Why?

[Tuna]

Why do you own a Corvette?

What do you do with your Vette?

Both questions may have the same answer.

I'm doing a little research to help out my local club and other Corvette clubs that I belong to. If I understand what others do with their Vettew, I may be able to help out the clubs and keep the membership happy and coming back to the club.

To be more specific, how do you use your Vette?

Drive it?
- daily driver,
- as often as possible,
-- rain or shine,
- Only on nice weekends,
- only to car shows,
- race it?
-- drags,
-- autocross,
-- track days
-- open road events,
-- rally events

Just look at it and admire it and hope it jumps 1000% in value before you die?

Are you a member of a local Corvette club?
If so, what do you like about your club and what they do?

That ought to get something started.

[jmhorn52]

Why do I own it,, I own it because I enjoy performance, the corvette gives me that at a great price and I prefer Chevy cars. The car is also reliable and wont cost me my first born to repair. I try to drive it as much as possible but mostly in good weather. It would get driven more but there are 3 of us alot and I cant use it

[tamashane]

Why do you own a Corvette? It is after all, the great AMERICAN sports car. And I wanted one all my life.

What do you do with your Vette? Wash it , wax it, and DRIVE it!

To be more specific, how do you use your Vette?

Drive it?
- daily driver, Yes
- as often as possible, Yes
-- rain or shine, Yes
- Only on nice weekends, No
- only to car shows, NO, NOt a show car.
- race it? No
-- drags,
-- autocross,
-- track days
-- open road events,
-- rally events

Just look at it and admire it and hope if jumps 1000% in value before you die? Don't care if it does appreciate. I appreciate it though!

Are you a member of a local Corvette club? No
If so, what do you like about your club and what they do?

That ought to get something started.[/QUOTE]

[Huskerman]

Back in 1960 I was 10 years old and every week I would try and watch Route 66....I didn't care much for the stories I was there to see the Corvettes. I wanted to do just what Todd and Buzz were doing.....seeing the USA in thier Chevrolet...That's were it started for me and 10 Corvettes later I am still excited to go out and hop in and head out on the open road with my car. Touring and at times an autoX is what I like to do with the cars.

No club....lone wolf....My 2010 Grand Sport is everything I love about Corvettes and I try to drive it as much as I can.....

[Yoda]

30+ Years ago I would have answered your survey a whole lot differently

Today I offer more of a philosophical point of view

Corvette ownership…

I have owned many corvettes at least one from every generation, except the C6. As for Buying something newer than our C5 is not in the cards. The C5 has more whistles and bells on it than I care for, nor do I want another one…

Clubs…

1981 or 1982 I was one of the folks that took out ads in the local paper and was instrumental in the forming of a Corvette Club. Once we were fairly organized we joined the NCCC. We had 23 Corvettes from about 18 members. About 6 of us did all the work. It was fun for a few years and being a points chaser and Club Governor I stayed very active.

Based in York, NE I traveled as far as Oklahoma / Minnesota and the immediate adjoining states in our Region … chasing POINTS doing most of what you show for events. Never did an open road race or much that was not NCCC Sanctioned… POINTS. The exception was the Black Hills Corvette Run, which usually happens about the same time as NCCC Convention. I ran the BHCC from 1980 ~ 1986 faithfully..

After 3 or 4 years most of the folks that did all the work got burned out or lost interest. The club floundered but stayed together. I moved away in 1986 and never had the desire to connect back up with a Club..

I find times have changed and I don’t see the need for being part of a local club, esp. if they are NCCC and require membership to NCCC. From my observation the OLD DAYs of a couple clubs putting together a weekend of Concours, Ralley’s, Funkahana’s, AutoCross or Drags are a relic from the dark ages.

Spending more than 20 years in California also didn’t do much for clubs. There is an NCCC presence in Southern CA, but the Northern area and a few other States have the WSCC and not affiliated with NCCC. TALK about SOCIAL engineering . It was much more fun just getting a few Corvette friends together and make a run up thru the foothills or to Yosemite or over to Monterey for dinner.

Clubs are fine if that is what works for ya… Personally I think it is like every other Club or Organization (Elks, Lions, Eagles, Legion, VFW ect…), memberships are down. The day of being a part of an organization is dwindling. Kids require too much attention with soccer, wrestling, baseball etc. and the parents bieng Helocopter Parents!! I also put some Fault the internet Social Media too … A LOT!!

Our two Corvettes would be on the fireplace mantle if they were not so big... Alas they take up space in the garage and the shop..

Good Luck with your questions and getting more participation..

ON A VERY PERSONAL NOTE:
I think the allure and fun that was had in days gone can never be had, the PC of today and the large Commercialization of NCCC and the Corvette in general has cleaned away alot of what it used to mean to own a Corvette and be part of the "Corvette Lifestyle"!!
(Gone are the Wet T-Shirt Contests, Beer Chugging. Keg Tossing, Swedish Ski Races, REAL Judged Car Shows, abiet Nothing more than Peoples Choice or how Clean or what Customs are added, they call this Judging )

Bud

[6 Shooter]

Their sleekness, design(s), legacy and speed capabilities, captivated as a boy, captured as an adult...

[Tuna]

Thanks for the replies.

Yoda - I hear you! One of the reasons I'm asking these questions is to see what my local club needs to do to get better and attract/keep members. It' going to be difficult, I think.

As for me, a Corvette wasn't on my radar when I was younger - didn't figure I could afford one. So, I owned muscle cars (Chargers, Road Runners, Grand Nationals). As I got closer to 40, I started looking at sports cars - cars that did more than just accelerate. Btw, I tried autocross back in the '70s with my Charger - not something you really want to do.

