Passionate About Plastic

What do you call a lady who has owned 22 Corvettes since she was 17 years old? A lady who finds flooring the gas pedal of a 500hp Vette to be a near-transcendental experience that should be felt as often as possible? How about a lady who would place getting that new toy for her Vette (especially if it'll make the car go faster!) as a higher priority than putting food on the table?

This is not a trick question. Meet Peoria, Arizona's Lyn Adams. We think she's perfect, although her husband, Jody, is not necessarily so quick to agree on all counts (Guess he's got a hang up about food, or sumthin')! Jody does indeed share Lyn's enthusiasm for Vetting. His '76 with a blown 327 ("The Dawn of Cool," July 2002) inspired Lyn's "need" for her 600-plus-horsepower '66 big-block roadster ("A Healthy Fanaticism," September 2001), but it's pretty tough for anyone to keep up with her zealousness when it comes to fiberglass.

Corvettes are more than simply a hobby to Lyn; they're literally a way of life. "One time a friend of mine asked Jody what he was giving me for our anniversary, so he showed her a mass of C4 wiring," Lyn recalls. "She was shocked. Then she asked me if I was happy with my gift. I loved it! It was absolutely perfect. I'd much rather something for one of my Vettes than a diamond tennis bracelet or anything."

To Lyn, a Vette is a Vette, and she actually felt no need to move on from her modified '96 C4 when her friends at Midway Chevrolet called her up in March 2001. Because she is so deeply involved in the Corvette hobby and knows so many enthusiasts in the Phoenix area, it's usually a fair bet that she or someone she knows would be interested in buying their latest 'glass offerings. Lyn agreed to take a look at the C5 they called her about, but was quickly turned off when she discovered it was a coupe. However, she became quickly enchanted with a '00 in the shop for some minor service. It was a Millennium Yellow drop top being sold by the Honda dealership down the street. The Vette had a six-speed and was totally optioned out, but by Lyn's standards, "It was a pig!"

Despite its stock performance, the glowing yellow paint really grabbed her attention. Lyn's motto in life is to, "Go fast and look great!" and the Millennium Yellow convertible would get her halfway there. "Then Jody told me, 'don't worry, I'll make it go quick.' I knew I could count on those words. If it looked good, then Jody could fix it up and make it really quick." Thus, after a full day of hard negotiations with the Honda dealer, they left the '96 and drove home in Lyn's "slow" new Corvette.

Of course, even a bright yellow Corvette seemed a bit subtle and "ordinary" for Lyn, so the drop top soon received some flashy graphics to liven up the package even more. Artist Jim Gardner accentuated the contrast of the Vette's black top and black interior with the yellow exterior by adding an explosion of black checkers down the sides of the convertible. He then followed that up with a red "Z" pinstripe to add even more pizzazz. The solid black interior with Sport Seats was highlighted with the addition of yellow leather accents on the steering wheel and shifter boot.

The hot-looks department is important, but Lyn's top priority is 100 percent in going fast! The 345hp LS1 stayed stock only long enough for Lyn and Jody to decide how to make it more potent. That decision didn't take too much effort and the '00 got "squeezed" almost immediately by adding 150 horses of bottled throttle from Nitrous Express. "Jody had never done anything with nitrous before and wanted to try something different. It certainly is a cheap and easy way to go fast!" Lyn says approvingly. To take maximum advantage of the laughing gas, Jody also added a Vortex Rammer cold-air induction system from Breathless Performance, a 1,000cfm MAF sensor, BBK 80mm high-flow throttle body, coolant bypass kit, and MSD 8.5mm Superconductor wires for a hot spark.

The '00 also passes gas freely with headers and PRT Speedway exhaust from B&B. All this has the C5 cranking out around 500 ft-lbs of torque and 550 peppy ponies, delivering 12.2-second quarter-miles at 118mph. Lyn is satisfied--for now. And the people are certainly expressing their satisfaction with it as well. As of this printing, Lyn's '00 has earned two show wins, and both times entering the show was an afterthought! Neither time did she even bother to detail and dress the Vette up because she didn't expect to win anything, yet she drove home with first place trophies. At one show this past spring, Lyn and her friend just parked the convertible in the show and left it to go shopping for a couple hours. When they came back, they found she'd beat her entire class of all convertible Corvettes, from Sharks to the present!

When the bottle is full, Lyn is more than ready to teach those Viper guys a thing or two. In fact, she came across a friendly Viper rival of hers with a license plate that read "Vette Eater." She was anxious to give him some indigestion until she remembered the bottle was empty. That will doubtlessly not happen again because she always strives to represent the very best that Corvette can offer. Corvette "enthusiast" doesn't even begin to adequately describe Lyn. We'd rather consider her a Corvette extremist, since Lyn is indisputably, undeniably, categorically, and beyond all doubt, absolutely, positively, certifiably obsessed--and for that we commend her!