Check out this garage!

A regular reader of "Under The Hood" sent me this great info about his Corvette collection. I hoped to fit it in Old Cars Weekly, but we ran out of room. I couldn't let a great treat like this go to waste, so check out what reader Michael Brown had to say about his love of Corvettes. And be sure to check out the link to his site showing his incredible collection!

Michael wrote:
If you love Corvettes, that says it all. You just love Corvettes.
There’s no explaining it further, and frankly, there’s no need to.

With so many great choices in Corvette’s six generations (so far), it was
hard to narrow down a theme for a collection I started more than two
decades ago. But I did. My goal throughout was to assemble a
"mini-history" of America’s only true sports car.

The first Corvette I ever saw in person was the ‘63 split window. It hit
showroom floors during the fall of my junior year in high school. Hugo,
Oklahoma, would never be the same for me after that car came to town. Oh,
I’d fallen in love with pictures of 'Vettes long before that and had
watched "Route 66" on TV. But seeing that ‘63 changed everything for me.

It would be 22 long years after that before I would have one of my own,
but a ‘63 split window became the cornerstone of my collection...and it
still is. My son was 10 when I bought it and now he’s in his early 30s
and has a 4-year old who thinks Papa’s Corvette collection is pretty
cool. I'm pleased to say my son is doing his part to carry Corvette love
forward. Other cars followed on an irregular basis, and each one was
welcomed into the fold. Though they have sometimes been crowded, none
has ever spent a night outside a garage after I acquired it.

Finally, I was able to build the garage last year for the collection I’d
wanted to construct for a long time. My first ever visit to the National
Corvette Museum in Bowling Green during construction (well worth the
trip from anywhere!), and it gave me the inspiration for my collection’s garage
and website slogan: "The Best Little Corvette Museum West of Bowling
Green." Check out www.hookedonvettes.com.

Agreed, I’m not very objective. Some may think it’s far from the second
best, but that’s OK. I’ll admit a complete lack of objectivity. Still,
it’s a fair representation of Corvette history with at least one car
from each of the six generations of Corvette, heavily loaded in the C1
and C2 generations. And out of only 10 'Vettes, all silver, black or a
combination of the two exterior colors, you’ll find four milestone
anniversary cars, two fuelies, a big block ‘67, a couple of Z06s,
coupes, convertibles, a T-top, a glass top, a Pace Car, bookends for a
whole generation (C2) and a six-cylinder "putt-putt" ‘54. And, oh yeah,
three of my four high school years are represented. Grow up?!! What’s
the fun in that?

This Baby Boomer plans to leave the world the same way he
entered: kicking and screaming. But hopefully, not for a long time.
After all, when GM adds another generation of Vettes, I’m going to need
to be around to figure out how to add on to the garage!

Michael Brown
Arlington, Texas