stay, but, they offer every conceivable service from the most simple repair to NCRS quality restorations. They are both enthusiasts and are extremely knowledgeable about the car they service. Corvette Paramedics has been consistently ranked by Corvette Fever magazine as one of the ‘top 100 shops you can trust’. I trust them with my parts needs and have always found them to go above and beyond in customer satisfaction. It is with great pleasure I report on one company you should call for any part or service you may need and you will not find a more caring, honest, straight forward company out there. As their web-site (www.corvetteparamedicsinc.com) says ‘If your corvette is sick, don’t call 911–call the paramedics’. They offer parts and service for every generation, C-1through C-6.

This is the first installment of the blog entries I mentioned earlier. However, it will not be the ‘interview’ type as promised. Living in eastern Pennsylvania, I am fortunate to live close by the world’s largest Corvette dealer: Kerbeck Chevrolet of Atlantic City, New Jersey. They have been the number one volume Corvette dealer for quite a few years now (16 consecutive, I believe). I would have liked to conduct the interview to confirm information but was not contacted via e-mail or phone calls returned, so I will go with what I know. They have at all times 150 new Corvettes either in stock or inbound. That is quite a large number of Corvettes. I also consider them to be Corvette enthusiasts as they take the world’s oldest Corvette (EX-122) on promotional tours, have a few classic Corvettes in their personal collection and attend several of the area’s largest Corvette shows and events. Plus, they also host the annual Kerbeck ‘Toys for Tots’ run in late fall, usually the last big local Corvette gathering and it is a chance to co-mingle with other Corvette owners. You also get to drop the hammer as you drive in the procession with Corvettes of all vintages, an 18 mile long, wide open throttle run on the Atlantic City Expressway (with the blessing of the New Jersey State Police). Every year this event gets larger and larger and is absolutely a blast to participate in. So, if you are in the market, take a look at Kerbeck’s Corvette website. They offer substantial discounts on new Corvettes and have all models in stock at all times. I have mentioned them (Kerbeck) in a few other blog entries and do so for the reasons stated in this article.

Corvettes have come in a variety of colors over the 47 year history of the car but there is one color that has been available in each and every year…………………white. What? You thought ‘all Corvettes are red’ as the book on the development of the C-5eries said. But in 1953, you had your choice of any color as long as it was Polo White with red interior. White was and has been continuous ever since. Although in 2001, it was only available on the Z-06 in speedway white. Some years, especially the mid seventies, the color ‘classic’ white(code-10) was the most popular color chosen. It was a crisp, bright vibrant white and my very first Corvette, a 1976 coupe, was adorned in this color with the oxblood (or firethorn red) interior, a very sharp combination. In fact I am pretty sure that a red interior has been offered every year as well to compliment and pay homage to the 1953 car. In 1977 the 500,000th Corvette rolled off the assembly line in St Louis and it was white with red interior. Likewise in 1991, when the 1 million milestone was reached, that car was white with red as well. In 2010 white and red is still an available combination, although i think back to when the interior was all red and not just the seats and lower door panels. The combination remains fairly popular and I recall a conversation I had with Wil Cooksey, then Corvette plant manager, he told me that there were several discussions over the years about deleting the color from the Corvette line-up, but in the end, white always prevailed. This says something for nostalgia while paying tribute to a timeless classic with a new car purchase.

In reviewing a road test article for the 1970 Corvette, 454 LS-5 big block engine I was struck by the notes on the mpg’s of the car (7-8 mpg). Now with a fuel tank of usable capacity of say, 14 gallons that adds up to a ridiculously short cruising range–anywhere from 98-112 miles per tank. Now, these cars were built at a time when fuel was plentiful and relatively cheap. They were certainly ground pounding, thunderous machines and remain very popular today in the collector market despite the poor fuel economy. But, if you are buying one of these for a collectable or just to have and enjoy, then I guess fuel economy is low on your list. One thing for sure, the power off the line was impressive and could pin you to your seat. But in my travels across the country, there are some stretches of highway where you could run out of gas long before you come across a service station. Still, a big block Corvette is one of those automobiles that just have to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

