Picking a Corvette

Fly down but take the 77 back. You can always mod the engine for more ponnies later on, the car just has the classic look, classic gauges and interior(except glove box), but what ever you do, follow your heart and find the one that most reminds you of your friend. What a great gift to get one of his cars. When you get to Key West you have to go to the sunset festival on the Southern Most point, in the continental US. It's fun to walk thru and watch the sunset , then go to Hemmingway's bar, and listen to some good blues music over a drink of your choice(mexican beer-Pacifico, with a lime is a good choice to go with the hot weather and humidity! If you have more time, stop by Mel Fisher's museum, and look at some of the gold treasures he pulled from the wreck of the Atocha. The Atocha was found on July 20, 1985. Fisher died on December 19, 1998. I was in the Keys working the day he found it. It was the largest treasure ever salvaged, worth 400 million dollars, until until 2007 when Odyssey Marine Explorations discovered a still unidentified wreck 180 miles west of Portugal. The estimated value of 500 million dollars beats the Atocha by 100 million.
Lastly if you drive down to Key West two absolute musts , time permitting, are a Rum Runner from Islamorada's(Holiday Isle Beach Resort and Marina in Islamorada, Florida Keys is the home of the Tiki Bar where the famous Rumrunner was originally created more than thirty years ago by a creative mixologist with too much stock on hand).
And by time you cross the Marathon Key Bridge, 30 miles North of Key West, You will be on Big Pine Key(where I used to work and live) and have the rare opertunity to take a side trip to No Name Pub(get directions!) and have a slice of the" Best Pizza in the Known Universe!" Have a great trip, and thanks for bringing back such fun memmories!

Book your flight now for whenever you can go n the future--probably just to Miami, and bus the rest of way---If you drive down and borrow a trailer to haul car back and then make another trip to return trailer--2 round trips in a truck, towing a trailer$$$$$$$$$$$
But do make a trip of it--down and back--seafood, key lime pie, snorling/scuba , hit all the places coming back--Ruby Falls in Tenn, Grand old Oprey, Indy Museum, Navy Pier--Museum of Science And Industry, etc,etc--but do it before all the summer crowds--April and September are my favorite road trip months

I'll jot this stuff down. Thanks for the advice. This should be alot of fun. We have a friend in Gainesville. We'll spend the night there. The 77 was recently painted, but the dash and seats are still out of it. I do know the new carpet was installed by his brother. He'll probably have it together for me. The trailer is going 200 miles from me when I get back. His brother lives close to me, so the trailer will be sold up here. Not sure if any of the cars would make it back on their own. (The reason for not flying).
The people who'll be escorting us who are also friends live down by Ft. Lauderdale. Their involve with Artifacts. They'll know about all the stuff you mentioned. Still costly to go get, especially getting the truck ready. Broken spring is fixed. Should have done that on my own. Surprising what labor cost now-a-days. Brakes were easy. New tires and alignment. Adds up fast. Stopping in Tennessee to see the graves of my grandparents and to see if anyone else is still alive. Found one.
This will be one for the books. The 77 is what will remind me the most of him from our younger days of running around in his little Opel GT back in the 70's.
I use to be a truck driver for many years, so the hauling shouldn't be to bad. Thanks again guys.

I had two Corvettes in my youth, a 63, and a 69 Big Block. Wish I had them now ! All I know, is a 77 - -was in the Jimmy Carter era, when they really downsized the HP in all the cars, because of the gas issue. You couldn't buy a 4 speed in California in the era, and guys were going out of state, to buy a vette with a stick. That's why they were soooo cheap on Barrett Jackson, because they didn't have any ponies in them.

Now I understand..sorry about your friend. It sounds like he would be happy that you are getting one of his cars. I was leaning toward the '77 and after Steve's pictures I'm sticking with it, especially if it has been painted (even if its not completely together). I do like the 96's especially in black, but I would have to have a set of silver ZR1 wheels in place of those ugly stock ones. I dispute that the LT1 was replaced in '96 with an LT4 though...LT4's only came with a 6 speed.

