I FELL IN LOVE WITH A TWO SEAT 1959 CORVETTE, RED WITH WHITE COVE WITH CORRECT WHITE WALL TIRES AND THE MOST IMPRESSIVE DASH WITH THE TACHOMETER MOUNTED CENTER BELOW THE SPEEDOMETER FLANKED BY FOUR GAUGES. ONE HOT SUMMER NIGHT IN 1959 ON SUPERIOR STREET IN DOWNTOWN TOLEDO JUST PAST B. R. BAKERS WHERE MY GRANDFATHER STANLEY GOGOL WAS THE HEAD TAILOR FOR THIS TOLEDO EXCLUSIVE MEN’S WEAR STORE, I STOPPED AT THE LIGHT AND MY 1951 FORD CONVERTIBLE GLISTENING UNDER THE ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS HAD STOPPED RUNNING.
OPENING THE HOOD, I DISCOVERED MY GENERATOR WAS SHOT AND SO WAS THE BATTERY. I HEARD THE MOST EXCITING THUNDEROUS DUAL EXHAUST ROAR ECHOING OFF THE BUILDINGS. AT THE LIGHT WAS A BRAND NEW SHINY RED 1959 CORVETTE WITH A WHITE COVE AND CORRECT WHITE WALL TIRES.
A YOUNG MAN, THE OWNER, SAID, YOU NEED SOME HELP? PEOPLE DID THINGS LIKE THAT BACK THEN. I SAID, YES I NEED A JUMP. HE OPENED THE HOOD AND THERE TREMBLING WITH POWER WERE TWO 4-BBL CARBURETORS. I HOOKED UP MY JUMPER CABLES AND MY SUNLINER STARTED.
I TOLD HIM, I WORKED PART TIME AT PAUL’S UNION 76 STATION IN ROSSFORD. IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW ME, I’VE GOT THE KEYS TO THE PLACE AND I WILL FILL YOUR TANK WITH SOME OF THAT 260 BLEND. HE SAID, LET’S GO.
WELL FAST FORWARD TO 1970 AND A 1962 CORVETTE WAS AVAILABLE FOR SALE FROM MY CPA WHO BROUGHT IT NEW. I WANTED RED, BUT NO LUCK. I BROUGHT HIS WHITE PRISTINE PERIOD CORRECT 1962 CORVETTE WITH TWO TOPS AND 32,000 ORIGINAL NEVER DRIVEN ON WET STREETS CAR. I THOUGHT HE TORE MY HEAD CLEAN OFF WHEN I PAID $2,400.
WHEN I WAS A PART-TIME SALESMAN FOR ERIC CHEVROLET IN KOKOMO, I SOLD A NEW CORVETTE TO A FRIEND OF MINE WHO 
HATED FUEL INJECTION. HE HAD ME ORDER AT MY DISCOUNT A TWO 4-BBL SYSTEM COMPLETE WITH LINKAGE AND MANIFOLD. HE GAVE ME THE FUEL INJECTION UNIT FOR FREE AND I KEPT IT IN MY GARAGE. NOTHING LOOKS MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN DUAL QUADS, TWO FOURS, ON ANY CAR THAT WILL ACCOMMODATE THEM. A FRIEND OF MINE HAD A PERIOD CORRECT 2-4’S SETUP FOR MY 327. WE MADE A SWAP FOR MY FUEL INJECTION. I INSTALLED A SET OF HEADERS BECAUSE MY 327 WAS A 250 HORSE AND THE 2-4’S FUNCTION BETTER WITH 300 HORSE HEADS. I WAS A VERY HAPPY FELLOW.
EVEN IN 1972 CORVETTES WERE RARE AND UNUSUALLY EXCITING. LAST YEAR FOR THE FAMED FOUR HEADLIGHTS AND IMPRESSIVE INSTRUMENTATION AND FIRST YEAR FOR THE STINGRAY REAR STYLING. I SOLD THE CAR FOR $6,500 
TO MARK WHO OWNED A RESTAURANT IN KOKOMO. INDIANA. HE WAS AN AVID CORVETTE COLLECTOR. SEVERAL YEARS LATER HE WAS OFFERED $35,000 AND TURNED IT DOWN. NOTE MARK DID RETURN THE ENGINE TO ITS STOCK FACTORY CORRECT CONFIGURATIONS.
NOTE PHOTO WITH GEORGE SNYDER, JIMMY DAPUZZO AND ALEX LOOKING AT THE 1962 CORVETTE WITH STOCK 4-BBL AND GTO AIR BREATHER AT THE OPEN HOUSE FOR BELOFF PONTIAC CADILLAC GMC IN PERU.