Decided that sports cars were where I wanted to be and bought my first Vette - a 1992 LT1 coupe.
I love every aspect of driving a Corvette! It accelerates well and stops well. The real eye opener for me and many folks I talk to is the way it turns. When people asked me about my first Vette, sometimes I jokingly said that I made a mistake - the mistake was not getting one sooner!

Over 20 + years, my Vettes have been daily drivers - the new 427 Vert isn't that yet will may be in a few years.
Needless to say, my wife and I take the Vette out anytime we feel the need - rain or shine.
I've never had any of my Vettes on a drag strip but I have autocrossed them some. Didn't chase points, just raced locally with my club. Did a track day at TMS a couple of times during the Lone Star Classic - that was fun.
These days, my wife an I do open road racing events - Time/Speed/Distance rallies with our targe speed a modest 110. Nothing like being at triple digit speeds for an hours and not worrying about getting a ticket.

I've been in a Corvette club since 1994. Met my wife thanks to the Corvette club event - she showed up in a Vette and single!

My local club is not NCCC. We share membership with another local club that is NCCC. We like to do cruises and overnight road trips around Oklahoma. We've organized many of them in the past. We like gimmick rallies. We like to attend shows - even thought I know my "street car" isn't going to win. I like to talk about cars and shows are a great place to do just that.

So, keep posting here. I'm keeping records!

[XLR8]

Why do you own a Corvette? Fell in love with them as a kid when my uncle gave me two midyear promo models; a coupe and convertible. Wish I still had them today. I love the "bang for the buck" a Corvette offers!

What do you do with your Vette? My 98 was my daily driver since I purchased her in 2004. Started the clock at 25,000 miles and she's now nearly at 130,000. Now that I'm retired, my newly purchased 03 will still be my driver of choice but it won't be for a work related commute.

To be more specific, how do you use your Vette? I hope to use my 03 not only as a grocery getter, but also for roadtrips and pleasure.

Drive it?
-- daily driver? Yes
-- as often as possible? Yes
-- rain or shine? Yes
-- Only on nice weekends? Any weekend
-- only to car shows? Some
-- race it? No
-- drags? No
-- autocross? I would love to try autocross but it's doubtful I will for health reasons
-- track days? No
-- open road events? Maybe
-- rally events? Maybe

Just look at it and admire it and hope it jumps 1000% in value before you die? No and no

Are you a member of a local Corvette club? Not at this time
If so, what do you like about your club and what they do? I'm not ruling out joining a club, just not at the moment.

That ought to get something started.

Good thread Tuna. Hope this helps.
Jane Ann

[GS Diva]

Why do I own a Corvette? Many reasons but probably because of the passion for these sport cars that I never had for all of the other sport cars that I've had over the years.

My husband and I do many things with both Corvettes at the same time, or only one at other times. We used to enter both Corvettes in Corvettes-only judged shows but only take one now. I'm just too old to do all the preparation for this kind of show. Our Corvettes are clean, but there's a big difference between clean and "show clean"!

We do like to drive them as often as we can but never intentionally take them out in the rain. If rain develops while we're out...oh well!

We do belong to a large Corvette club and have been active members since 1994. This club was formed in 1962 and has always been in existence, even with only 5 members at one time. Today, there are more than 100 members (not counting spouses/significant others) and continues to be very active. The club has gone through some ups and downs with severe personality clashes, but the real problem people all left at the same time so those problems have ceased to exist. Our club focuses on raising money for about a dozen food pantries in our area. We give canned goods and non-perishables to the food pantries every month, as well as monetary donations a couple of times a year. We go on driving cruises, we have ice cream runs, we run a Monday cruise night during the summer, we participate in about 8-10 parades a year, and we have a yearly weekend getaway. All events are very well attended, and everyone gets along with each other.

Phew...have I bored everyone yet?!

Elaine

[Tuna]

Phew...have I bored everyone yet?!

Elaine

No way. Thanks for the response.

My local club donates some money at the end of each year to 5-6 charities - money made from dues and our show. Might be something to look into there for monthly activity.

Why do you think your clubs is as active as it is?

[GS Diva]

No way. Thanks for the response.

My local club donates some money at the end of each year to 5-6 charities - money made from dues and our show. Might be something to look into there for monthly activity.

Why do you think your clubs is as active as it is?

We have a great group of members who throw out ideas for things to do, and they do the planning. It used to be the officers who did it all, and I've been an officer for the past 12 years. We have finally got a big group who isn't afraid to plan something on their own. We used to have an annual Corvettes only show, but as we all got older, we didn't want to spend all the time it takes to prepare and execute a show.

We have meetings 10 months out of the year (none in November and December although we have a big dinner/dance in November), and each meeting has food as part of the meeting in some way. Sometimes, it's a potluck supper, sometimes the club buys pizza, sub sandwiches, etc. We've learned that our members love to eat!

We run a somewhat casual monthly meeting with no formal corporate-like proceedings. I make up the agenda which the officers follow, but it's not boring at all. Members love to attend the meetings, and it's quite a social time for everyone.

Elaine

[Larry McIntosh]

The reason I like my Corvette is because when I was in the Marines, in 1954 I saw a 1953 Corvette, and I had my buddy take a picture of it with me beside it. I then sent it to my then girl friend, and told her that I was going to have one of these. I was 18 and since then have been married 56 years, and have had a 1962 340hp, 4 speed, a 1966 327 350hp coupe 4 speed, a 1978 L82 4 speed, all purchased new, and I now have a used 1996 CE LT4 that will probably be my last one. They were a lot of fun to work on in the old days, but this new one I just change oil, and keep it maintained. It is a very fast car and is probably the best as far as a driver than my older ones. Save the wave, and keep the tradition going. Larry