Hi, my name is Ian Gregor. I have been a member of the Corvette Club of South Australia since early 2019. I have loved Corvette Stingrays since I was a teenager, and started collecting model corvettes way back then.
I have always wanted to own a full size Corvette Stingray, but could never afford to do so. I had been offered 2 Corvettes many years ago, the first for only $7,000, BUT, it was in pieces, and would need major restoration to get it on the road. Yes I could afford the $7,000, but could not afford the restoration bill to follow, so sadly had to pass. Soon after that, I attended a swap meet, trying to sell another vehicle, and again was offered a (I think, a 1974) Stingray, in running order, for $14,000, but again needing extensive restoration to get it looking good. Being a one income family of 4, and putting 2 children through high school at the time, sadly again, I had to pass.
It was many years later, Easter 2018 to be exact, that I FINALLY got the opportunity to actually buy a Corvette of my own. My good friend (and past member of the CCSA) offered me the opportunity to ride with him in his 1989 Corvette across to Perth for the Corvette Nationals, which I gladly accepted. Whilst on that trip, we talked about the sad passing of his step-father back in November 2017 (whom I was also good friends with). My friend knew of my keenness to own a Corvette, so asked me if I was interested in purchasing his step-father’s 1982 Corvette. I asked him why he didn’t want to keep it for sentimental reasons, to which he replied, he wasn’t really keen on C3 Corvettes, and he knew how much I had wanted a C3, so a deal was struck. HOWEVER, it was a further 8 months before I took possession of the vehicle.
A few weeks after returning from Perth, I helped my friend move his mother from her home near Mannum to her new home in Nuriootpa. I was supposed to drive the C3 from Mannum back to Nuriootpa, but declined due to the late hour we left. I did however drive it from Mannum to Palmer, where I parked it outside the Palmer Hotel while we went in for a late dinner. I then left my friend to drive it the rest of the way back to Nuri. BUT when he went to leave the Hotel, the front brakes had jammed on, so it was carefully moved to the back yard of the Hotel, where it spent the next couple of months getting he brakes working. My friend then kept it, and used it as his commute to work vehicle, just to make sure everything was working correctly before handing it over to me. I then had difficulty getting the finances worked out to buy it, and so FINALLY on the Wednesday before Christmas 2018, I took full possession of my very own 1982 dark grey, last of the C3 shaped Corvette. Since then, I have thoroughly enjoyed the many outings I have taken part in with the CCSA, and hope to do so for many years to come.
