VETTE NEWS Volume 27, Issue 02 February 2008 President s Corner What s Happening Hello All Corvettes of Buffalo Members & Friends! It was great to see such good attendance at the January meeting! I want to congratulate all the Officers and Board Members that were sworn into office at the last meeting. The club is blessed with a great team that will lead and manage the business affairs for another year! On a personal note, and as your President, I want to thank all the members for your support and patience during the past year. The club did very well in 2007 but the success and memorable events happened because of the participation by all of you. I hope you all enjoyed the January newsletter pictures reminding us of some fun times we had in 2007. Webmaster, Jim Bonus did a great job by including these for us. Thanks Jim! The Corvettes of Buffalo had a group in attendance at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan on January 25 & 26th. The show was huge with exhibits of new cars, trucks, crossovers and concept cars from all over the world. But the new 620 HP Corvette ZR- 1 that was on display, along with its sibling an Atomic Orange Roadster, were constantly attracting big crowds! They are beautiful and a real bargain as compared to the expensive foreign competitors. I was told GM is only making 2,000 ZR-1 Corvettes globally which means not all of them will be sold in the USA. So, if you re saving your pennies for one of these beauties, you may have to wait awhile. Our 2008 Newly Elected Officers February Pizza Party Following the February club meeting, there will be a Pizza Party at the Church on Main Street in Clarence, NY. New Members to be voted on Ray Zelinski and Sam Iraci. Ray & Sam missed being voted in last month. Installation Dinner & Dance- If you are planning on going to the dinner/dance, the menu & reservation form is on the last page of the newsletter. Please fill it out and send it to Carol along with your payment. Don t forget to also send Carol a picture of your favorite Corvette. Deadline is end of February. OFFICAL PUBLICATION OF www.corvettesofbuffalo.com CORVETTES of BUFFALO pg 1
Officers President Skip Polowy 716-741-7677 Vice President Frank Pastore 716-694-9024 Secretary Linda Bonus 716-695-7643 Treasurer Mel Skeide 716-876-1194 Board of Directors Pete Ricigliano 716-634-6101 Jim Bonus 716-695-7643 Jim Lawson 716-838-2920 Jim Brett 716-684-9364 Reas Graber 716-634-4656 Committees Membership Marianne Pastore 716-694-9024 Newsletter Jim & Linda Bonus 716-695-7643 Phone Comm. Nancy Graber 716-634-4656 Sunshine Comm. Ruth Mussehl 716-685-3281 Webmaster Jim Bonus Meeting every second Saturday of the month at First Presbyterian Church 9875 Main St. Clarence, NY Meeting starts 7:00 p.m. With February already here, I hope your looking forward to our annual pizza party after the February club meeting. We had a sign up list at the January meeting and I expect a full house (church) to enjoy the pizza, wings and social get-together for some laughs & fun! If you missed the January meeting and plan to join us for the pizza party, please call Maureen Polowy at 741-7677 by Wednesday February 6 th. The pizza, wings, and drinks are sponsored by the club and all are invited, including prospective members. As many of you know, we submitted our club sponsored events to the Clutch Artist calendar to be published for all the area clubs to see. We will be hosting a Super Cruise event at David Chevrolet on Thursday May 29th and our All Corvette Caravan is scheduled on Sunday August 17 th. Our club activities calendar will be developed after we get the Clutch Artist calendar to use as a guide. For anyone interested, I am organizing a President s Day Dinner Party on Sunday, February 17 th at a local restaurant. More details will be explained at the February meeting. Just a reminder that Carol Kinney or Lynn Ienco needs a picture of your favorite Corvette for the special prizes to be given out at the Annual Officers Installation Banquet by March 7 th. Please get send them in as soon as possible! Save the wave! Skip Polowy Corvettes of Buffalo is open to all Corvette owners and enthusiasts over the age of 21 Visit us at http://www.corvettesofbuffalo.com/ Send Articles To: Jim Bonus, 1012 Castlebar Drive North Tonawanda, NY 14120 E-Mail : mailto:jwbonus@roadrunner.com Submissions must be in by 26 th CORVETTES of BUFFALO pg 2
Installation Dinner Dance The Installation Dinner Dance Committee is requesting anyone attending the Dinner Dance who wishes to participate in the photograph surprise to submit their corvette photo to Lynn Ienco ASAP (by COB meeting night 2/9/08). All photographs will be returned to the owner after completion of this project. Hopefully everyone will be pleasantly surprised! Please send photos to: email redptcruiserli@verizon.net 0r Mail to Lynn Ienco 49 Cable Street Buffalo NY 14223-2005 Looking forward to seeing your corvette photos! Dinner Dance Committee FEBRUARY COB BIRTHDAYS 12 th Dan Hess 15 th Lori Lynch 19 th Pat Mangan 20 th Skip Polowy 22 nd Debbie Kopecki 24 th Maureen Polowy COB ANNIVERSARIES 3 rd Pamm & Ed Seifert 21 st Rose & Peter Ricigliano Early C-3 For Sale I'm writing now with some