Corvette Summer

 

I felt like CinderFella last week when General Motors lent me a sizzling hot 2011 Jetstream Blue Corvette Grand Sport Convertible with all the bells and whistles. Hot damn, that was a fun car to drive. On the first day I felt so self-conscious I wanted to hang a sign on the car that said “No, I’m not having a mid-life crisis, GM just lent me this car for a week!” But by Day 2, as I roared all over Los Angeles with my 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine, I wanted to shout “Out of my way, you wussy Hondas and Toyotas, Daddy’s got a brand new car!” At nearly every stoplight, some “dude” on the street would shout a comment (“Does it drive as good as it looks?”) or just give me a thumbs-up. Not the kind of attention I’m used to getting while driving, let me tell you.

I was supposed to get a different car for the week, a less flashy one, when at the last minute I realized they were sending a car with manual transmission. I had to admit that I’ve never driven a manual car (I know, I should learn, but remember, I didn’t even get my driver’s license until I was 27 and about to move to Los Angeles!). Oh shoot, I thought, it’s back to my 1994 Civic. “Oh, wait a minute,” my contact said. “We do have a 2011 Corvette Convertible that just came in…would you like to try that?” Um…yeah!

Of course I wouldn’t exactly call the Corvette a family car. Because it’s a two-seater, there was no way I could drive with Charlie in the car since he still has to travel in his rear-facing car seat in the back. He was not pleased, believe me, but every time I brought him into the parked car, he lunged for the steering wheel. We spent a lot of time in the car together listening to the amazing Bose 7-speaker sound system that literally sounded better than a seat at L.A.’s Disney Hall—even when I was driving on the freeway with the top down! If I could buy the Corvette just to use as a high-class stereo, I would!

I’m getting used to luxury with these borrowed vehicles, but the Corvette’s two-tone perforated leather seats were a new kind of luscious. Unlike the other GM cars I’ve driven, this one was extremely low to the ground, and it was only around Day 5 or 6 when I finally got the hang of that jaunty way people get in sports cars—when you place your butt up on the seat and slide down in one smooth, comfortable move. “Bond. James Bond.”

 

This was the first car I’ve driven with a Head-Up Display. Instead of having to look at the cool retro dials on the dashboard, my speed and other pertinent information appeared projected into the windshield. Very cool. Even the pedals on this car were a work of art. Literally. They looked like something that would be on view at a Modern Art Museum.

 

The Corvette, as most car aficionados know, burst onto the scene in 1953 and was dubbed “America’s sports car.” The first mention of the car in the Los Angeles Times was in April 1953, heralding the Corvette's debut at the upcoming “GM Motorama” which would be held that June at the Shrine Auditorium (a magnificent building near my house which was also the site of the opening scenes of the film “A Star Is Born,” also shot that year). Oh, how I would’ve loved to have attended that year’s Motorama.

 

The Corvette was the top attraction at the massive admission-free event, which included a six-times-a day “Motorhythms” presentation shown on a mechanized, two-level stage and featuring ballet dancers telling the story of industrial engineering along with a 24-piece orchestra and 14-voice chorus. 

The sleek and gracefully low Chevrolet Corvette, now on display at the Motorama, will be the first of a new type of American sports car to be put into production with bodies of plastic-bonded laminations of molded Fiberglass. Chevrolet Motor Division has announced that production will begin in June, and that it will build 300 of the 160-h.p. Chevrolet Corvettes in the last half the 1953 model year and “substantially higher volume” in the 1954 model year. The two-passenger production sports car, only 33 inches high, is named Corvette after the trim, fleet naval vessel that performed heroic rescue and patrol duties in World War II.

The Corvette was such a hot car when it was introduced that it soon became associated with some of the most admired men in the country—the NASA astronauts. GM actually supplied the astronauts with two new cars each year, one family car for their wives and a Corvette for themselves. The men used to line up their Corvettes in the parking lot of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Here’s a photo of Alan Shepherd’s Corvette which is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex.

Remember the scene from “Terms of Endearment” when former astronaut Jack Nicholson terrorizes Shirley MacLaine with a wild drive on the beach in his Silver Anniversary edition Corvette? Corvettes were driven by many other movie characters, from Dirk Diggler in “Boogie Nights” to Felicity Shagwell in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Loved Me” to, of course, the astronauts in “The Right Stuff” and “Apollo 13.” The car even starred in its own movie, the kitschy “Corvette Summer” starring Mark Hamill as a car-obsessed teen (filmed just after his Luke Skywalker days).

