When you think of the C3 Chevrolet Corvette, where do you picture it? At a car show in an Applebee’s parking lot? Zooming down a country road in Texas? Rolling slowly as a part of the Woodward Dream Cruise?
Even if you don’t envision the third-generation ‘Vette in any of those settings, it’s highly likely that you don’t picture it in Iceland, either. However, that’s the home of the white C3 you see here, courtesy of Petrolicious.
Its path to Iceland started back in the 1970s, when a young car-obsessed Sigfús B. Sverrisson saw a Corvette in a Howard Johnson parking lot during a trip to the US. From that point on, Sverrisson was determined to own a Corvette of his own. He eventually did…then he sold it.
The amount of money he lost or gained in the sale is unknown, but he certainly came out of the transaction with one thing: regrets. Actually, two things: regrets and an eventual desire to buy another Corvette. He ended up getting the 1982 model you see here. Sverrisson enjoys it for the obvious reasons, such as the looks and sound, but he also enjoys it because of the bewilderment it causes. As you can imagine, a lot of his fellow citizens don’t know exactly what they’re looking at when they see Sverrisson’s car. Some of them know it’s a Corvette, but don’t know that Chevrolet makes it.
What we know is that Chevy (and love of America’s sports car) makes the world a smaller place.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
