An old man with a Corvette problem

I have a Corvette problem.  That I assume is part of the 12 step program.  Therefore I'm on step 6, as I've had six Corvettes so far.

Pictured here are four of them, with the silver metallic one pictured with my very tolerant wife.  That was a 2008 sixth generation Coupe, which I had traded my 2004 Lemans Blue Coupe on here in Florida.

The 2008 was purchased in 2009, and two years later was traded for the 2011 new Cyber Gray Coupe.  I'm pictured with the obscenely tall trophy won at a car show in Illinois, which I attended during a visit to St Louis.

The other picture of the 2011 was taken in the driveway of our home on Winding Oaks Drive on Longboat Key.  This would be my fourth Corvette, starting with the 2001 Midnight Blue (almost purple), which I purchased used from a St Louis Dodge dealership.  All up to this had been Coupes, except for that first 2001, which was a manually operated top Convertible.  So, the 2001 begat the 2004, which then begat the 2008 and ultimately the 2011 Coupe.

Then everything changed.......I had the 2011 in for servicing and I spotted a red convertible, on the used car lot.  It had an automatic top, and I was hooked.

Should have kept her - automatic transmission

It had lots of options too, installed by the prior
owner, including window tinting and special wheels.  It also had a large CORVETTE decal across the top of the windshield.  Wife said "why", commenting that there was nothing like a corvette, so why proclaim the obvious.

She (the car) was very sweet looking, with a gray top and gray fender badging.  She was also a Grand Sport, with those big tires on the rear sitting inside those flared out fenders.  And she was fast.  Six speed auto with paddle shifters.

She was also a trophy winner too (see below).  I actually had this car long enough that I actually had to spend money on new tires....not cheap.

It"s a winner!

2010, 2014, 2004 (l to r)

Radio Controlled

Well, after winning class C6B (sixth generation Corvettes came out in 2005), and class B would indicate a model newer the 2008 when the newer engine LS-3 was installed.  Winning this class in 2013, I started looking at the newest Corvette C-7.  The model changed in 2014, after nine years of the sixth generation style.  My dear wife even bought one for me, with a smaller version thrown in for good measure.  Radio Controlled cars, no matter how nice a Christmas gift in 2014, left me unfulfilled.  So, it was only a matter of time before I graduated to a seventh generation Corvette.  And of course, it had to be red.  I'd started out with 5th generation blue Corvettes, but after that first red one, I was hooked.  The current red is called Torch Red, but like prior generations, they're all "Re-Sale Red".  On one of our Corvette Club trips, I shot the picture of the three red cars parked dockside, with a C-6 (mine at that point) a C-7 and a C-5 parked left to right.

This is my current Corvette, a 2015, which turned 5.001 miles today as I pulled into our garage.

This car is awesome, but that stick shift ultimately proved detrimental during "season" which on Longboat Key refers to the time when the northerners come down and clog the roads.  During season,  one can literally take one hour to get off the island and onto a two lane road.  The trick, therefore, is to leave early before people headed to the beach clog the roads.  And to come back pretty much near dusk.  Don't even think about going out for dinner during the months of January through April.

And with that advice, I end this epistle - yesterday was Corvettes on the circle - a C-7 from our club (one of three) won the class I shared - it was yellow, while our other club members car was also red.
Guess we both slipped on a banana peel, eh?