{"id":6585,"date":"2024-04-11T16:12:26","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T20:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/?page_id=6585"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:08:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:08:23","slug":"my-corvette-history-s-arnold","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/?page_id=6585","title":{"rendered":"My Corvette History &#8211; S. Arnold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Donna and I became members of the club in late 2018. We had purchased our first Corvette in July of that year. A 1968 Corvette 327\/350 was our choice. I had always wanted Bill Mitchell\u2019s slick design since High School!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Racer.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6551 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Racer.jpg 723w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Racer-300x185.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">But the \u201968 wasn\u2019t my first contact with Corvette.  My Dad liked Corvettes also.  Although, he didn\u2019t think of them the way we do!  He was a WWII veteran.  He was an engineer.  He was a racer.  Yes, this was our \u2018other\u2019 car.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"661\" height=\"323\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/54-Vette.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6552 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/54-Vette.png 661w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/54-Vette-300x147.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 661px) 100vw, 661px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">But he preferred Corvettes as his \u2018daily driver\u2019. So, I grew up around a 1954 Corvette and subsequently a 1957 Red Corvette with white scallops. This is the Corvette I remember the most.<br>Believe it or not, we used to pile into that car for trips to the DQ, etc\u2026all five of us! Of course, us kids were still pretty small! But that Corvette was cool! The Corvette was part of the family from 1958 till around 1963 or so. I was 5-10 years old. But I loved that car. The car was sold after it caught fire in the Kroger parking lot across from Frisch\u2019s Big Boy, one of the local \u2018hang outs\u2019. The car was repaired and repainted and sold. Wish I knew why!<br>(The whole story around this incident is a part of family lore; a story for another time. It is also in dispute by my Sister). Also, we had another Corvette during this time-frame. And it was all mine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"421\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Yard-Cart.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6553 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Yard-Cart.png 421w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Yard-Cart-300x234.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 421px) 100vw, 421px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">YEP\u2026A Blue 1958 Corvette yard kart. I drove that thing around the yard as much as I could. I even learned how to siphon gas. Mom\u2019s car got the worst gas mileage!! I created a path around the perimeter of our yard. Dad just smiled\u2026Mother not so much!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"895\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/67-Coupe.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6554 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/67-Coupe.jpg 895w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/67-Coupe-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/67-Coupe-768x348.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 895px) 100vw, 895px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">My next contact with Corvettes was in the early \u201870s. My Sister (Yes the same one) had married by then and they purchased a 1967 Maroon coupe. It was, originally, an SS396 car with a four speed. Well, something happened to the engine in the car. They made the decision to replace the engine. A sprint car engine was purchased from a local speed shop\u2026.It made about 550HP on Injectors and Methanol. So, probably less than that on Carb and pump gas.<br>But, still, it was a wild thing to drive. And, yes, I got to drive that car for a while. I tried my best to get Mother to buy it. But, she priced insurance for a 17 year old to drive it and \u2018that was that\u2019!! The car was sold and that ended my Corvette contact until the 1968 was purchased in 2018.<br>The \u201968 was a \u2018fixer upper\u2019. This was project car for myself in retirement. I have thoroughly enjoyed re-building and re-installing the original 327; replacing numerous ball joints and bushings and so forth. We drive the car on local cruises and to a few car shows.<br>However, the wife had decided we needed a \u2018little nicer and dependable\u2019 Corvette. So, we purchased a 2006 C6 Corvette Z51; a very nice car. We used this car for the 25th anniversary caravan to the Corvette museum. We drove that car for about 3years to various cruises and shows.<br>Then, we became interested in the styling of the C7 Corvette. The 2006 was traded for our current 2017 LeMans Blue Corvette. What a ride!! We have been on two long distance cruises with this car _ Black Hills of South Dakota and to Colorado. We plan to have this car for a while<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/?page_id=6368\">Back to CCC Commentary Page<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donna and I became members of the club in late 2018. We had purchased our first Corvette in July of that year. A 1968 Corvette 327\/350 was our choice. I had always wanted Bill Mitchell\u2019s slick design since High School! But the \u201968 wasn\u2019t my first contact with Corvette. My Dad liked Corvettes also. Although, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"parent":6368,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6585","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6586,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6585\/revisions\/6586"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}