The things which end up connecting people can be surprising. In February 2016, I was on a dating app and came across a beautiful woman’s profile. I saw one of her pictures was taken at the Castle Hill graffiti park in Austin, Texas. Luckily, I had assisted in a production of “Peer Gynt” there a few years before. Eager to message her, I decided to take a chance and mention my experience there. Clearly, it worked; we’ve been married for almost two years now.
I’ve always had respect for the Chevrolet Corvette, but I’ve never been a fanatic for it. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the Corvette has connected me to people in different ways for decades.
Lifelong Friend
In 7th grade, I started chatting with one of my gym classmates, Jacob, on the basketball court. We got along, but we didn’t become friends until the following year in our industrial technology class. If my math is correct, that means it was 1998, the second model year for the C5 Corvette. Perhaps it was because Jacob’s uncle had a 1997 coupe or maybe he just liked the design in general, but Jacob had a picture of the LS1-powered fifth-gen Vette on his computer screen, which made conversation and finding more common ground that much easier. Over the next 26 years, we continued our friendship (Jacob was the best man at my wedding) and traveled down our respective car-related paths, which led me here and Jacob to becoming a professional automotive designer.
New Acquaintances
I was a freelance automotive journalist when the 2020 Corvette came out. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long to get my hands on the first-ever mid-engine production Corvette because I had an early slot in the press car rotation for a 2LT coupe.
I quickly fell in love with its exotic styling, dramatic and ambitious interior design, the push of its LT2 6.2-liter V8, and the snappiness of its eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
I wasn’t the only fan of its looks and its significance. When I first got the keys to the Stingray, I was not prepared for how often people would come out of the woodwork to get closer to it so the experience was initially off-putting. Everywhere I went, it attracted people. Some just wanted to see the Vette up close and others wanted to ask questions about it. After grabbing lattes at a small-town coffee shop, my then-girlfriend (now wife) and I walked back to the C8 to find it had drawn three or four people around it, one of whom apparently owned a nearby green C5 with Euro-style taillights. They were perfectly nice people and devoted fans of America’s Sports Car. As divisive as the car world can be at times, it was nice to have a pleasant exchange with total strangers about a common interest and to be able to give them a close look at a car they were eager to see in person.
Brotherly Love
My older brother Anthony and I used to play football and basketball together and spend hours trying to beat Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. As we’ve grown older, we’ve developed different interests. He still prefers video games as well as comics, but not cars. In the back of my mind, I always thought he was humoring me when I showed him around my latest press car loaners out of his love for me.
I didn’t get that feeling when I stopped by his house with the 2020 Corvette. For the first time ever, he started taking pictures of the car I was reviewing and stating how badass it was. I had never seen him so interested in a car before, not even the one he bought (granted it didn’t have a swoopy profile and 495 horsepower). We’ve become fundamentally different people over the past few decades, but that afternoon seemed like old times. We were both enjoying something together.
Given that the Corvette has been around for more than 70 years and has such a massive owner community, I know I’m not the only one who’s had these kinds of experiences. Feel free to let me know how the Corvette has connected you with other people in the comments below.
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