[VIDEO] This 1955 Corvette Sees Daylight after Being Parked for 40 Years

By
Mitch Talley
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6
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[VIDEO] This 1955 Corvette Sees Daylight after Being Parked for 40 Years


Check out this great video that offers some more background about the 1955 Corvette we told you about earlier this month that has finally come out of hiding after 20 years in a Texas garage.

Bob Doucette’s father bought him the car on April 2, 1968 as a high school graduation present for the princely sum of $600, though minus a hood and some of the trim work. Now more than 50 years later, Bob still owns the Corvette, one of just 700 made that year.

After about a decade of enjoying the car as a member of Corvette clubs, autocross racing, drag racing, and road rallying, Bob became a family man and parked the car. In fact, he recently removed the cover for barn find videographer Jerry Heasley after it had been parked in a garage for 20 years, away from virtually everyone’s eyes and shared his thoughts about owning the same car for a half century.

This 1955 Corvette Sees Daylight after Being Parked for 40 Years


“It wasn’t so much that I was trying to hide it,” Bob explained. “I wanted to get it some place where it was safe and was out of the weather cause people wanted to buy it over the years. I’ve had numerous people that wanted to buy it and I won’t part with it, at least probably not my lifetime because of the sentimental value.”

Jerry asked him how he would respond to people who think he’s not getting any enjoyment out of the car with it tucked away.

“Well, there’s mixed emotions about it,” Bob replied. “They do have their point, and people do kinda chide me occasionally about that – you’ve had it all these years and you used to drive it regularly and had a lot of fun with it and did many car events and various shows and fun things. And then kind of raising a family set in and I parked it and afterwards once the kids got all grown and gone out, I never got it back out again.

This 1955 Corvette Sees Daylight after Being Parked for 40 Years


“It doesn’t really bother me in a real bad way that I’ve got it parked and hid in here because I’m comfortable that it’s safe and out of the weather, and I still have it and I take pride in that, that I haven’t relinquished it and then felt remorse over it.”

Jerry asked him what pleasure he gets from the car now.

“Well, let me think about that,” he said. “I guess really the enjoyment now is just the feeling that I have one of the few that are still left and that many people that I’ve run into in recent years, younger people, do not know that they even existed, that they made a Corvette in the ‘50s or what they looked like.”

This 1955 Corvette Sees Daylight after Being Parked for 40 Years


Now, though, Bob says he hopes to get the Corvette cleaned up and running again so that his grandkids can be delivered to the prom in unique style in the next couple of years.

Indeed, he sounds ready to turn the car over to a new generation to take care of.

“I’ve got 50 years of history with it since I’ve had it,” Bob says, “and that has a lot of meaning to me. I guess that’s kinda why I would never have any good feeling about selling it cause I just think I would have great remorse if I did. Cause I think I would like to get it back out now that I’ve uncovered it, and it’s lost its out of sight, out of mind status. It kind of makes me want to actually get it out and clean it up, get it running again and fix it enough to make it a driver.”


Source:
Yahoo.com

Related:
[VIDEO] Gary Gove Starts Up a Vintage 1966 Corvette He Raced 51 Years Ago
[VIDEO] Man Buys Back His Dad’s 1965 Corvette 45 Years Later
[VIDEO] Restoration Update on the Barn Find 1966 Corvette Pulled From Iowa Farm

 



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6 COMMENTS

  3. I had a ’55 Corvette years ago. Mine was #541 of the 700 made. I would love to know what number this car is. Owners of ’55s like to share that information. Hint, hint!

  4. This is absolutely wonderful… I really enjoyed listening to bob and his family talk about the Corvette, the history they share, and the rebirth of his passion. I hope that his family will continue to support him as he begins the next chapter in this saga… If he our his family need some help with that passion we would love to play a support role in that part…

    Tux Hadler
    Simply Corvettes

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