There have been six generations of Corvettes since the car’s debut in 1953. Originally built in Flint, Michigan, Corvettes are now manufactured at a plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, also the home of the National Corvette Museum. Over the years the Corvette has won numerous awards, from one of the Top 100 Coolest Cars to the Most Coveted Vehicle to the Best Luxury Sports Car for the Money. Starting with the 2011 model, Corvette owners will have the chance to actually help assembly line workers build the V8 engine in their new car!

My own Corvette Summer came to an end pretty quickly. But that’s all right. I love the car but I’m not quite ready for it. It’s nice to be able to actually transport Charlie and my other family members again! Besides, I hear a canary yellow Camaro calling my name…

Comments

[Arlene]

Hi Danny.....as a corvette lover I have to tell you that I am so jealous you got to drive a 2011! We have had several corvettes, a 1980, 1981 and a 1999. I wish we still did. Love the new ones. How fun that you were able to have one for a week! Charlie is adorable, but I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the picture of him sitting on it...LOL!!!! Can't wait to see you in the canary yellow camaro!

[Jennifer Smith]

I love all your posts but some especially makes me smile -- like these last two. Tonight took me back nearly 30 years to a boyfriend with that silver anniversary edition Corvette. Thanks much!

[Julie R.]

Charlie is the perfect accessory for that car. The Corvette makes me think of my dad, who leased a couple of them. I might have driven one, although I kind of doubt he would have let me!

[Heather]

I'm trying real hard not to hate you! ;-)
I am simply pea-green with envy! ;-)

[Gordon]

Dear Danny,
Well, look at you, hot shot ! You look right at home in that beautiful Corvette.
Nice to see some pics of our Charlie, too.
I would enjoy reading more frequent updates on what he's up to.
Thanks,
Gordon

[tamarika]

Hey Danny - I adore my Honda .. Hey! But I must say you and Charlie look deeevine in that swanky little car!
Plus - you deserve it! Yes indeedy.
Smiles!

[Frances Archer]

You look very comfortable in that convertible, like you could get used to it. Your post reminds me of the early 1970s when my father drove around in a banana yellow Chevy Malibu convertible. Talk about attention getting. Riding in that car, with the roof down in the summer, always made me feel so happy.

[Elise]

Lucky you, how fun! :)

[Chris]

I'm sorry. I've said it before, but I'm not a car person. Mine's silvery. BUT, I saw the pictures of Charlie and you and had to leave a comment. [We've had a full summer so my blog reading as been light.] He's SO UNBELIEVABLY cute that I can't stand it. He looks like his mama [even though I've never met her] which I've read is very good luck. You look happy and healthy too, Danny. :)

[mary]

Oh my God that kid is adorable!

[Jane]

Yellow Camaro? You mean you're getting Sunny? MY Sunny? I mean, I know she gets around, but I never thought she'd go back to LA without me. I'm heartbroken!

I can only hold back my jealousy with the thought that Charlie will know what it's like to ride in the "Bumblebee". When he sees that movie, you can show him pictures & tell him that he once met the Bumblbee's stand-in in person.

[Elaine]

This was so fun Danny, I have both Corvette and Charlie Envy - that boy is adorable!

[OldOldLady Of The Hills]

GM is lucky to have you writing about their products---This is the BEST AD I have ever seen for a Corvette....! It sure looks like fun, though I don't get a sense of a lot of safety with it being so close to the ground...But, it certainly sounds like it was fun to drive.

There is an update posted on Sweetie....Thanks for caring Danny.

[Steve]

Charlie looks fantastic in the Vette. I've loved those cars since I first saw them at Z Frank Chevrolet.

[Cynthia Reich]

Julie didn't drive it, but I did! A little much for me, tho' the power was awesome. Maybe Charlie will get one for his 16th birthday.

[Sally]

Great post - and Charlie is really perfecting his role as a car model!

[Nicole Vickers]

That’s my dream car! The Jetstream Blue Corvette Grand Sport Convertible! I saw that one the last time we went to a car show and since then, I’ve been bugging my parents to buy me that car. I’ll be the happiest girl in the world if I had one of those.