From Chip:

My fascination with Corvettes goes back nearly 50 years. In the early 50's my father was driving and racing XK120 Jaguars when our neighbor purchased a new Corvette. It took me 5 years to convince my father to buy a Corvette. When I was twelve, he bought my mother the first of several Corvettes she would own--a 1958.

I purchased my first Corvette in 1968 soon after I graduated from college. It was a low mileage '64 Coupe. Since then, I have owned over 30 Corvettes. The restoration of my '57 pictured here was completed in February 2002. I pursued this car for 26 years. It was originally owned by a young golf pro in Laguna Beach. After a minor accident in the late spring of 1958, he traded it on a new '58 Corvette. The car ended up on Moon Millins High Performance used car lot in Van Nuys in August 1958. It was purchased by a 16 year old high school student. He had the car lowered, added headers, lake pipes, scatter shield, traction masters, chrome reverse wheels, 4:56 posi, Sun tach, hardtop, aluminum flywheel, and reversed the 3 speed shift pattern. He then had the car painted by Von Dutch. The car was drag raced at San Fernando and Lyons drag strips. After only one year, he traded it on a '55 Chevy.

The car was then purchased by a young man in the Van Nuys area who owned it for a very short time before selling it to his brother-in-law who drove it daily for approximately 4 years. In 1964, the brother-in-law decided to strip the paint off the car. It then sat idle for the next 34 years.

I purchased this Corvette in December 1998. I was fortunate to have Glassman Dan repair and gel coat the body. Dan and I also spent many hours fitting the doors, hood, trim, etc. prior to and after painting.

I have returned the car to its original colors and condition. After 41 years and four previous owners, mechanically, this '57 was completely original and had been driven only about 40,000 miles. It has earned two NCRS top flight awards and is driven only on occasion around my neighborhood.

I also currently own a '61 F.I., '62 F.I., '66 big block roadster and a '68, 350 hp, air coupe which is also an NCRS top flight car. I feel certain that there are still more Corvettes in my future.

Many thanks to Dan for all his help on my '57. It would not have turned out this nice without his guidance.