Butch Catches Corvette Fever!

The first car that my parents owned was a pale green late 1940s Pontiac with a chrome Indian hood ornament. Could there actually be an uglier car? Yes! Dad purchased a 1955 pink and white Buick Special 4-door for $300 in the late 1950s. We had to ride around in that beauty for the next few years until he traded for a red and white 1963 Chevy station wagon. Not much better. My new dating car. Didn’t even have a radio. Great.

   During the summer of 1965, my brother and I accompanied Dad to the Clinton County fair in Frankfort. He watched the harness racing while we tried our luck at the carnival games. I won a cheap-looking gold watch. My brother Gary won six bottles of “sparkling water,” which he thought was champagne. Sorry, bro! After we spent all of our money, we checked out a new Chevy Corvette, which was on display. It was a hardtop, royal blue in color, with a 4-speed on the floor. The list price was approximately $5,500. Right then and there I knew that someday I would own a Corvette.

   My wife and I were married in the fall of 1966. I worked and attended Purdue, and after graduating was hired as a teacher and coach at my old school. My wife and I owned a 1965 Chevy Impala during that time. The car had over 100,000 miles and needed work, so it was time to trade. At a used car dealer, I spotted a 1969 Corvette convertible, 427 c.i. engine, 4-speed, red in color … price $3,200. Yep, I bought it! I loved my job, and I loved driving to school each morning in my Corvette!

   But things happen. My wife and I soon welcomed our first child, and after a couple of years, we decided that my Corvette had to go, in favor of a “family car,” so I traded it in on a Ford Gran Torino. Nice car, but boring. When my wife’s great aunt passed away two years later, we also became the owners of her low mileage 1961 Buick. I sold the Ford, and bought a burgundy 1967 Corvette convertible. I was happy again!

   Two more children came along in 1974 and 1979. The Buick kicked the bucket. I sold the ’67 Vette to my brother-in-law and bought another family style car. But since I had contracted Corvette fever, I saved my money and after a year, I purchased a white 1964 Corvette convertible for $1,500! Well, I found out after a few years that kids are expensive, so the ’64 Vette was sold. Our fourth child was born in 1988 when my wife and I were 40 years old. When my two oldest decided to attend Purdue, I began working two full-time jobs to meet expenses and pay for their college. No Corvettes for several years.

   But those of us with Corvette fever never give up. After I left the Sheriff’s department in 1997, I began teaching at Clinton Prairie high school, while also still serving as the library director at Darlington. In 1998, I drove to Hubbard Chevrolet in Monticello to look at a 1992 model with low mileage, priced at $17,000. Nice car, but they had just received a new 1999 Corvette from the factory. Hardtop, red in color, Borla exhaust, fancy deluxe wheels, 6-speed … and the speedometer went to 220 MPH … list price $47,500.

   I was 50 years old. I certainly didn’t need a new Corvette. The payments would be $865 a month for six years. Way too much. Hmmm…Oh well, what the heck…Yep, I bought it. My dream car. When I pulled into our driveway, my wife was standing in the porch doorway. She gave me a suspicious look, “What are you test-driving that for?”…”Well, I’m not really test-driving it.”…”You didn’t BUY it, did you?”…”Yeah, I bought it.”….”Well, how much was it?”…”Oh, it wasn’t that much.”…”How much are the payments?”….”Oh, they aren’t too bad….Hop in, let’s go for a ride.”

   Of course, she loved the new Corvette, too. Each day I looked forward to driving to school and to my library job, and of course my students loved the car, too. I never did tell my wife the price or the monthly payment amount. Then I realized that if I wrote a check each month, she would discover that I was paying $865…so I drove to the finance company each month and paid in cash! But all good things must come to an end. The monthly Vette payment was the same amount as my monthly check at the library. That was crazy! So, after a year, I came to my senses and traded the ’99 Vette in on a Chevy 4WD pickup.

    I’ll be 76 years old in a couple of months. My Corvette fever has subsided, although I would consider buying an older one if it was cheap enough. I have tried to buy a mid-1960s Vette that is setting in a barnyard here in the county. The owner keeps insisting that he is going to restore it some day. The car has been in that barnyard for nearly 50 years. A tree is growing through the engine compartment. No kidding.

   But guess what? Corvette fever is contagious. My daughter, a teacher at North Montgomery, owns one. Keeping up the family tradition. Way to go girl!

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 35 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.