The Barkalow's Corvette Story

(Bob and Joyce)

My husband Bob and I owned an original 1955 Thunderbird for many years, that we took out for a Sunday ride if the weather was nice, and put it back in the garage till another Sunday.  Since my brother, Barry, had Corvettes, we went to a local Cruise night in Toms River, NJ.  We had to park our T-Bird slightly away form the Vettes.  We got to meet some of my brothers friends from the Corvette club that he belonged to.  The Surf Corvette Club.  They would always tell stories of the club's trips and adventures.  One trip they talked about was a show that they went to in Ocean City, N.J. sponsored by the Boardwalk Corvette Club located in southern NJ.  The Corvettes are paraded down the boardwalk right next to the ocean.  It just sounded so terrific.

Then one day in November of 2000 my brother Barry called offering us to buy his 1993 Ruby Anniversary Coupe.  He explained that he wanted the Ruby convertible now.  I considered Barry a Vette expert.  (Barry is the original owner of a 1969 Coupe--how the hell do you keep a car that long?)  Anyway, I listened to his reasons for wanting a Corvette and the differences between coupes and convertibles.  That Saturday found us in a nearby town looking for a new car.  We decided we liked the coupe better.  The following Saturday found us at another dealership looking at Vettes, but now I realized that Big Brother was right.  We wanted a convertible.  But we owned that T-Bird.

Well we wouldn't own it for long.  Bobby put an ad in the paper and the new owner took the bird away on Friday, December 8th.  We found what we thought was the "Right" Vette for us at Kerbeck Chevrolet in Atlantic City, NJ the very next day.  No sense in wasting any time in finding that Vette.  We called Barry form the dealership with a few more questions and then we signed on the dotted line.  We immediately tried to find Corvette shirts, hats, and anything sporting the picture of our latest addition.

We brought our dark Metallic Red 1990 Corvette Convertible home and proceeded to go to the Surf Corvette Club meetings.  We met some of those people from the Toms River Cruise Nights and many more new friends.  The rest I could say is history.  Until this fall when the Ocean City Boardwalk Corvette Show was scheduled again.  I was so excited that it was hard to sleep.  Sundays now find us traveling with the Surf Corvette Club members on day trips and club functions.  Do we miss the Thunderbird?  What do you think?