He lost his life almost a year ago. Just been waiting for all the paperwork to get done. He also had a Maserati and acouple of Deloreans. He loved cars like I do. He will truly be missed. I bought my 37 Pontiac from his brother who had an auction a year ago. That guy had over 500 vehicles ranging from the 20's to the 70's. Amazing how many vehicles sat in a field. Wish I would have found out earlier. Still haven't figured out how to chop the 37 yet, even with the body being in 3 pieces now.

I wish you a great trip. I could use a road trip myself right now!

Thank you. I Lost a leg 13 years ago and figured vacations were done. Thank God for prosthetic legs and a good wheelchair to work out of. I should call myself "No Clutch" LOL!

A little bit ago my friends friend wrote this to me.

yes hope to see you soon.
Since you like cars here is a bit of old history from my mother's side of the family.This is old ,old history goes back to General Motors :The Hudsons,The Essexes and Nashs:

That business was B. Poma Ltd., which introduced makes such as Hudson, Essex and Nash to the limited local market. (In those days, the license plates went from 0 to 100). In the 1930s, Bartolome's children--son Luis (Ricardo's father) and daughter Didine--joined the business as the Great Depression struck. Luckily, they landed the distributorship for General Motors. "That jumped them to another league," says Poma.

In 1952, the business took another leap when it became the distributor for a Japanese company of dubious reputation, Toyota. "At that time, the image of Douglas MacArthur riding around in his Jeep was very popular, and my father wanted to get a Jeep-type vehicle. Then he saw an ad in an auto industry magazine with a little picture of such a vehicle. The company was Toyota and it was the Land Cruiser," Poma recalls.

Today, Grupo Poma's automotive division, Grupo DIDEA, is the oldest Toyota distributor in the Western Hemisphere, and the second oldest in the world, behind Taiwan. DIDEA is also the conglomerate's largest division, followed closely by the real estate and hotel divisions. DIDEA controls 50 percent of the auto market in El Salvador, distributing Toyota, Mitsubishi, GM, BMW Kia, and Hino (a Japanese truck make), and covers the four aspects of sales, service, parts and financing.
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Made it home with the 77 yesterday. I'll post some pictures later today. 3800 miles and had a fun time. I'm glad I live in South Dakota where there isn't any traffic. The places we went and the food was awesome. The other cars weren't Delorians. They were Bricklins. 1980 Mazaradi was already gone, but I'll see that next weekend. I'm sure I'll have some questions on the 77. New interior not put together yet.

good choice . the 77 still has the vette look. they screwed the interior after that. just lost the vette look .

Did you get a chance to see or do any tourist stuff? Sounds like you did have a good time. Post some shots of the 77 when you get a chance.

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Originally Posted by stovens

I think for style I like the 77, and if it's a new paint job, that's a big plus financially!But I do like the beefy look to the 82. I'd then go by interior and and confort, and consider smog and miles on the car next.(in California)

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I agree!!!
The '77 and '82 look the BADDEST!!!!!
Sold My Vette for My '32

I'll have some work to do. Side pipes gotta go. It starts up and runs, but won't shut off with the key. Dash is apart. Think I need a book. Shifter cable not hooked up. Looks like the 37 will have to wait awhile. This is going to be a lot different to work on compared to the other toys. The camera just won't take a good picture.**)

We didn't make it to the lower keys....this time. Our friends mom lives in the upper keys. We went there. He left us his house, so we lived with Parrots, eels, a geico, pet insects and other scarey things. There was so much to consume. He has petrified dinosaure eggs and bones. He collects odd things. It was like living in a museum. Our first meal was over 300 for the three of us down on Miami beach. We've never had a vacation like this. Not looking forward to McD's. Found acouple of shells with crabs in them, so they are in his fish tank. Can't remember the names of places we went. Parrot Island or some name like that. He picked us up every morning and dropped us off at night. Our first stop in Gainesville where we stayed the first couple of days was to go see the Gator's play. They lost, but that was awesome. Never thought a Basketball game would be like it was. Over 20 years ago I use to be an over the road truck driver. Traffic sure has changed.

Good looking Vette Terry, and sounds like a great vacation too!