Everybody has a connection to the Chevrolet Corvette. It’s been around long enough and is reasonably priced enough that we’ve all got stories about a ‘Vette. Almost all of us have driven one, ridden in one or ogled one as a small child at a car show when we were innocent and immature enough to simply assume it was the fastest car in the world.
I know I’ve got my story and my connection to the Corvette. When I was very young, my uncle Walt did what so many of his generation did after making a little bit of money: he bought himself a Corvette, in his case a brand new, bright red 1998 C5 convertible to go along with a gorgeous red C2 Stingray convertible he already had. A couple of years later, as I became more cognizant of the world around me and became obsessed with cars, having access to those two ‘Vettes meant the entire world to me.
Corvette memories
I was able to go for rides in them a few times, which was mind-blowing to a little kid like me. I have this clear-as-day memory of my father taking me for a ride in the C5 with my uncle’s blessing. We tossed the roof down and just drove around the neighborhood. I remember being entranced as he shifted up and down the six-speed gearbox, listening to that LS1 V8 rumble. Then, we came back to their house in northern New Jersey only for my aunt Arlene to pull that ’67 C2 out of the garage — a very rare sight for sure. She then took me for a ride, top-down, pawing at the massive steering wheel, telling me it had “steering like a truck.” It was in a very real sense one of the greatest days of my life.
Chevrolet
At this point, that day was about 18 years ago, and it served as the last time I ever stepped foot in a Corvette. Then, I got a call from someone at Chevy. They wanted to know if I’d be interested in trying out a 2025 C8 Corvette Stingray convertible. You can imagine what that meant for me. I was so excited to get my hands on this car that I told them not to worry that it wasn’t at its 500-mile break-in period yet. I’d finish the job, happily.
Full Disclosure: Chevy lent me a 2025 Corvette with a full tank of gas to do with as I pleased for a week.
It all comes flooding back
The C8 was a controversial car when it first came out. In a lot of ways it still is, far more so than the generations that came before it. In all honesty, before I sat behind the squared-off wheel of the new Corvette and gave it a few revs, I wasn’t actually sure it was a real Corvette. Well, that soon floated away.
The second I fired up the Corvette’s 6.2-liter LT1 V8 — which can trace a hell of a lot of its roots back to that LS1 from 25 years ago. Hearing the working class burble of a pushrod V8 pumping out 495 horsepower distracted me from the not-so-working class price tag ($99,980, including destination) of this 3LT Stingray convertible I was just tossed the keys to. There are memories wrapped up in that motor — not just from me, but from anyone who has ever had a moment appreciating a Corvette, whether it was their own car or one just passing them by on the street.
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
It gave me a comfortable feeling, a familiar feeling, like everything in the car was put there specifically for me. It made me think about how this car means so much to so many people. It’s special, not because of its exclusivity, but because of its accessibility. Anyone with a little dough saved up can find a Corvette of their very own.
A Corvette story
My Corvette story is not a particularly special one in the grand scheme of Corvette stories, much in the same way that a random Corvette isn’t going to be special. But, here’s the thing: it’s special to me, much in the same way your Corvette experience is special to you. That’s the wonderful thing about cars, man. We can attach memories, feelings and emotions to them that stick with us forever, even if the cars and people don’t.
My uncle Walt has since passed away, and both of those Corvettes are long gone, making memories with new owners. Still, when I floored the gas on the C8 with the roof down on the New Jersey Turnpike, I was taken right back to the passenger seat of that C5, watching my dad drive down the road, realizing my fascination with cars was going to last the rest of my life.
