gaffbyknees

Well I was just sitting around and thinking of all of my fondest car moments. While this thread is not ONLY about C5’s it does contain several. I much like many of you guys on here consider myself a real car enthusiast and figured let me share what has been some of my coolest memories so far and maybe you guys can share yours. Well when I was 15, my father purchased his first Corvette, a beautiful 1993 Maroon C4 Coupe. That I can assume is what got me started with my love of cars and especially American muscle cars . I loved going for rides with him in the Vette and of course as a 15-year-old kid dreamed of having my own Vette someday. Well, when I was 17 years old and first got my License I obviously could not afford a Corvette so I did what any broke 17 year old obsessed with muscle cars would do, I bought a 1988 Camaro 305 TBI (Not even TPI) Being that it was my first car and it was still none the less an American V8 I was very happy and drove the car with respect for myself and others around me. I did venture to Englishtown a few times and ran a 15.4 or something like that. I can remember in 1998 when the LS1 made its way into the Camaros and T/A’s and sitting on LS1.com everyday just WANTING ONE SO BAD!!!! My love affair for Vettes never died but it was out of my range and I do love the F-bodies as well. The transmition in my 88 Camaro broke and just as a joke and a why the hell not I said to my parents, “Hey I’m working and making pretty good money now how about Co-Signing for me on a new Z-28!!??” To my surprise, they looked at me and said “Maybe” That was all I needed to hear to have my obsession become even worse and eventually either to shut me up or to be an awesome dad he agreed that he would Co Sign for the car and I would make the payments. I will never forget the feeling of getting that “go ahead” from my dad and the next few months of searching for my car was a great feeling.


I found a 1999 Black sports appearance package A4 Z-28 about a half hour away from my house and eagerly went to check it out. That day my friends, was one of the coolest memories I have in general and especially when it comes to my car obsession. The Z-28 was just sitting on a car display and I instantly fell in love. The car still had full warranty and only has 11k miles. That day I bought my dream car. You have to remember I was still an 18-year-old kid at the time but I honestly did have every intention to drive responsibly and not have my parents get that 2am phone call that every parent fears. When I first drove the car by myself I can remember how powerful this thing felt (I was coming from a TBI for god sakes!!) But It did have a ton of power and I don’t think that smile left my face for months!! However, this is where my sickness comes in and I am quite sure I get this from my father. I am never satisfied, I always want something new, something better, and the grass ALWAYS looks greener on the other side. As much as I loved my Z-28 and I had it for a good two years the only time I didn’t love my Z-28 was when I rode in my fathers Corvette or when I saw a Corvette out when I was driving my Camaro. Well the time had come and I made up my mind that I was going to trade in my LS1 Z28 for my true dream car, a C5 Vette.


The new obsession had begun and I must have read every magazine article, computer website, book, I found corvetteforum, and basically anything and everything that had to do with the C5, I was there. Well I found a beautiful mint 1999 white FRC up at a dealership near where I had worked. Only a few problems that I should let you guys in on. 1) I had never ever in my life driven a 6-speed before. 2) All my cars that I have owned up until now had been my daily driver. After ridiculously convincing myself that I can drive these cars year round and it should not be that big of a deal, I pulled the trigger and purchased my first Corvette. I really loved the Vette but the only problem was I was scared to drive it. I was scared to leave it parked in parking lots, I was scared because I was still new to stick shifts and I just didn’t have that confidence I would have had liked to had driving it, and I was sick of sitting in traffic with a 6-speed EVERY DAY for almost 8 months. Well I know you guys are going to hate me for this but I decided that for myself for the moment being it just was not the right time for me to have a Vette. As much as I loved the community and being part of such a great group of guys, I missed my Z28 with the loudmouths and all my mods and unfortunately, for an everyday driver car I missed the A4. This now leads me to the next obsession that I went through the WS6 Trans Am. …………..


I decided that since I already had a Z28 I would either like to buy an SS Camaro or a WS6 Trans AM. I really loved the aggressive stance and hood on the WS6 so I went with the T/A. I traded in the Vette for a 2001 Navy Blue low mile A4 WS6. I must admit while I did miss the C5 I really did love the WS6, sure it didn’t handle like the vette and it didn’t get as much attention but it was a bad *** car and it was a better everyday car for myself. I could take the car to the store and not worry (as much) as I did with the Corvette and I did not mind sitting in traffic anymore with my WS6. I will never forget when I picked up the WS6 either, it was a Friday night and I had work early Saturday morning. I woke up with that big smile on my face again, grabbed my stuff and jumped into the T/A and really really enjoyed the half hour ride. Well my ADD kicked in and I thought that I was kind of outgrowing these cars and needed something “nice” I decided that I didn’t like having to scream to my dates over my exhaust note anymore and I didn’t feel like answering “why didn’t you just get a Vette” to everyone that seemed to ask questions about my car. I wanted something quiet and normal to get me to and from so I sold the WS6 and got a (don’t laugh) Lexus IS300. I know, I know…… I didn’t love the car but I didn’t hate the car; it just didn’t really bring out any emotion in me as my other cars have. I thought I was done with the fast car thing until Chevy decides to come out with the new 505hp Z06. Well …….. my last obsession had begun and I say last because my GF may read these boards and if I say anything but that I will be single again. I realized that obviously, a 70k car for us was pretty much out of the question but I still could not help wanting the crap out of it. Then she said to me one day, “hey, your lease on the Lexus is up soon why don’t you get a nice older Z06?” To be honest I had never really thought of that but I did ALWAYS LOVE THEM FRC’S!!!! I looked and looked and long behold found a beautiful 03 Electron Blue Z06 with 16K miles for a great price on the forum. Sooooo my beautiful, accepting, understanding, gf and me took a train to upstate NY to get our new baby and picking her up was certainly one of my best car moments ever. While Stopping at the first rest stop on the way home, I was walking away from the car to go inside to grab a bite to eat and I just glanced back and couldn’t believe I now finally have my perfect car and girl all at the same time. I would like to thank my father for my craziness with cars and others for understanding.

