In the summer of 1954 and 1955 my family took a break from living in our 4 room apartment in Queens and rented part of a house for the summer in Long Beach, NY. My Dad commuted on the Long Island Railroad to Manhattan every day and we would pick him up at the train station each evening. One evening, while we were waiting in the parking lot, from the back window of our 1953 Oldsmobile I saw my first Corvette that had pulled in behind us. I thought that car was so cool and I couldn’t get over the stone guards over the headlights.

As the years went on, I finished high school, college, got married and had children. I always kept that Corvette in the back of my mind and vowed that someday when I could afford to buy one, I would do just that. I started my own business in 1979 and within a few years, had some extra money to buy a Corvette. In my previous job, I worked with a fellow who was into old cars and we talked about his ’32 Ford from time to time. That gave me the idea that it might be interesting to buy an older Corvette, so in 1982 I found a nice driver quality 1960 model with a replacement 283 out of a ’63 full sized Chevy. Having a limited budget, I basically maintained the car and fixed a lot of the little things that needed repair. My biggest cash outlay was for the installation of a new convertible top. Because the top frame was probably mis-aligned, holes started appearing on the sides of the top behind the side windows.

I enjoyed that car for 13 years and had lots of nice memories of driving around doing errands with my children and shuttling them to their various activities. By 1995 my son was getting ready to go to college and I felt it was time to sell the car to help pay for his education. I sold the car for twice what I had into it and sadly delivered it to it’s new owner.

Fast forward to 2004 and by now both children had been put through college, my divorce was in the rear view mirror and I again had a few bucks in my pocket. I had been driving a used Miata for a couple of years, just to have a fun car to drive on the weekends, but I really wanted to buy another Corvette. Through my attending car shows, I connected with the NGCA and started attending meetings early that year. Everyone was very helpful in teaching me more about the cars and where to try to find one. After a lot of searching, I found a previously restored 1966 Convertible which I still own to this day.

At the end of 2013, I retired and bought a small home in South Florida and started to get into the car show scene down there. I thought to myself that this must be what Southern California is like, with car shows all over the place and Corvette clubs spaced about 20 miles from one another. I had to be a part of that, so in December of 2014, I shipped my car to Florida and joined the Sting Rays Corvette Club, which limits membership to those that own second generation Corvettes. That car sits waiting for me each December when I migrate to Florida.

I have enjoyed the experience in Florida but I found myself without a Corvette for the summer months in New Jersey, especially missing the Fun Runs. In the Spring of 2017 I found a very nice 2006 Convertible for sale with low miles and have enjoyed that car here in New Jersey ever since.

The experiences I’ve had and the friends I’ve made along the way have really enriched my life so much and I am so proud to be a 20+ year member of the Natural Glass Corvette Association.

—Jeff Sklar