Posted on 07/31/2003 6:20:53 AM PDT by Valin
At the end of the day though - they are still cars - nothing more
Fast forward three years later. I'm finally working a decent job, but the toy is still on my mind. I find a '97 SS 30th anniversary edition for sale a few hours away. Go to check it out with my brother (whose various Camaros are undoubtably responsible for own infatuation, he's built a '67 dragster, a '73 street rod that he transplanted the 350 from to an '84 Z-28 before getting rid of it and restoring a '68 RS/SS convertible for my mom).
We ran the carfax report and things looked good, but it had ~60K miles on it already. My brother noticed some 'fish-eyes' in the paint, and we open the deck lid to pull out the spare. The whole right rear fender was wrinkled on the inside. He spotted the bondo reacting to the paint. Open the passenger door and see the paint rubbed off the bolt holding the fender. Someone clipped the whole side of it, paid cash to get it straightened out and repainted, and dumped it on the dealer - the wreck wasn't in the vehicle history. Safe to say we left it there.
Spent the next two days with bank draft in hand scouring for at least a Z-28 - but no luck. Always something missing, or an automatic, etc.
I get home and check out Autotrader.com. Therein I find a '97 SS, all options, six speed. But it says in the ad 2900 miles. It's a three year old, surely a typo. I call the man and inquire, "How many miles?" "Oh, I think it's 2925." "What?!" Needless to say, we meet the next day. Turns out he picked it up just to keep as a collectible, but now that Corvette is coming out with the Z-06 he wants to sell this one and get the new Corvette. He tore the plastic off the passenger side floorboard that day. It still smelled like a brand new car. In fact, it hadn't even been in the rain. It had every option I intended to have, including even optioning off the standard rear window defroster! SLP's stainless steel exhaust, from the headers to the 'two on the left'. Needless to say, we came to a price, and I picked up my '97 SS three years late, but $11K cheaper for only 3089 miles of wear.
I see the look on my dad's face when he thinks about the yellow '57 Chevy he traded to his brother (which was then traded for a '34 Ford), and I know this toy is always going to be with me. There are only 123 other white, SS, t-top, 6-speeds built that year, so I'd be hard pressed to find it again... production numbers
That's terribly sad.
Although, I must say I enjoy driving rental cars, that may provide some insight into what it's like to drive a cr*p car and not care.
The aforementioned '70 Daytona 365 GTS... probably the best looking car ever built.
'70 Lamborghini Miura P400...
'67 427 Corvette Stingray...
'69 428CJ Shelby GT500 Mustang...
Indeed, the early 70's was a GREAT time to be a car guy. Too bad I was only 5.
yep
Not to mention, a terminal bore; he surely dotes on that Tommy boy of his. I haven't read a single thing by him in the past 10 years where Tommy wasn't the focus.
The kid is going to grow up thinking the whole world loves him; boy, is he ever going to be surprised.
Yep, float the valves and the keepers come out, the lifter disassembles itself and the pieces get caught in the oil pump and between the cam and the pushrods; big mess.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.