|
Car owners show off most prized possessions
By Lyndi McNulty
Eye for Art
Published: Monday, July 27, 2009 12:30 PM EDT
The Cornerstone Corvette Club of Carroll County recently held its first Annual All Corvette
Car Show on the Longwell Avenue parking lot in Westminster. The show attracted a wide range of Corvettes from all eras of
manufacture. Car classes ranged from 1953 to 2009. There were two other classes for customized models. A total of eight classes
of trophies were awarded and 100 percent of the proceeds after expenses were donated to the USO and Reformers Unanimous.
Michael
Sizemore owns one of the more unique corvettes on display that day. His arctic white 1997 C-5 Coupe won one of the grand prizes
for the show, chosen by one of the sponsors, Paradisos. This customized corvette is designed in the blue and white theme to
match his 1969 blue C-3 Coupe Corvette. The car has flame seat covers, duel snorkel intake, a cat-back Corsa exhaust and 380
horsepower. There are blue pin strips on the hood and blue custom lettering on the back. He has owned the car for two years
and purchased it as a stock car, meaning as it came from the factory. Sizemore has done all the customizing himself. He pointed
out that everything he has done to the car is reversible, in case anyone ever wanted to make it stock again. This is a feature
important to some purist car collectors.
Customizers, like Sizemore, make their cars look the way they want it to be
and there are as many varieties as there are car owners. He has owned a 1969 Corvette since he was 17 years old. He has also
owned a ’69, ’86, ’90, ’87, ’97 cars. He has owned Corvettes for 22 years.
“I got
interested in Corvettes because of style, speed, and the engineering that went into them. You can spend a quarter of the money
for a Corvette that one would expect to pay for a Ferrari or Porche and still get the same speed. It is called the American
Dream Car. He can be reached at cveteman@yahoo.com.
Steven Kupich of Gettysburg, Pa., also won a grand prize that was chosen by the other show entrants. His 1958
orange and white customized Corvette was the oldest car in the show. He has owned the car for five years.
“I
found it by accident, really,” he remembered. “There is a booklet that comes out ever week with cars for sale.
My buddy called me at 7 a.m. one morning and said, ‘There is a car for you in Bedford, Pa.’”
At that
time, Kupich was looking for an older car. It was the old style that originally got him hooked on “vets.”
The
orange is the rare original color according to Kupich. They did not keep track of how many cars they made until 1963 so no
one really knows how many were manufactured in that color. He has had 12 corvettes during his lifetime, common theme among
many Corvette owners. Kupich has owned them since 1995 when he bought his first new one. Then he got a 1963 Corvette and kept
buying and selling them over the years.
Now he has four; another 1957 black with red interior, a 1963 split window
red on red, a 1964 burgundy wine “all modified,” and the one he brought to the show. Kupich had a two car garage
that held three cars but he expanded it to a four car garage. George Cole is his personal body, paint and mechanic from Two
Taverns, Pa.
Donald Graf of Westminster and President of the Cornerstone Corvette Club has owned four Corvettes over
a 40 year period.
“I got the bug when I was a kid. My step father had a 1954
Corvette that we rode around in and I have been a fan ever since,” he said.
Several members of the ZR-1 Net Registry
also attended in a rare showing of six ZR-1s.
The Cornerstone Corvette Club has held two other car shows but this was
the first one that was all Corvettes. The club has been in existence for five years. The Club attends shows together, and
they attend a monthly mystery dinner. One couple picks a place for dinner and they caravan to the dinner in their Corvettes.
They also participate in “Corvettes at Ocean City” that attracts nearly 800 Corvettes every year. All 800 drive
down the boardwalk for a real show. Some friends of the Club that helped with the Car Show are members of the Freestate Corvette
Club that runs that event, raising $100,000 for Spina Bifida.
Cornerstone members also exhibit their vehicles at “Corvettes
at Carlise” that attracts 1,200 corvettes. The Cornerstone Club is a small local club that enjoys friendship, fellowship
and our Corvettes. The club has led the Westminster Holiday Parade and participated three times. They will also lead the parade
this year.
Next year, the Corvette Show will be on Main Street in Westminster with many new surprises added to the
show. The members want to help bring more business downtown. The Greater Westminster Development Corporation Events Committee
in cooperation with the Main Street committee is working on this and other events such as the Holiday Parade to make Main
Street in Westminster a destination.
— Lyndi McNulty is owner of Gizmos Art in Westminster.
|
