Love At First Sight
True story. Perhaps others have shared this same sort of experience. In the summer of '69 I was anxiously awaiting my driver's license. On a sunny warm day, downtown Seattle with my father I saw a new '69 Corvette pass by, and I told my dad that I wanted a '69 Stingray Corvette. He chuckled and told me that if I wanted a '69 Corvette, that I'd better start saving now.
Skip ahead 10 years (I now live in Albuquerque) - August 1979 a friend of mine had a '73 Corvette. He even let me drive it - which made him my #1 best friend for sure! He introduced me to NMCA as he participated in autocross events at the PIT parking lot (back when they had several lots - without those concrete barriers). I was captivated from the first moment. Long story short, I had eyed all the Corvettes that showed up two events - and a couple of months later my friend called to say that the yellow '69 427 4-speed I had been drooling over was for sale. Skip ahead a few weeks and I am now the owner of that '69 Corvette.
For those who remember the moment leaded gasoline went away - well - that was the week after I bought the Corvette. Driving home from making the car purchase on November 7th, 1979 I swung by a Diamond Shamrock and tanked up. The next time I went to that Diamond Shamrock (the following week), leaded gas was no longer available. Hey - I was 23 and lived in the moment, and didn't plan too far ahead apparently.
Next week - little did I know how much time I would devote to a piece of machinery - inside and out.
Source: True story from the webmaster