2010 Turkey Rod Run

As the years have moved on, I've contemplated what to do with Bette. She has been slowly falling apart and I lack the knowledge, money and time needed to get her back to fighting shape. I had thought about selling her to someone that could bring her back to life as she deserved. This thought pained me, as my dad loved this car and having her made me feel like he was still present in my life. But being a realist, I thought that there was never going to be a way to get her running again. I had tried starting her around the time that dad passed but she wouldn't turn over.

Our good friends always go to the Turkey Rod Run at the Daytona Speedway on Thanksgiving weekend. We hung out with them and enjoyed the car show last year. I told them about the Vette and joked that this would be a great project car for them.... *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*

A few months ago Dave said that I had a choice: I could either get my Jeep lifted or go forward with restoring the Corvette. Knowing that a Jeep lift would be a fraction of the cost of getting Bette going again, I figured we'd go with the Jeep project, even though deep down in my heart I wanted to do the Corvette project.

We went back to the Rod Run again this year, and this time we met our friend Bill and his dad Ray. Ray has had over 100 cars in his lifetime, and most importantly, he's had (and restored) Corvettes. Yup, he gets the obsession that I have with Corvettes. We toured the grounds of the Speedway for 2 days, and I told him all about my car. He told me he could get her running again. Really, I said? Even though her front and back bumpers have crumbled and fallen off? Yes. Even though she hasn't started in 5+ years? Yes. Really? Yes.

Ray's optimism was contagious. We parted ways that weekend with a promise that he was going to go home and get his tools in order and would be calling soon to schedule a time to come up and take a look. He told Dave it'd be his Christmas gift. SOME GIFT! : )