Corvette number two was a beautiful '78 Stingray, Silver with Oyster interior. I bought this one right off the showroom floor - what a rush! The new 1979 models had just arrived with their increased sticker prices so I was in the mood for a new '78. The '78's were becoming scarce due to the sticker shock attached to the '79 and while shopping I found myself on the showroom floor of a Corvette only dealership in Fort Worth, Texas negotiating for a bit of an oddity. These guys had a new '79 on the showroom floor that was imported from France. Why and how they had this particular car I can not remember, but they did and I wanted it. French or no French she was beautiful.
As you can imagine it was pretty much the same Corvette, the word Unleaded written in French and other small things like that were the only differences I can recall. Here was something just different enough to make me want it. But the car gods were not shining down on me this day, I wasn't able to get the price where I needed it.
Disappointed indeed, but not for long. I was lucky enough to find a '78 in Oklahoma and had it shipped in. Three days later I was sitting in my new Silver and Oyster model. Don't know why it was called Oyster, but that is what it was. And it is the only time I can remember a Corvette with partial leather and cloth seats. As with a lot of other folks during the disco '70's I lost my '74 L82 in a divorce and found myself craving another Vette - this one came into my life at just the right time. I paid $12,500 for this car, kept her clean and garaged. I held onto her for 15 months and sold her to a newly wed couple for just under $15,000.
These days I can be found cruising around Dallas with my wife in our 2002 C5 convertible, the one you see across the top of this blog. We were shopping for a new car for her - looked at ragtops by Mercedes, Jaguar and a couple of others, but when she sat in this C5, it was all over. She was hooked and I was once again happy, happy. This baby was individually owned by the dealer and had been totally loved - extremely low mileage and showroom condition. We bought it on the spot and it stays garaged except on nice weekends when we go down to Keller's for burgers and beer.
George -
