A father, his son and a very special car.

[VetteVet]

I just thought that I would post a little background on why the ZR-1 has special meaning to me.

My father was an outboard technician, a boating guy and an all-around motor-head. He was fascinated with all things mechanical and passed that on to me.

Back in 1993, when I left active duty in the Navy, I purchased my first Corvette; a 1986 coupe. It was nothing special, but it was my first Corvette and was special to me. My dad liked that car and would never miss an opportunity to borrow it from me so he could go tooling around.

One day shortly after my purchase, my dad contacted me and asked me to come see something. When I hooked up with him, he had one of the Corvette magazines in hand and said "Are you aware of the ZR-1 Corvettes?" He proceeded to go over all of the details with a gleam in his eye. He was absolutely fascinated with the engineering put into the LT5 engine. He continued to learn more and more about the ZR-1's and it was a constant topic of discussion between us, but both of us knew that we could never actually afford one.

Several years later, dad was diagnosed with cancer and battled it valiantly until an undiscovered brain tumor took him away from us in 2000 due to bleeding in the skull after a fall.

Fast forward to late 2008. While perusing ads on E-bay late one evening, I came across an ad for a 1991 Corvette with a buy it now price of $10,000.00. That seemed too high and I was intrigued. I clicked on the link. Lo and behold, it was a ZR-1. The paint was not great and the interior needed work, but it had "THE LT5 ENGINE!!!" After a good bit of research, I took the plunge and purchased that car.

I got the interior changed out and fixed all of the gremlins. While the car was disassembled for paint and engine work, Hurricane Isaac struck and the car took water. My insurance company totalled it out and to this day I am still battling with them since they are trying to low-ball me due to the condition of the car at the time of the loss.

I was distraught over the possibility of the loss of my ZR-1 and the inability to replace it due to a low settlement. It took a lot for me to purchase that car and I didn't have the funds to make up the difference.

In stepped my mom (she's very practical, but she's also a saint). She saw how depressed I was and offered to front the money for a replacement car and was willing to cover whatever difference there was between the purchase price and the settlement. That led to the purchase of the 1991 Steel Blue Metallic ZR-1 that I have now.

When I reached the point in my Navy career that I was selected for Chief Petty Officer, I underwent an initiation that brought me into the "Brotherhood of Chiefs". For those of you that may not understand, all Navy Chiefs have a bond. If I'm in a bind, no matter where I am on this planet, all I have to due is link up with a fellow Chief and he/she will do everything in their power to get me whatever help that I need. That other Chief may have never met me before, but that doesn't matter because I'm a Chief. It's about the bond and the networking and it's very powerful. I thought that it was the greatest thing I had ever witnessed and there was nothing else like it.

I was wrong. I bought my first Z and discovered this forum. Hmmm, they have a "Brotherhood" and call themselves "Brothers". I wonder if they know what that really means? Through the years, I have had the pleasure of interacting with you folks and can honestly say that you guys do know what it means. I am blessed to be a member of two great "Brotherhoods". What we have in our community is a rarity and it's up to us to uphold the tradition.


It feels good to be back in a Z and to have reconnected with the "Brotherhood". It IS the car AND the people. We have very special cars and a very special group of people.


Mom, I love you and thank you for stepping in to help me out.

Dad, I know you're up there enjoying your twin turbo ZR-1.

I know that I'm enjoying my Z.

Jep

[scottfab]

Great story brother Jep.
I have a good friend that is a master chief. He has spoken of the bond.

[FU]

Your parent's are very special. But you all ready know that.

See you in BG !

[GOLDCYLON]

Neat story. A lot of your brothers here are retired Vets as well!!!!

[LancePearson]

Well said....and I don't know when you become one of these brothers but I only had two sisters before and it's a really nice thing.

Enjoy the car and hopefully we'll all get some face time in B.G.

Lance P.

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Nice story, Jep.

[Fully Vetted]

Originally Posted by VetteVet

I just thought that I would post a little background on why the ZR-1 has special meaning to me.

My father was an outboard technician, a boating guy and an all-around motor-head. He was fascinated with all things mechanical and passed that on to me.

Back in 1993, when I left active duty in the Navy, I purchased my first Corvette; a 1986 coupe. It was nothing special, but it was my first Corvette and was special to me. My dad liked that car and would never miss an opportunity to borrow it from me so he could go tooling around.

One day shortly after my purchase, my dad contacted me and asked me to come see something. When I hooked up with him, he had one of the Corvette magazines in hand and said "Are you aware of the ZR-1 Corvettes?" He proceeded to go over all of the details with a gleam in his eye. He was absolutely fascinated with the engineering put into the LT5 engine. He continued to learn more and more about the ZR-1's and it was a constant topic of discussion between us, but both of us knew that we could never actually afford one.