information about a Corvette I'm familiar with down here in the Sebring/Lake Placid area. Someone in the club expressed a desire for an early C-3 big block, but I don't remember who. If you could pass this on either at a meeting or by email, anyone who is interested could contact me and I'll put them in touch with the owner, who now wants to sell it. I hate to see him sell it, but would love to see it go to COB!! The couple who own this car have owned it since 1982, and they are the second owners!! They bought the car with 18,000 miles, and it has only 22,000 now! It is a silver, 390 HP, 427 CI 4 speed convertible. They also have the hardtop and the original tires. Other than tires and mufflers and battery, the car is all original. It won first place in the Caladium festival car show in the 1953-1982 stock Corvette category, beating my 69 which took second. You don't see many originals in as nice shape as this, and this is a great opportunity for someone who wants an early C-3 that will also be a great investment!!! If anyone is interested, tell them to call or email me and I'll put them in touch with the owner. We have started to make preparations for the Stingray Rt. 66 tour in April, and I plan to be back in WNY in time for the May meeting. Hope anyone who's coming to South Florida in the next two and a half months will get in touch!! See you in May! John Meyerhoff CORVETTES of BUFFALO pg 3
Corvette History February 2, 1993: The term "STINGRAY" is registered as a trademark to General Motors February 9, 1995: The first alpha test C5 Corvette enters public roads for the first time February 11, 1962: At the Daytona Continental race, Dick Thompson and Don Yenko race a 1962 Corvette of the Gulf Oil racing team to first in A/Production class, and seventh overall. February 19, 1994: Reeves Callaway decides to produce a modified Corvette to race at Le Mans, the first time for a Corvette in almost 20 years. February 20, 1954: The Ford Motor Company shows the Thunderbird two-seat convertible in Detroit. The Thunderbird is a major part of General Motors' decision to continue production of the Corvette. COB South Wins Again The Classic Corvettes of Orlando Club is like Tri-Five in Buffalo. You have to have a C-1 or C-2 to belong. I'm amazed they gave best of show to a C-3!! There were 130 some cars and lots of nice C-1s and 2s. I didn't think I'd be able to get her head in the car!!! She was so shocked and excited she dropped the trophy coming down the steps from the Grandstand!! And guess what happened just as they began the awards presentations. Yup--it poured!! It happens in Florida too! Hope all are well and looking forward to Spring for another Vette Season!! John Meyerhoff February, 1955: The basic design of the 1956 model Corvette is completed February, 1966: At the Daytona Continental endurance race, Roger Penske's 1966 Corvette with 427 ci engine finishes first in GT class. February, 1968: At the 24-hour Daytona Continental race, Sunray DX Oil Company enters three Corvettes. Jerry Grant and Dave Morgan race a 1967 L88 Corvette (car No. 31). Revson/Yenko race 1968 L88 Corvette (No. 29). DeLorenzo/Thompson race 1968 L88 Corvette (No. 30). This is the racing debut of the 1968 model Corvette. The Grant/Morgan car finishes first in GT class and 10th overall. February, 1993: General Motors Powertrain Division decides to discontinue development of the Gen II engine as a small-block, and create a new medium-displacement V-8 engine. February, 2000: The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is held in Florida. Chevrolet enters its two C5-R Corvette race cars. One places second, 31 seconds behing the winner. The other places 24th CORVETTES of BUFFALO pg 4
Scenes From The Detroit 2008 Auto Show CORVETTES of BUFFALO pg 5
ANNUAL COB OFFICERS INSTALLATION DINNER & DANCE SUZANNE S FINE DINNING 2843 Niagara Falls Blvd. Wheatfield 694-6562 Saturday, March 15 th, 6 pm until 10:30pm Join us for our annual COB Officers Installation Dinner & Dance. We will meet for cocktails and hors d oeuvres at 6pm, dine at 7pm, and music by TJ s Absolute Sound all evening. Menu Choices Filet Mignon $14/member $28/guest Lemon Chicken $10.50/member $21/guest Crab-stuffed Haddock $11.50/member $23/guest With Orange Hollandaise All entrees served with rolls & butter, cup of soup, baked potato, chef s choice of vegetable, coffee or tea, and Tuxedo Torte for dessert. The entrée price includes tax and gratuity. The club will provide the hors d oeuvres and an open bar with wine, beer, and sodas for the cocktail hour. The hors d oeuvres include bruschetta, Swedish meatballs, stuffed mushroom caps, artichoke hearts augratin, and mini quiche. Please complete the reservation form and mail it with your check By Friday, March 7 th. Carol Kinney 693-4255 C5jackandcarol@yahoo.com Please mail your check payable to Corvettes of Buffalo and reservation form to: Carol Kinney, 3890 Wildwing Drive, Wheatfield, NY 14120 Name: Phone Menu Choice: Steak Chicken Haddock Name: Menu Choice: Steak Chicken Haddock Guest s Name: Guest s menu choice CORVETTES of BUFFALO pg 6
P. O. Box 161 West Seneca, NY 14224 ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED CORVETTES of BUFFALO pg 7