Tag: Corvette

The NY Auto Show

You’ve read here on the ExNotes blog about good buddy Mike and me having an adventure or two.  I’ve known Mike since junior high school, which means he’s pretty old.  So am I, now that I think about it.  Anyway, Mike and I still talk every week or so (it’s a bicoastal relationship), and he most recently told me about the NY Auto Show.  I suggested a guest blog, and what you see here is the result.  It’s well done and well photographed.  Enjoy, my friends.

After a two-year absence due to the pandemic, the New York International Auto Show returned to the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Midtown Manhattan.  The NY Auto Show has been in existence since 1900.  I can remember attending the show during the ’60s with my father at the New York Coliseum off Columbus Circle.  In 1988 it was moved to the Jacob Javits Center.

The NY Auto Show always featured the latest models of all makes as well as the experimental prototypes designed by the best auto designers in the world.  If you wanted to see the latest and greatest, this was the show to attend in the Northeast.  A highlight of all the shows has always been the beautiful models on stage with the cars.

Probably the most memorable show, for me, was in 1979 when a close friend of mine decided to sell his 1978 Corvette Indy Pace Car at the show.  We had the car transported to the show on a flatbed and after numerous inspections and paperwork we had it on display.  Besides the excitement of showing a car at this prestigious event, the most exciting part was having my then girlfriend (and now wife) Carol model the car.  Needless to say, the display drew a lot of attention, not because of the car but because of her presence.  She wore a black jumpsuit and silver blouse.  Great attention, but no sale.

I always attend on the first day of the show and this year was no exception.  Upon entering, I was greeted by Ford’s full display.  The centerpiece was an original Ford GT and the newest Ford GT.

After going through the various displays (including Mopar, Chevrolet, Nissan, and more), I soon realized the focus was on electric vehicles.  Performance was there (with the new Z06 Corvette and convertible), but the primary focus was electric.  In my opinion, it was very boring and a waste of my time.

The international marques were also present, including Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Volvo, and Alfa Romeo, along with the usual Japanese.  The largest displays were by Toyota and Subaru.  Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Ferrari, and not even Cadillac were present.  What a disappointment!  I recently ordered a 2022 Cadillac CT5 and was looking forward to a close examination of that car.  After walking for miles up and down the center I finally found an information booth where I learned Cadillac was not attending.  Unbelievable, but true.

The 2022 NY International Auto Show was a waste of my time.  No prototypes, no customs, no major performance cars, along with the inability to see all the cars made and speak with the representatives, this may be last for me.  Did I mention, no beautiful models either?  Nope, none.  The highlight of the day was having a hot dog, pretzel, and a beer.

Awesome, Mike, and thanks very much.  You have a way with a keyboard, and we appreciate hearing about the legendary NY Auto Show.

Hey, anybody else out there have a topic you want to cover?  Imagine the prestige in telling your amigos you’ve been published.  It can happen, and it can happen right here.  Let us know!

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A cherry ’70 Vette…

Good buddy Kirk was at our favorite Mexican restaurant a few days ago and he graciously consented to a photo or two of his 1970 Corvette.   It’s an awesome car.

I love old Vettes, and I think the C3 body style is one of the best.  I also like the C1, the C2, the C4, the C5, and well, you get the idea.  I like Corvettes.

Kirk’s Vette is from one of the lowest production years ever for the Corvette. Chevy went to the C3 body style in 1968, and Kirk told me that the ’68 and ’69 model years had so many problems that the car hit a sales trough in 1970.   Today, that translates into increased rarity for the ’70 model and increased demand.  Kirk’s car has the 350-cubic-inch motor and a three-speed Turbo Hydramatic transmission.   It’s incredibly cool and I love the look of a silver Corvette.

The Corvette you see above is 50 years old this year.   At that age, it could have its own midlife crisis, which is kind of funny as buying a Corvette is usually the result of guys having a midlife crisis.  I had a silver Corvette that I kept for 14 years (I sold it a couple of years ago).  It was a great car and I sometimes think about getting another one.  Folks would always ask me if it was my midlife crisis car, and I always told them I sure hoped so.  I bought it when I was 53 years old and I would like going for another 53 years.

The 2020 Corvette

The 2020 Corvette, as I configured it online. The pastel blue paint added big bucks. Hell, just painting the brake calipers red added $500. But it sure is pretty!

I received an email last night from Chevy advising me I could configure my own new 2020 Corvette online with their website.  Hmmmm, that sounded interesting.   The new Corvettes are mid-engined, like a Ferrari and some of world’s other exotic sports cars.  After doing as Chevy suggested, I’m mighty tempted.  The new Corvette is stunning.

I guess I first got the Corvette bug back in the early 1960s, watching a couple of TV shows.  One was Route 66, a story about a young Marty Milner and George Maharis (Todd and Buzz) bopping around the US in a Corvette solving the world’s problems.  The other was Bonanza, the great western sponsored by Chevy.  We watched it as much for the Corvette ads as we did for the show.  Ben, Hoss, Adam, and Little Joe.  They’re all dead now, I think, but I remember them well, and Adam (Pernell Roberts) even appeared in one of the Corvette ads.

I’d wanted a Corvette ever since I was a kid, and in 2004, as Chevy was transitioning from the C-whatever body style to the C+1 body style, they allowed the dealers to sell the ’04 models to GM employees at the GM employee discount.  It’s a long story how I qualified for it, but the bottom line is the discount exceeded $17K on a Z06 (a car most folks pay over MSRP for), and I was in.

To make a long story a little less long, I kept the Z06 for 14 years, and when I sold it, the car had a whopping 40,000 miles on the clock.  That’s about 2850 miles annually, and when you consider insurance and registration, that worked out to something slightly south of a dollar a mile just for insurance and registration.   Throw in our California fuel costs (currently well over $4 a gallon), depreciation, and maintenance (surprisingly little on a car like the Z06), firing up that silver streak was expensive.  I should have driven it more to get my money’s worth, but the Corvette was more of a toy for me than real transportation.  I loved the thing, but it wasn’t a good daily driver.  I didn’t regret seeing the Corvette go, but every once in awhile I think about another one.  Like when I received the email from Chevy last night that led to me playing around with their online configurator.  That pastel blue one you see above sure grabbed my attention. There’s no denying it: The new Corvette is an incredibly-beautiful car.   And I still qualify for the employee discount. But nah, I don’t think I’ll be pulling the trigger on this one.