Magnet

iTrader: (36)

glad to hear you got another car!

pdd

iTrader: (3)

great story, always nice to have a girl who understands

MillaTK

Thats an awesome story! Electron blue is IMO the nicest looking color on the Z06's.

nssane

iTrader: (8)

great stories man, nothing quite like picking up a new car... april 18th 1998, day of the prom at about 2:30 pm my dad gets a call from the local chevy dealership. a silverado that he had ordered had come in, so he and my mom get ready to go to the chevy store and she asks if my bro and sis and i want to go too. we said yea and hop in the car. we drove around to the back of the dealership and saw a beautiful 1998 white camaro ss parked out back waiting to have its pdi done. pops immediately calls my bro whoe was 24 at the time. (he had been thinking about buying one of the new ws6s) we drive around to the front and and see a silver ss, walk inside and on the showroom floor is a stunning black ss and a white c5 convertible. as soon as we saw the vette, we new our 24 y/o bro would want to buy it. he showed up and sure enough bought the vette. i was 15 and my other bro was just turning 17. somehow we convinced my dad to buy him the black ss!! we got out of the dealership at 6:30 and had to pick up the girls at 7. needless to say they got no attention from us that night!!!
unfortunately the love affair was short lived. 8 months later we got "that call" my bro was in a coma and the car was in a tow yard. i went to see the car, and it was not a pretty site. the hood was ripped in half, the driver side was competely mangled. i was 16 then and spent the next 2 years trying to convince my parents to get me a camaro, but they refused. (hmm, imagine that)
finally 7 & a 1/2 years later i flew to california to pick up my 2002 camaro z28 ss m6 (signed by scott settlemire) with only 7024 miles on it. still had the tag hanging from the radio, still had the dealer stock number written on the windshield. it was the best feeling in the world! (funny thing, at the time i had never really driven a stick too, and had to learn on that car.) then about 10 months later, i decided to start my own business and got rid of it so that i didn't have a $400 payment to stress me out everyweek. luckily, 4 months later i found a beautiful 99 ss nbm m6 with only 23,000 miles on it and got a hell of a deal on it. driving it back from colorado i took it 125 mph (their were absolutely no other cars around) i slowed down to 75 and began to cruise. then my driverside rear tire blew. lucky it didn't happen at 125. anyway, two days later my other brother decided to steal my thunder and buy a c6, but i couldn't be happier.

transamfreak01

iTrader: (8)

nssane, wow great story. im sorry to hear about your brother. screw the car you can always get another one but atleast he got out of it and hell now look where your at. great story again

brink

great story.. 3 years ago i had a 1994 3.4L V6 camaro.. my first car.. i totaled it being a dipshit in the icy weather. after that i waited 2 months, my parents bought my a 1998 A4 3.8L V6. I drove this car for 2 years, 150k miles on the clock, and when i turned 18 i went to my parents and said the same thing you did.. I work everyday, ill be starting school soon.. and i want to pay a car note and have a nice car. After 2 years of waiting, my parents decided that i was responible enough to drive a V8. I found a 2001 Camaro SS on autotrader.. and when i saw 20,000 and 18k miles.. i almost thought well this is out of the question.. but the car looked so beautiful... centered exhaust.. the whole 9 yards. We went to look at it, i really wanted t-tops.. but when i saw this car i was in love, i had never driven a 6 speed until 2 months ago when i bought my car. It was that feeling that i would work 1000000 jobs for that car.. after talking it over with my parents i got to drive it home. Man what an improvement from a V6. Now i have a 2001 Camaro SS as my daily driver.. and i pay $400/month for it.. and it's worth every penny!!

purdueranger

iTrader: (11)

Loved American Iron since I was young. I got my green light when I did a buildup of a 5.0L ranger and hated when I had to sell it. I then started looking at F-bodies this past spring and found a nice 02 Z28 M6 car for 18k at a dealer. Took it for a spin with the T-tops out and Billy Idol's Rebel Yells was on the radio. I had that car sideways and took it back in to the dealer to look at payments. He tried and told me that I needed something around 13k for a loan, being a 22 year old college student at the time. I walked away and my buddy Louis was said to me that he would sell me his '00 Z28 that has been in our car club for the longest time. I bought that and haven't looked back yet. The car is a blast to drive and is alot more fun than my cam only Grand Cherokee.

Azrael

iTrader: (10)

Search function again bring up older threads:

Just want to say this, my wife is the best in the world. When she kicked me out of our 2002 Camaro SS she did it by getting me a 2003 Corvette Z06.

To paraphrase her: "If you don't get this car, you're not the man I married!"