Car lovers in the mood to buy (or sell!) a late-model Corvette must add the 37th Bloomington Gold Corvette Show to their calendars for this summer. The event takes place June 25-28, 2009 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Ill.
"As the longest running continuous Corvette show since 1973, Bloomington Gold offers hundreds of new and used C5 and C6 Corvettes for sale by both Chevrolet dealers and private owners, and they're all conveniently available in the same place for enthusiasts to browse," said David Burroughs, CEO of Bloomington Gold.
In addition to Corvettes, you can also grab a few items for your car and garage by stopping by the hundreds of vendors selling products for the C5/C6 marketing - everything from clothing to add-on accessories - as well as a new vendor area selling non-Corvette merchandise.
Sounds intriguing, right? We had Burroughs answer a few more questions we thought might be on your mind so you can learn all there is to know about America's Original Corvette Show.
In addition to finding the Corvette of my dreams, what other activities are at Bloomington Gold for C5/C6 owners? Bloomington Gold offers a numerous social and driving events for attendees to participate in, including the GoldField Display where owners can park among thousands of other Corvettes in the most beautiful setting on the Pheasant Run Golf Course.
If it's driving you're into, join Corvette enthusiasts in the annual Bloomington Gold GoldTour - a 35-mile road trip through rural Kane County, Ill., that takes place this year on Saturday, June 27, starting at 5 p.m. Featuring more than 600 Corvettes ranging from first-generation 1953s to the latest C6 masterpieces, the GoldTour takes Corvette owners on a loop from the Kane County Judicial Center through the rural roads and countryside. We started the GoldTour in 1984, attracting more than 500 Corvettes to travel on the Illinois highways and back roads. The event set the 1994 Guinness World Record with a total of 2,223 Corvettes on a single road tour.
The driving event is free to any Corvette owner who attends the Bloomington Gold Corvette Show. There are also plenty of after-hours parties in St. Charles and surrounding towns to keep the party going long after the show ends.
What details can you share about this year's Special Collection?
Each year for 25 years, Bloomington Gold has created a themed collection of significant Corvettes to display for show-goers. This year's event, Special Collection XXV: The Grand Finale, is a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of the rarest Corvettes ever assembled and will likely never be done again in the lifetimes of today's Corvette owners.
Consider this: Since production started, about 1.5 million Corvettes have been built. Over the past 25 Special Collections, Bloomington Gold has displayed more than 500 of the most historically significant ones. This year, we will feature 50 of the best cars from the past 25 years, representing the most important cars in Corvette history from 1953 through 2010.
Special Collection XXV is free to all who attend Bloomington Gold and will be open Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
What certification is available for late-model Corvettes?
You can have your C5/C6 Gold Certified to add to its credibility and value. Gold Certification means that a Corvette has been preserved in or restored to within 95% of the way it appeared factory new. The goal is to attain historic perfection, not cosmetic, in order to preserve their unique histories and character for generations to come.
Why was Bloomington Gold created?
Until June 1973, older Corvettes were just thought of as used cars. Then things changed forever on the site of the McLean County Fairgrounds in Bloomington, Ill. More than 35 years ago, the Bloomington Corvette Show became the very first national show created specifically for the purpose of selling Corvettes and Corvette parts. The word-of-mouth traveled fast and within several years, literally thousands and thousands of Corvettes ended up in Bloomington for the show. Today, Bloomington Gold is still setting the quality standards for Corvette shows and continues to innovate events and concepts.
It's been said that several Bloomington area "locals" who were searching for Corvette parts were too lazy to drive all the way to the big swap meet in Hershey, Pa. So, they sent out flyers to Midwest Corvette clubs advertising a Corvette-only swap meet and inviting parts swappers to bring their parts to Bloomington instead. It worked. Then in order to add a little spice to the otherwise dull future of a swap meet only, a local stock broker funded trophies for original, unrestored and custom classes to be judged by good old boys from the local clubs. Although the bar wasn't set too high in terms of judges' qualifications, the stock broker's personal tastes favored original cars and the course was charted with an emphasis on originality from day one.
The judging standards may be a bit stricter today, but the DNA of the judging has stayed the course for 35 years. Add to the event a little driving, and the Corvette market of the 1970s turned the Bloomington Corvette Show into a commercial mega-event.
Visit www.bloomingtongold.com or call 309.888.4477 to get your tickets or register your call for sale today!