Welcome To The
New Mexico Corvette Association
NMCA Corvettes & owners enjoy a day in the park
Latest Updates To This Site
EVENTS updated- 1/16/12
NEWSLETTER / MINUTES added - 1/25/12
STORY added - 11/8/11
FOR SALE updated - 1/26/12
PHOTOS OR VIDEO added - 10/10/11
Congratulations to Doug Arney, NMCA Pesron Of The Year - 2011
1958 restoration project listed - see For Sale
The ultimate drag race - see Video section
Hooters Halloween Car Show
Saturday October 29th at Hooters on the east side started out fairly cold and some true
car-show-people showed up at 2:30 am to get a premium parking spot. This was the biggest
show of the year and had a very good turnout.
The cars were decorated for Halloween as were the people to the max. Spiders, black
cats, rats and pumpkins could be found everywhere and an occasional witch. Club members
Doug Arney, Dan Bond, James Griego, James Romero and David Gwilt showed their Corvettes.
Mike Rothman showed his Chevy powered 36 Ford, Steve Haydu showed his 57 Chevy.
Everyone received an award for their efforts including a first place that went to
David Gwilt for his outstanding 2007 C6. Several club members who didn't show their
cars showed up and we all lunched together.
Submitted by Mike Rothman
11/3/11
Happy Birthday Corvette
June 28, 1953 - The Corvette birthday.
On this day in 1953, workers at a Chevrolet plant in Flint, Michigan, assemble the first
Corvette, a two-seater sports car that would become an American icon. The first completed
production car rolled off the assembly line two days later, one of just 300 Corvettes made
that year.
The idea for the Corvette originated with General Motors' pioneering designer Harley J.
Earl, who in 1951 began developing plans for a low-cost American sports car that could
compete with Europe's MGs, Jaguars and Ferraris. The project was eventually code-named
"Opel." In January 1953, GM debuted the Corvette concept car at its Motorama auto show
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. It featured a fiberglass body and a
six-cylinder engine and according to GM, was named for the "trim, fleet naval vessel
that performed heroic escort and patrol duties during World War II." The Corvette was a
big hit with the public at Motorama and GM soon put the roadster into production.
On June 30, 1953, the first Corvette came off the production line in Flint. It was
hand-assembled and featured a Polo White exterior and red interior, two-speed Powerglide
automatic transmission, a wraparound windshield, whitewall tires and detachable plastic
curtains instead of side windows. The earliest Corvettes were designed to be opened from
the inside and lacked exterior door handles. Other components included a clock, cigarette
lighter and red warning light that activated when the parking brake was applied--a new
feature at the time. The car carried an initial price tag of $3,490 and could go from
zero to 60 miles per hour in 11 or 12 seconds, then considered a fairly average speed.
In 1954, the Corvette went into mass production at a Chevy plant in St. Louis, Missouri.
Sales were lackluster in the beginning and GM considered discontinuing the line. However,
rival company Ford had introduced the two-seater Thunderbird around the same time and GM
did not want to be seen bowing to the competition. Another critical development in the
Corvette's survival came in 1955, when it was equipped with the more powerful V-8 engine.
Its performance and appeal steadily improved after that and it went on to earn the nickname
"America's sports car" and become ingrained in pop culture through multiple references in
movies, television and music.
Submitted by Phil Ellison
6/28/11
NMCA Caravan Heads West In March
Sunday March 20th sixteen members and visitors met at Shane LeMon's office under sunny
skies and followed activities co-director Wallace Bow on a trek west of town. We headed
west on I-40 and hopped off to run a short section of old Route 66 past 'Owl Rock'
(which really does look like an owl) and around 'Deadman's Curve' (not the one in the
Jan and Dean song, but pretty cool anyway!) Here is a link to a pretty cool video of
the Jan and Dean song in case you don't remember it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anq4wdZc2Ow&NR=1
We headed south along the eastern edge of the El Malpais lava flows to La Ventana,
the second largest natural arch in the state. We got some great pictures and the weather
was perfect for the short hike to the arch. We stopped at the El Malpais Ranger Station
to peruse the visitor center and then were off to the Sky City Casino for the lunch buffet.
Doug Arney demonstrated how to play the slots by investing $1.25 for a $223.00 return
(how come I never have that kind of luck???). The food was great, the company terrific
and we headed on back to Albuquerque for my afternoon nap.
By the way, Cindy and I have strange imaginations, can you find the 'Jaba The Hut' in the pictures? [see photo album]
Submitted by Stephen Hopkins
3/21/11
NMCA Scores Big At 2011 Super Nationals
NMCA won the Best Club Display award which included a $250 cash award, plus all
Corvettes displayed won awards!
Donnie Marchi's '65 scored a 1st place in class and Outstanding Restored
Bill Jackson's '61 scored a 3rd place
Steve Hopkins's '82 scored a 3rd place
James Griego's '94 scored a 1st place
Jim Tilghman's '05 scored a 2nd place
Rich Mleczko's '04 scored a 3rd place
Thanks to our activities directors Shane LeMon and Wallace Bow. They really put
together a great team of ideas and great execution. Thanks to all the people that
helped at the work parties leading up to the show and the people that manned the
booth during the show. We handed out quite of few membership applications and got
to trade a few barbs with Mustang and Viper owners.
We even got a visit from Candy Clark, who played Debbie in the classic cruising movie
'American Graffiti'.
And, we sure got lucky on the weather. As I write this we are headed into the nastiest,
coldest weather we've seen for decades. But the weather over the three days of the auto
show was great!
See many more photos of this exciting event in the photo album section of this site.
Submitted by Stephen Hopkins
2/2/11
More stories can be viewed using the "News & Stories" link
NMCA, PO Box 91355, Albuquerque, NM 87199 :: info@nmcorvette.org