This article appeared in the August 2020 issue of Vette Vues Magazine.
Photo Credits: Mark Jenkins, Alex Rivera and Bob Wright
Date of article June 17, 2020
I think it is safe to say, the COVID-19 has changed all of our lives as well as how we get to enjoy our Corvettes.
As I’m writing this article, I learned that today, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is suing Carlisle Events and wants to stop the Spring Carlisle car show (which started today). The event had already been rescheduled.
So many Corvette shows have been canceled or rescheduled. It has been a very hard period for shows and promoters.
Vette Vues was fortunate to be able to hold the Corvette Chevy Expo on March 14 and 15, as the virus was just beginning to be the topic at hand. But when we left the convention center on Sunday night, they locked the doors and did not open up again until June.
Saturday, March 7, we left Florida to head to Galveston Island, Texas, for our event. We traveled over the weekend so we would be able to handle the phone on Monday…never dreaming what was ahead.
When we got to Galveston, we learned that five people in Houston had been affected by the virus from a cruise down the Nile River, but they were in quarantine. A few days later, a man who attended a barbeque at the Houston Rodeo was thought to possibly have the coronavirus and was tested, but the results were not in yet.
By Thursday, the Rodeo was shut down, and the mayor of Houston had also shut down all events in the city.
The phone was very busy with close to 100 calls a day leading into the show. The main question was, “are you going to cancel.” There were no reported cases in Galveston county at that time, and only the five and possibly six who had the virus in Houston, so we decided to proceed.
We had numerous cancellations due to the concerns. As vendor spaces canceled, new vendors wanted those spots because the event they were scheduled for was canceled. In the end, we ended up with about 140 vendor spaces that were occupied.
Friday afternoon, we got word our judging team was not going to be able to make it from Chicago. Space City Corvette’s judging team headed up by Tom Fulmer was kind enough to come on such short notice and fill the void.
The show cars also had a large number of cancellations, and there were certainly vacant spots in the show. But all in all, we did end up with some beautiful cars on display, and we’d love to share some of them with you.
Hopefully, by next year this will all be behind us, and you will join us on Galveston Island, Texas, for the 43rd Corvette Chevy Expo on March 13 & 14, 2021.
Corvette Chevy Expo Best of Show: Corvette, Camaro, Chevy, Chevy Truck
Corvette Chevy Expo Best Display Award
You can read more about Roger’s Corvette HERE.
Corvette Chevy Expo People’s Choice Award
Vette Vues Magazine Historical Award
Our feature Corvette at the 2020 Corvette Chevy Expo was the Alan Bean’s 1969 AstroVette. This historical vehicle has been featured before in Vette Vues Magazine, but this time it comes with a very prestigious award. In fact, it is the first Corvette to be recognized by the Historic Vehicle Association (HVA) as a historically important vehicle and enshrined in the National Historic Vehicle Register. You can read about it on the Corvette Chevy Expo’s blog post https://corvettechevyexpo.com/feature-corvette-hva-alan-beans-1969-astrovette/
Danny Reed was awarded the Vette Vues Historic Award for his 1969 Alan Bean AstroVette.
Danny put up a great display of memorabilia and among it was this photo of Alan Bean’s 1969 AstroVette in the Cars at the Capital exhibit on the National Mall in Washington DC. The Apollo 12 Corvette was displayed from September 12th through September 19, 2019. Photo Credits: Historic Vehicle Association.
The flag was flown over the United States Capital on July 20, 2019, in honor of the Cars at the Capital 2019 and presented to the Reed Family.
Corvette Chevy Expo Class Winners
Another historical Corvette that was there was a 1954. The 1954 is the second year for the new Sports Car. The first year was only available in Polo White. In addition to Polo White, carried over from 1953, you could now order the Corvette in Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red or Black. Chevrolet also added an available beige convertible top. All models still had red interiors, save for the Pennant Blue models, which had a beige interior as well as the beige soft top. Like the ’53, the ’54 model had clip-in side windows, which would be phased out for 1955. There were 3,640 produced, making this car very rare from the start and now 67 years later, even rarer!
1st in the C2 Survivor Class went to Kathy Richardson with her 1963 Corvette. Kathy is a long-time resident of Galveston and also does the judging for the Show’ n Shine at the Expo.