Several years later, dad was diagnosed with cancer and battled it valiantly until an undiscovered brain tumor took him away from us in 2000 due to bleeding in the skull after a fall.

Fast forward to late 2008. While perusing ads on E-bay late one evening, I came across an ad for a 1991 Corvette with a buy it now price of $10,000.00. That seemed too high and I was intrigued. I clicked on the link. Lo and behold, it was a ZR-1. The paint was not great and the interior needed work, but it had "THE LT5 ENGINE!!!" After a good bit of research, I took the plunge and purchased that car.

I got the interior changed out and fixed all of the gremlins. While the car was disassembled for paint and engine work, Hurricane Isaac struck and the car took water. My insurance company totalled it out and to this day I am still battling with them since they are trying to low-ball me due to the condition of the car at the time of the loss.

I was distraught over the possibility of the loss of my ZR-1 and the inability to replace it due to a low settlement. It took a lot for me to purchase that car and I didn't have the funds to make up the difference.

In stepped my mom (she's very practical, but she's also a saint). She saw how depressed I was and offered to front the money for a replacement car and was willing to cover whatever difference there was between the purchase price and the settlement. That led to the purchase of the 1991 Steel Blue Metallic ZR-1 that I have now.

When I reached the point in my Navy career that I was selected for Chief Petty Officer, I underwent an initiation that brought me into the "Brotherhood of Chiefs". For those of you that may not understand, all Navy Chiefs have a bond. If I'm in a bind, no matter where I am on this planet, all I have to due is link up with a fellow Chief and he/she will do everything in their power to get me whatever help that I need. That other Chief may have never met me before, but that doesn't matter because I'm a Chief. It's about the bond and the networking and it's very powerful. I thought that it was the greatest thing I had ever witnessed and there was nothing else like it.

I was wrong. I bought my first Z and discovered this forum. Hmmm, they have a "Brotherhood" and call themselves "Brothers". I wonder if they know what that really means? Through the years, I have had the pleasure of interacting with you folks and can honestly say that you guys do know what it means. I am blessed to be a member of two great "Brotherhoods". What we have in our community is a rarity and it's up to us to uphold the tradition.


It feels good to be back in a Z and to have reconnected with the "Brotherhood". It IS the car AND the people. We have very special cars and a very special group of people.


Mom, I love you and thank you for stepping in to help me out.

Dad, I know you're up there enjoying your twin turbo ZR-1.

I know that I'm enjoying my Z.

Jep

Jep - We are as blessed to have you in the group as you are to have us. This is truely a Brotherhood -

http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19116

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by Fully Vetted

Jep - We are as blessed to have you in the group as you are to have us. This is truely a Brotherhood -

http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19116

David,

I saw your post back when you posted it. Now you've made me feel badly for not replying to your post. Also, I wish I could have expressed myself as eloquently as you did

Jep

P.S. We'd better not let any of the CF guys see these threads or they might think that we only attend The Gatherings to sit around the campfire, get mystical and sing Kum Ba Yah.

[mgg]

Jep. you are wealthy man. You know what I mean.

[tccrab]

I was raised a car guy, my Dad ran a car dealership his entire career.
I've always had a hot rod of some kind, I've had all kinds.
Camaros, Mustangs, Barracudas, Chargers, etc., etc.
Loved 'em one and all, each and every one had a distinct personality, some good, some bad.
When "Girlfriend" came my way, I wasn't sure about it.
I had never owned a 'Vette before.
She is and always will be my first 'Vette.
I've told my boys that I'm to be buried in her, and they're going to have to pry the keys out of my cold stiff fingers. ;-)
That being said, I never really wanted a 'Vette,
I had a million excuses, like "They're too expensive" and "Only bald headed old guys with gold chains drive 'em", and "There's no such thing as a door ding in a plastic car".
Girlfriend changed that.
After driving her a little I realized that none of the other cars spoke to me the way this one did.
When I first bought her, I checked to see if the radio worked.
It did, so I turned it off.
It didn't get turned back on for over 6 years.
There's just something about the sound of that LT5 that is better music that anything on the radio.
I've had big blocks, small blocks, supercharged engines, and NONE of them sound nearly as good as the siren song of a LT5 at 7500rpm.

The Brotherhood of the Beast is an amazing thing.
We are from all walks of life, ages range from the 20's to 80's.
We've got members who are bonafied saints, and we've had members who were rascals.
I won't cast any dispersions, but the founder (god rest his soul) of our august community was a bit of a rascal himself....

The ONE thing we have in common is the love of this car.

The Brotherhood of the Beast is alive and well.
Thank you for being a Brother.
And Thank you for your service to our wonderful country.
I salute you.

Now, go out and drive it like you stole it.


'Crabs