National Corvette Museum's Anniversary Celebration - Celebrating Mile Stones

Any event at the NCM is guarantied to be special. While the facility itself is relatively new, it is steeped in the aura, the glory of the Corvette's almost five decades as an automotive icon, and going to an event at-or just visiting-the Museum is always a treat.

The annual Labor Day anniversary soirees tend to be above and beyond the level of excellence that can be expected at "normal" NCM gatherings. First and foremost, the anniversaries signify the Museum's existence and, against all odds, its survival and growing health as an institution. The small but highly dedicated staff regularly pulls out all the stops in designing events that will be truly memorable. And, for the fourth continuous year, a new group of honorees are inducted into the Museum's Corvette Hall of Fame.

As we announced in last May's issue, 2001's three Hall of Famers were retired Corvette engineer and amateur road racer Gib Hufstader; pioneer lady racer and record-setting pilot Betty Skelton-Frankman; and Joe Spielman, NCRS member, a vital member of the C5's pre-production team, and currently Vice President and General Manager of GM's Metal Fabricating Division. This distinguished trio joins a dozen prior inductees including: (1998) Ed Cole, Zora Arkus-Duntov, Harley Earl, Bill Mitchell, Joe Pike and Larry Shinoda; (1999) Dick Guldstrand, Dave McLellean, and Jim Perkins; (2000) John Fitch, Jerry Palmer, and Dr. Dick Thompson. An illustrious group, indeed!

In addition to the Corvette Hall of Fame induction banquet and ceremony, held Friday evening, August 31st, the Museum's 7th Anniversary celebration included a Corvette Motorama that featured nearly two dozen '53-55 Vettes on display and the first-ever reunion of all four CERVs-parked together inside the museum for five very special days. Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean's '69 Stingray coupe, our November '01 cover car, was joined on display with Corvettes once owned and occasionally raced by astronauts Alan Shepherd and Jim Lovell. With Beech Bend Raceway just a few miles to the west of the Museum, Corvettes-only autocross and drag racing have become de rigueur for NCM events, and the 7th Anniversary celebration was no exception.

Also S.O.P. (standard operating procedure) for an NCM event are highly informative seminars. The Corvette Celebration had a full slate of seminars with topics ranging from radar detectors (conducted by Escort's Randall Shinn) to Dr. Dick "The Flying Dentist" Thompson talking about the early days of Corvette racing, and Corvette Brand Manager Rick Baldick (ably assisted by racing legend Dick Guldstrand and C5-R pilot Andy Pilgrim) discussing the 2001 Corvette racing season. Other seminars included C4 Troubleshooting with tech guru Gordon Killebrew, Performance of Future Sportscars with retired Chief Engineer Dave McLellan and Powertrain's Jim Minneker, and current Chief Engineer Dave Hill leading a session about Corvette C5 Model Year 2002. For design fanatics, there were looks to the past as well as the present and future with retired GM designer George Prentice heading up a session devoted to Harley Earl and the Beginning: 1953 through 1955 Corvettes, and Cheating the Wind: the Art of Corvette Aerodynamic Design with C5 Chief Designer John Cafaro and GM Design's head honcho Jerry Palmer.