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Over the weekend, Chris and I went to Bloominton Gold, the annual Corvette show. We went with Joe, Cristina and Carl. This is the first time that any of us have gone to Gold (unless Carl had been before, I’m not sure of that), and it was awesome.

The last time I had seen that many Corvettes in one place was the summer after my junior year at IWU. That was one of the years in the recent past that Gold was back in Bloomington, and I was living in Normal for the summer. Actually being at Gold easily blew away those distant memories of driving around Bloomington-Normal during the event just to catch a glimpse of the Corvettes cruising down Main and Central, on Veterans Parkway or on I-55.

We saw some pretty awesome vehicles, as well as a few cars that would have made good projects if we had the cash and a trailer to bring one home. By far my favorite of the day was a classic reborn. I do not recall what year it was, but I would have to guess it was before ‘57. It had a custom paint job that included airbrushed flames. The custom paint extended to the engine compartment, where an LS2 engine sat with painted engine covers. Once I upload my pictures to Flickr, I’ll link one.

The Silver Salute featured Vettes from 1982, while the GoldYear field showcased the 1957 models. It was great to see the variety of cars, even among a single year. You would have 100% stock vehicles parked right next to total custom jobs with nitrous and racing slicks.

That being said, unless I am struck by good fortunes and win a jackpot, or Chevrolet puts out something spectacular that I just have to see at Gold, I am probably content with not attending Gold for another three or four years. It was great to attend it this year, but without having one of my own any more, the show lacks a certain something for me.