1982 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe
Personal story and photograph submitted by owners Bill & Harriet Webster - courtesy of the National Corvette Museum website - for participation in the National Corvette Museum 2008 Historic Motorama II.
I was bit by the Corvette bug back in the early 60's while a freshman in high school in Dayton, Ohio. I often went to my local Chevy dealer, Frank Z's, to check out the Vettes. In 1963 while drooling over a '64 red convertible, stickered at $4250, I made owning a new Corvette one of my life's goals. When out of high school I saved every nickel to buy one. My girlfriend and soon to be wife, said she “didn't care for Corvettes because they were too small and impractical”. There went my dream. After we were married and expecting our first child, my best friend, Gary Duerr, came by the house one evening in his 1962 roadster to take Harriet for a ride. Off they went, with her returning with the obvious question, “Why didn't you buy one of those, they're fun”. Arrgh! Seventeen years later, I realized my goal; a brand new 1981 Beige Coupe with Rust leather interior. Ahh, made it. In all, we have owned 3 Vettes, 1981, 1974, and 1982 unfortunately, not all at once.
This piece of “car art” pictured here took me six years to find. In 1998 we decided to purchase another Vette, but this time I was looking for a rare 1982 Silvergreen. There were only 723 Silvergreen Vettes built that year and a little over 500 in the matching leather interior. Finally in 2004, all the cyber stars aligned for me and this fine-looking car. I found this beauty on the Internet, did my dealer research, bought it, and had it shipped to Kansas City site unseen. When it arrived I was totally surprised. It exceeded my wildest expectations as it rolled off of the transporter. This baby has had 3 previous owners who lovingly and excellently maintained the car in its exceptional original condition. It has a mere 11,000 Carfax documented miles. Sold new in August 1982 from Sunderland's Chevrolet of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, this Vette cruised eastern Pennsylvania most of its life. Shortly after its arrival I took it to “Don Freely's” here in Kansas City who has been voted one of America 's top 100 Corvette specialists. There, under the watchful eye of Dan Craft, we made sure the car was road worthy by rebuilding original parts and/or replacing components with NOS parts. Harriet and I drive the car to local shows and trailer on longer trips, like the annual Eureka Springs, Arkansas “Vette Fest” each October.
We feel honored to have been selected for the Historic Motorama II and an opportunity to celebrate GM's 100th birthday. Our eldest son, Kevin, will be my partner on the trip. Ironically, he is the baby we were expecting when Harriet caught the bug, too.
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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