1977 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe
Personal story and photograph submitted by owners Frank & Lynn VanDevander - courtesy of the National Corvette Museum website - for participation in the National Corvette Museum 2008 Historic Motorama II.
My obsession for Corvettes began as most all true Corvette lovers, at a very early age. I must have been 7 or 8 when I noticed a C2 as a “way cool” car, and more than a means of transporting a person from point A to point B. I never knew anyone who owned one back then, and never got close to one, but every time I saw one drive by, I stared in awe. It became my dream to one day own a Corvette. Well, life zoomed along, as it does, and I joined the Air Force, as an enlisted man, in 1976 at the ripe ole age of 17. Anyone familiar with the military knows an enlisted man doesn't make enough to purchase a Corvette. So, my dream remained on the back burner. I decided to make the military a career, and shortly after enlisting, I married my 6th grade sweetheart, Lynn, and we raised three wonderful sons, who have all decided to follow their father's footsteps and are currently serving in the Air Force at three different locations. But through it all, the closest I came to my dream was a brand new 1994 Z28 Camaro…the salesman called the Camaro the “poor-man's Vette”. In 1999 I retired from the Air Force after almost 24 years and began my next career. On February 2 nd of 2004, I went down to the local dealership just to “look” and by the end of that day, my dream had finally been realized! I was a proud owner of a 2004 Artic White Corvette Coupe, with a tag that reads 04 DREAM. From that point on, everything was CORVETTE! I bought every die-cast Corvette in all the local stores, regardless of size; I joined the local Emerald Coast Corvette Club here in Panama City ; learned of and joined the National Corvette Museum and later became a Lifetime Member; I became fanatical about Corvettes!
Well, almost a year later, I'm looking on E-Bay of all places and discover what I considered a great find…an all original 1977 Corvette with 44,000 original miles. After only some slight convincing of Lynn and many phone conversations with the current owner, a deal was struck and arrangements made to get said Corvette from Camden, New Jersey to Panama City ,Florida. So on President's Day Weekend in February of 2005, one of my sons, along with a friend of mine and myself, hooked a barrowed trailer to Lynn's truck and we struck out for New Jersey on Friday evening at 6pm, driving straight through; each taking a six hour shift behind the wheel. As we got close to our destination, news of a big snow storm was headed in our direction. So no sooner did we get to where we were headed, we loaded up the '77 and 45 minutes later, were headed back to whence we came, trying to keep from getting snowed in. We pulled back into my drive way at 4:30pm on Sunday evening. We had successfully navigated from Panama City, Florida to Camden, New Jersey and back again, over 2,200 miles roundtrip in 46 and a half hours! After off-loading her (and some badly needed rest), I gave my newly acquired baby a much closer look, and believe her to be all original. The first thing that had to be done was re-build the alternator. After that, all she needed was a few cosmetic touch-ups and a few minor adjustments. She has been a great addition to our garage. The guy I bought her from didn't have much of her recent history; but after some research, I was able to purchase the original build sheet and learned she was originally invoiced to a now defunct Kotovic Chevrolet in Hartland, Wisconsin on 6 January 1977, and Kotovic took delivery on 14 January 1977. Paperwork inside the car indicated she was originally purchased by a Ms. Linda Johnson of Madison, Wisconsin on 11 March 1977. I have no idea how my ‘77 got from Wisconsin to New Jersey, but I'm mighty glad she now resides in Panama City, Florida!
The story goes on, about how the very next February I found a 1993 convertible…but we'll save that one for the road! But I have to tell you, since then, Lynn has removed February from our calendars…three Corvettes, in three years…all bought in the month of February!
We're extremely thrilled to be selected to participate in the Historic Motorama II, and to have our car be part of GM's 100th Anniversary celebration! We can't wait to meet you all and for the fun to begin!
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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