Corvette C6

Hi All,

It's been ages since I posted here. Over the last year I've maintained the trio of BMW (Z4M, E30 race car and E46 325ti) and enjoyed near total reliability. The E30 did a full season of races, with just a fuel pump malady to spoil a certain class win mid season.

With a house purchase coming up (finally, at the age of 40!) the fleet needed to be reviewed. The race car and trailer sold last week and the Z4M will go in the spring (the best all round car I've owned to date).
The reason for this thread comes as a result of a memorable road trip my wife and I took around California just over a year ago, the highlight being a trackday at Laguna Seca. As well as driving a Z4M I was also cheeky enough to ask for a passenger ride in a Corvette C6. Whilst I can't pretend they are the finest car in the world it was an impressive ride that made a great noise.

Even whilst on that holiday I started looking for cars for sale! They are expensive in the UK (starting from £23k) and almost always automatic
Whilst browsing the web in bed at midnight, before Christmas I found a one owner, high mileage C6 for just $9995 (£7500ish). I got in there quick but was just beaten into second refusal. As luck would have it the first gentleman tried to haggle and then said the flights (from the next state) were expensive so I got a text at 03:45 and after a phone call to the owner in California had bought it by 4am, resulting in no sleep for the rest of the night!
Since then their has been a lot of work arranging the necessary insurance, flights, accommodation, ESTA, shipping, parts for UK conversion etc. etc.
The seller owns three Corvette including a new C7, he has been offered thousands of dollars more since I paid the deposit but he has been honourable and continued with our existing agreement.

We fly out to LA on Sunday, detour around the currently closed 101 (rock and mudslide) on Monday, collect the car and then over the next 9 days drive just under 2500 miles via California, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas to include Monument Valley, Route 66, horse riding at a ranch and a trackday at Circuit Of The Americas. I drop the car at the port at Houston then fly to Nashville, pick up a hire car, drive to the Corvette factory and museum at Bowling Green, fly on to New York and then home.
I should get the car back after its Atlantic journey at the end of February, exciting!

Excluding the cost of the holiday/road trip the car will probably cost me just under £13,000 which I consider to be pretty good for 400bhp as standard and a rumbling 6 litre V8 soundtrack. I just hope I've not bought a pup!





regards, Dave

What a nice story. Hope it goes well.

OH that's brilliant Dave. I really like them,I also really like the z4m.

Enjoy what seems a fantastic holiday also. Good luck.

Wow!

Cool story, Dave, that sounds like MrsC and I, but with a lot more money!

That looks like an amazing amount of very nice looking (and sounding) car for the money.

Please keep us updated!

Awesome. Road trip of a lifetime too.

Sounds like great value for money with the car, hope it is as good as it looks.

Great story Dave and what a road trip!

And to think my wife said I was nuts for travelling to Reading to buy a car

Coolest car purchase story by a distance though, good luck and enjoy the trip!

Thanks guys, we're excited but a bit nervous too. Some of the days are going to be long and the last two days/three flights have to be on time or else I'm stranded!

Congrats on your purchase Dave, not sure which is more exciting, the car or the trip!

My folks went to the factory last year and really enjoyed it.

There are a couple of decent Corvette specialists in the UK, but you couldn't live further away from them as they all seem to be on the east or south east side of the country!
Tom Falconer at Claremont Corvette has just retired, but the business is still going, they restored a '63 split screen for a friend of mine and did a great job.
I was camping next to a guy with a C1 at Silverstone Classic a couple of years ago and he rated Corvette Kingdom highly too.

F*cking Awesome Dave - soooooo jealous of both the trip and the purchase.

Walkinshaw Performance isn't too far away from Dave. Sure, they're a VXR8 specialist but the Corvette has the same engine, just with loads of plastic and 'leaves' or something on top, right?

Awesome car!

Another forum member has got a Corvette too, right?

I got back safely last week, it was a brilliant road trip and the car was faultless. At some stage I will do a proper write up, perhaps for a magazine. I'm just waiting for a tracking/shipping number then I can track its progress across the Atlantic. The modding has begun already!

simply WOW dave certainly a tale for the grand kids one day not jealous in the slightest

What a fantastic post!

This is what we all need to cheer us up on a cold Feb day - talk of epic trips and super cars!

Did much the same journey last year-all be it in a v8 rental car- your pictures of The Grand Canyon and Monument Valley had me smiling at the memories.

What a trip- I think we all need a few more details.

Great car-I can imagine your going to have a lot of fun with her. Great bonding first drive by the look of things!!

Regards

MM

Fantastic story there Dave, a real contender for a bucket list if ever I heard one. I like good luck stories, as pointed out something for the likes of us to be uplifted. Nice one....

Superb Dave - mighty respect.
How does the C6 feel about not seeing that US sunshine again???

Amazing Dave, please please please do keep us updated as to this, I would be actually really interested in a good right up about the logistical side of something like this

Looks great Dave, well done!

Yes, me too!

I'm not suggesting you do this, because it might detract from the experience, but if you video it, it would make an awesome YouTube series...

Out of interest do car prices vary from state to state? Where's cheapest to buy second hand and where would you get the highest price?

Thinking in a couple of years spending 2 or 3 months out there. We'd buy a second hand car and sell it on our return - should be cheaper than rental.

Thanks for your kind words guys. The car is still at the dock, the ship is delayed and due to leave this Sunday, with a UK eta of the 19th of March. Work is getting in the way of writing up the trip and costs but I will get it done.

MM: Your road trip in the Mustang sounds great.

Brilly1UK: I don't think it's going to like the mud, salt and rain, non of which it has seen before. The underside and suspension is so clean.....for now!

Dan: I have a few short video clips but not enough to make anything decent. My wife filmed some of them, say no more!

robcal: In the year I was looking at classifieds I didn't notice any great variation from region to region, BUT there were more Corvette for sale in the dry states anyway. Craigs list seems popular there but it was a pain for me as you can't do a country wide search. It could be useful for you though if you know where your end point is going to be. I agree that it should be a cheaper way for you, but not having a social security number and fixed address does mean that some states are easier than others. There are some good threads about this online and on trip advisor iirc. I used Geico for insurance btw and used a friends address in California as a base. I paid for a 6 month policy in installments and cancelled after a month, it cost about $100 for the month iirc.

Yep ...top story and your lips are probably practising the 'burble' already.
I have an RS4 with a V8 and a similar bhp but currently it's awaiting the fitment of a secondhand engine as it suffered indigestion from a manifold-flap screw which totally the lump big time.
Thankfully, high capacity US motors are much less stressed.

After a long delay at Houston the Corvette is nearly here. It is due to dock at Antwerp tomorrow, then arrive in Southampton on the 7th. I will probably have to wait another week for it to be unloaded, clear customs and arrive at the depot at Milton Keynes where I can collect it, exciting!

The Z4M sold last weekend which I'm a bit sad about as it's been the best all round car I've owned. Still, with the house move in the next couple of months I need both the space and money.

I bet you’re like a kid waiting for Xmas, Dave!

The story made it to the home page of Pistonheads on Friday, Cappo spotted it before then.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-americancars/200-000-mile-corvette-readers-car-of-the-week/38528

Superbly done Dave.
Great read - keep us updated!

Not sure how I missed this story first time around but wow sounds like a hell of a trip!

wow what a trip and what an amazing tale. Loved reading that Dave. Great memories to have

What happend to the rest of the story ? Such a brilliant read 👍

Sweet!

The thread is fully up to date now, I'm using it every other day to work and back, nothing else to report, it remains great fun.

Such an awesome read !