The Corvette has endured years of production and at the same time has been panned over by just about every major automotive journal and magazine out there. Whether it be a road test, comparison test, endurance test or what have you, the automotive press has consistently come away with a less than favorable experience and review. So why? Well, to many an automotive journalist, the car itself was of suspicious breeding (the very first models using stock parts right off the GM shelves). The love/hate affair continued into the all new for 1963 and the C-2 series, the C-3’s were dismissed as a serious sports car but more a ground pounding beast. The all new 1984 C-4 series was at first heralded and then again panned over, they claim it was too long a production run. The C-5 series was the second shortest production run next to the C-2’s, but, here again as the models kept coming the enthusiasm died down. Similarly, the C-6 has met with much of the same disdain. I feel it is the automotive press who is missing the boat here. The Corvette has seen many transformations and offered different models over it’s 58 plus year history. Compared to say Porsche (talk about a model long on the tooth), I am not knocking them, just saying when you compare the various models Chevrolet offered in the Vette, it is head and shoulders above what Porsche (for variety) has offered. I’ll admit here I am a bit biased as I am a Corvette enthusiast and never even bothered to really check out a foreign nameplate (my loss perhaps) but to me, with the all American sports car, the car was/is reliable, holds a great deal of it’s value and if the Corvette was to become more ‘European’, I think we’d lose a very unique aspect of this great automobile.

In 1973, Motor Trend had seen/predicted the end of Corvette production and stated “the current car with all the new federal safety/fuel regulations would be lucky to survive past 1973″. they didn’t think the car could make it in the corporate world of GM. Many years later, the current C-6 has seen numerous factory shut downs and furloughs of the employees, and yet somehow the car survives. Yes, I took the factory tour (these days it takes careful planning) way back in 2003 when they were building the 2004 models. The purpose of this post is to say the Corvette is one car that no matter what happens will always be immortalized whether it is in magazine ad, book, newspaper article, TV commercial, or song (yes there are a few Corvette songs out there). There are two kinds of people when it comes to Corvettes: those who have owned and those that wish they could. So, despite 26 weeks of Corvette plant closures in 2009, I look forward to the C-7 series.

it is often said the last years of the seventies to early eighties were the darkest in Corvette history as far as performance, yes, choked down power plants and smog equipment abounded but Chevrolet kept the Corvette viable and truth be told, the “rubber bumpered” cars (as they are known) accounted for over half of the total sales in this series! the 1976-1977’s were almost 50,000 strong, the 25th anniverary kept things interesting with two special editions and of course, 1979 still holds the sales record of any Corvette series before or since. that being said, 1982 was the last year of the “shark” series in Corvette, and i have grown to appreciate this model year more and more as time has passed. consider that in 1982 you got the classic shark lines plus a litany of optional equipment and luxury ammenities to outfit your Corvette for great boulevard cruising. just about power everything was offered, a wide range of much improved sound systems to play just about what ever was available in 1982. for me, the ultimate in luxury cruising is the 1982 “collector edition”, a rather expensive piece of machinery (in 1982) but the features, special color scheme, luxurious interior and the availibilty to open the rear hatch plus the cloisone emblems and turbine spoke wheels set the car apart from the avereage Corvette. oh sure every 1982 came with the new cross-fire fuel injected L83 producing 200 hp, and (the only transmission available) a 4 speed automatic with overdrive that enabled this last year of the shark to break the 20 mpg range (something that was becoming more and more important-decent fuel economy) but the “collector” edition just kicked everything up a notch. i especially like the interior treatment of the C.E. the bronze tinted glass roof panels, the faded/shadow treatment on the seats and door panels to match the exterior’s fading stripes, the seats are comfortable and i am surprised that with a complete year in production (October ‘81- October ‘82) that only a total of 18,648 Corvettes left the Bowling Green plant including 6,759 CE’S which were available from day one of production. of course the all new soon to appear C-4 was well known and anticipated and, in truth after a 14 year run with a chassis that dated back to 1963, i guess 18,000 plus Corvettes wasn’t too bad. the 1982 Corvette deserves it’s rightful place in Corvette history as a testament to the 500,000 plus sharks produced during this series’ run but also as the forerunner of things to come, more creature comfort options for cruising, the return of fuel injection and the absolute drive to gain better fuel economy out of a fairly large power plant. a 21 mpg highway shark? unheard of from the factory unless you are talking the 1982 Corvette!