[VIDEO] Now and Then: The Corvette Stingray

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[VIDEO] Now and Then: The Corvette Stingray

Here’s a short “Now & Then” documentary by Graeme Jenvey that’ll definitely put a smile on a Corvette enthusiast’s face.

In the six-and-a-half minute video, a long-time Corvette lover named Joe Gallo shares his thoughts about his 1965 Corvette Sting Ray, then contrasts it with a 2014 Stingray.

“The earliest memory was walking home from school and seeing a Corvette Sting Ray race a Jaguar, a British Racing Green Jaguar,” Gallo recalls, “and we talked about this for weeks as kids. We would draw on our books the Corvette beating this Jaguar, leaving it in the dust, and I’d wanted one ever since I can remember.”

One day, when he was 27 years old, Gallo picked up a magazine with a Daytona Blue split window coupe on the cover, “and I thought, God, what a beautiful car! I looked to the left and there was an Auto Trader and I thought, hmmmm. I pick up the Auto Trader, come home, open the page, and there it was – my car! I just couldn’t believe how beautiful the car was. I mean it really knocked my socks off.”

[VIDEO] Now and Then: The Corvette Stingray

Gallo couldn’t get the car out of his mind and wound up cleaning out his bank account that he’d been saving for 10 years and bought his dream car – a 1965 327/365 hp car – one of just 227 cars with air conditioning.

Years later, the love for the car continues.

“Some of the classic cars kinda ride like a boat anchor, if you really want to know,” he says. “This particular car … by 1963, Corvettes had four-wheel independent suspension. I mean the handling was phenomenal and this car being almost 50 years of age, it’s phenomenal how well it rides compared to today’s cars.”

Speaking of today’s cars, Gallo is equally as impressed with the 2014 Stingray.

“I think with this car they really nailed it,” he says of the seventh-generation Corvette. “They brought back a lot of styling, and that’s what the car needed. I love the way they brought the hood grilles back into play. The back hatch, the way it’s configured and it slopes back. The exhaust note. You know, you got navigation, and then you got all the other electronic stuff that is just above and beyond comprehension. No, they nailed it – General Motors really did their homework on this one.”

[VIDEO] Now and Then: The Corvette Stingray

Gallo calls it a “world-class piece of equipment” that for $70,000 will put you on a level – or above – playing field with Ferraris and Porsches.

Of course, a lot has happened in the automotive world from 1965 to 2014. “They’re a world apart,” Gallo says of the two Corvettes.

“The 2014 is phenomenal,” he says. “It almost drives itself. Whereas the older Corvette, yeah, you’ve got to work it, you know, it’s not as easy to drive.”

Still though, in the end, both are Corvettes.

“Both cars exhuberate a certain type of excitement,” he says. “And whether you’re driving the ’65 or whether you’re driving the 2014, the minute you get out of the car, you’ve got a smile on your face from ear to ear!”


Source:
autofocus.ca via jdpmotorsports.com

Related:
[VIDEO] New vs Classic – C7 Corvette Stingray Compared to 1963 Corvette Sting Ray
[VIDEO] 1963 Corvette Sting Ray in Jay Leno’s Garage
One-Owner 1963 Corvette Still Going Strong

 



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