The Iconic Sports Car Brand Has Built a Devout Following
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – You’d be hard pressed to name a car that’s had a greater impact on American pop culture than the Chevrolet Corvette.
Through eight design generations – from the humble 1953 Blue Flame Six/Powerglide C1 boulevard cruiser to the recently unveiled C8 Z06 GT3.R that will compete in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – the Corvette has captured the hearts of millions.
The love affair arguably started in the early 1960s with the “Route 66” TV series that featured twenty-somethings Buzz Murdock and Tod Stiles seeking adventure in Tod’s shiny new Corvette convertible.
Then there were the astronaut Corvettes. Capitalizing on the publicity gained when General Motors President Ed Cole presented Alan Shepard with a ’62 coupe after becoming the first American to travel into space, Cole and Florida Chevrolet dealer (and former Indianapolis 500 winner) Jim Rathmann created a $1 Corvette lease program for astronauts that peaked in 1969 when Apollo 12’s Charles “Pete” Conrad, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean commissioned custom matching paint schemes.
Mark Hamill’s vehicle of choice for his first star billing post-“Star Wars” was a mostly forgotten cult classic called “Corvette Summer.” John Wayne briefly owned the 51st Corvette to roll off the line (he later gave it away because he was too tall to fit). A C3 coupe helped Jack Nicholson give Shirley MacLaine a memorable beach ride in “Terms of Endearment.” Matthew McConaughey drives one when he’s not pitching Lincolns on television.
Corvette has also been immortalized in music, from Jan & Dean’s “Dead Man’s Curve” to Prince’s iconic “Little Red Corvette.” Musicians from Bruce Springsteen to Bob Weir collect vintage Corvettes, and former Beatle Paul McCartney once chose a C5 convertible as his Southern California daily driver. Wouldn’t you?
Of course, Corvette is a longtime favorite among racing fans, from the mighty Grand Sports commissioned by Corvette godfather Zora Arkus-Duntov in the early 1960s, through John Greenwood’s outrageous Corvettes that competed in IMSA in the ‘70s, continuing with Corvette Racing’s sustained run of championship success since 1999 that included the No. 3 Corvette C8.R GTD that finished second in class last month in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
That passion is demonstrated in the Corvette Corrals that are a staple at many WeatherTech Championship events; the corral at Daytona International Speedway for the Rolex 24 was again filled to capacity this year, where a host of enthusiasts were eager to talk about their own Corvette love story.
“I lucked out – you almost have to inherit corral tickets now,” laughed Ron Neal, a Daytona Beach resident who traded his 2008 Corvette Z51 for a 2011 Corvette Grand Sport at Ciocca Corvette (formerly Kerbeck Corvette), America’s largest ‘Vette vendor.
“My car is a daily driver – I’ve got 130,000 miles on it, and it’s bulletproof,” Neal continued. “I wanted a performance car that wouldn’t break. I probably wouldn’t take it to track days now, but I did them up to when it had about 70,000 miles on it. Redline in every gear. All I did was change the oil, tires, belts – all the normal maintenance items. I drove it to West Virginia last summer and I still get 30 miles per gallon on the highway.”
Neal said that practicality is the main reason he’d rather hang on to his C6 rather than acquire a newer C7- or C8-generation Corvette.
“The C6 has so much room,” he noted. “There’s 23 cubic feet of storage behind the seats. It’s my only vehicle, so I use it for groceries, to pick up people at the airport. … I had 20 bags of rock salt in it one time.”
Florida residents Mario Ginebra and his wife Cindy have attended the Rolex 24 for the last 20 years, but said it was the first time they succeeded in scoring a ticket to the Corvette Corral. They are also regulars at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Their Corvette experience began when four special Drivers Edition models created by Corvette Racing pilots Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin and Antonio Garcia were unveiled during 2019 Rolex 24 activities.
“We fell in love with those Grand Sports and two months later, we bought our first Corvette – a 2019 Grand Sport,” Mario related. “We owned it for three years before we sold it and bought our brand new C8 Stingray convertible. We just love it. It was always a dream I wanted, and finally, I was able to get it. We just love driving it and taking it to events and seeing people. I took the top down, and one kid said, ‘It’s a Transformer!’ It just puts a big smile on your face.”
“The C8 is a completely different animal from the C7,” Cindy added. “The C7 is a bulldog and the C8 is a greyhound. She’s sleek and she’s fast. She’ll go!”
Mary Anne and Scott Lewandowski, residents of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, also enjoy the social aspects of Corvette ownership, and the strong sense of camaraderie between owners and fans.
“We’ve met people from around the country and around the world who are interested in Corvettes, and it’s just a bond that brings everybody together,” Mary Anne said. “Every time we come to these shows, we grow more and more friends. We see each other at different races and events, and it makes it a lot of fun.”
The Lewandowskis currently own a C3-generation 1980 Stingray and a 2017 Grand Sport Collector Edition. They are on the waiting list for the recently announced Corvette E-Ray, featuring hybrid electric technology and all-wheel drive.
Scott Lewandowski is especially proud of their association with the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
“We became lifetime members at the museum before it even existed because it was something we felt very passionate about,” he said. “We wanted to get involved on the ground floor and push that thing forward.”
