[PICS] The 2025 Bloomington Gold Corvette Show

Jun 23, 2025

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[PICS] The 2025 Bloomington Gold Corvette Show

Photo Credits: Steve Burns

Bloomington Gold’s annual June event took place Thursday June 5th through Saturday June 7th. The 2025 rendition of the show marked the debut of their most recent venue, World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois just outside St. Louis. As we’ve come to expect from the world’s longest running Corvette show, the weekend was full of great Corvettes and ever greater people.

All the show’s core events made the move south from Bloomington-Normal to St. Louis. As always, Survivor, Gold, and Benchmark judging are the weekend’s headliners with about 70 cars undergoing the judges’ scrutiny safely under the track’s garage area. The collection of cars was especially strong this year. Cars ranged from a stunning 1953 roadster all the way up to a Sebring Orange 2019 ZR1. Midyear Corvettes made up roughly half of the cars going for Gold Certification. We showed you many of them on Midyear Monday. We also noted a number of excellently preserved Survivor cars this year. These unrestored beauties are becoming increasingly hard to find, and we applaud those owners for resisting the urge to take these cars apart. We noted a bumper crop of cars with great stories including original and long-term owners, contest winners, and cars passed down from parents or family members. Sometimes the best part of these shows is just talking with the owners. Every car has a story, and we all know Corvette owners are more than happy to tell you all about their cars.

The Gold Collection this year focused on the “lasts” – the last cars of a given era. Inside, we saw a selection of 1962, 1967, 1982, 1996, 2004, and 2013 Corvettes. Included in that mix was the very last 1962 Corvette as well as the last C4 Corvette. A stunning unrestored 1967 Tuxedo Black convertible anchored the C2 era while a 1982 Collector Edition signed off the C3’s. On the C5 side, a 2004 Commemorative Edition Z06 was parked next to a 2013 60th Anniversary 427 Convertible. With just 13 cars this year, The Gold Collection was a far cry from its 30-50 car roots and didn’t feel quite as “special” as it usually does. Hopefully, that can be adjusted for next year’s event and get back to its elite status.

We were able to catch several of the many seminars held Friday and Saturday. All sessions were conducted in the comfort (and dryness) of a tent adjacent to the judging pavilion. Presenters included Steve Garrett talking about the Corvette Today podcast, Bryce Burklow giving a great update on happenings at the Corvette Museum, and Kevin Mackay talking about the 1960 Cunningham Corvettes among several other interesting topics.

Bryce Burklow / National Corvette Museum

The vendor and swap meet area was conveniently located right outside the Certification garages. The sellers offered the usual wide selection of Corvette parts, restoration services, accessories, and clothing. We’re glad the swap meet was moved closer than initially planned and will look for a slightly different vendor alignment next year. We feel like the indoor venders were easily missed while some outdoor vendors ended up hidden behind others closer to the garages. Overall, though, we loved having each activity located so close together.

Following Saturday’s awards ceremony, the Road Tour set out for the Route 66 festival in nearby Edwardsville. It was a great jaunt combining freeways and surface streets to a classic midwestern downtown area. Dedicated Road Tour parking greeted participants when they arrived. From there they could peruse the local car show, car cruise, vendors, and jam to some great live music.

The most notable addition to the 2025 show was track laps around the track’s 1.25-mile oval. As the weather permitted, a plethora of Corvettes owners jumped on the opportunity to challenge the same track used by IndyCar and NASCAR while crowds flooded pit lane to watch and listen to Corvettes signing at high RPM’s. We’re told that Sunday’s laps were sold out, indicating how popular this new event was.

Bloomington Gold was another great weekend to catch up with old friends, make new ones, and of course, peep some of the best Corvettes on the planet. Like any first-year event, there was some skepticism going in, but we think this new location is good for the show. Overall, it felt to be “right sized” for Bloomington Gold. All activities were within steps of one another. There was sufficient opportunity to get out of the pesky rain, which also attended the show all weekend. We’re sure that kept some people away so we’re eager to see what happens when mother nature cooperates. Seriously, does it really need to rain at this show every year? A little better layout for the vendors and larger Gold Collection could help as well, which are easy adjustments for next year.

Speaking of next year, we are eager to see what’s next. How does the new location evolve? What’s the Gold Collection theme going to be? Hopefully, we can get out on both the big track and the go-kart track. Then there’s all those great people and cars we get to see as well. We’ll see you there for our 41st trip to Bloomington Gold.

Blommington Gold Photo Gallery