1964 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
Personal story and photograph submitted by owners Mike & Joan Salmon - courtesy of the National Corvette Museum website - for participation in the National Corvette Museum 2008 Historic Motorama II.
I am Mike Salmon. My wife Joan and I are the proud owners of 5 Corvettes, a '58, '64, '77, '90, and '99. I have been crazy over Chevy's plastic wonder from the day in my early teen's, when I spotted a rotting '54 in a junk yard in Wichita, Kansas. It was a total wreck, but I thought it was fabulous. The years sped by with a stint in the U.S. Navy Sea Bee's and a trip to the So East Asia war games; then home, college, wife, kids, etc... Life moved on, but I never outgrew that Corvette desire. About 20 years ago Joan and I finally moved our business to the point we no longer had beans for dinner every night. The Vette fever by now was raging. She said let's see if we can find one we can afford. I wanted a ‘61 or '62 just like Todd and Buzz drove on Route 66, same color and all, however what I found was a basket case '58.
The color was right, but everything else was a mess. Over the years, we have fully restored “Baby” and now she has a place of honor in our little collection. A few good years and a little more money brought a brand new '99 home, then the '90 and '77. After a trip to Bowling Green, it was decided we needed a C2 to round out the collection. I found the '64 of all places on EBay. The car and the guy checked out ok, so as they say, the rest is history. One of the neat things about the car was that it was the same '64 that took part in the first Motorama, so this is a return trip for it. The car has been repainted to the original factory color and all freshened up.
Joan and I have been members of Vintage Vettes of the Ozarks for about 19 years. I served a year as president and am now the Ambassador for our club to the National Corvette Museum (NCM).
We enjoy all types of Corvette events with our friends and attend as many as time permits. We both are looking forward to this latest adventure with eager anticipation.
When GM celebrates the beginning of its next 100 years on September 16, 2008, 55 Corvettes will be on display outside its World Headquarters at Detroit’s Renaissance Center. The Corvettes are in fact the Historic Motorama II, a caravan from the National Corvette Museum (NCM) which is comprised of one example from each of the 55 years of Corvette production. The caravan will depart from the National Corvette Museum on September 10th with stops along the way. People attending the GMnext Day activities on September 16th will be able to view the Corvettes before and after the official program.
Look at the next Historic Motorama II Corvette participant, representing a cross-section of Corvette enthusiasts from across the country.
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