I would title this "MY Corvette Story," but it feels more fitting to call it "OUR Corvette Story," since it’s about the passion my grandpa and I share for the American Sports Car we both love. My name is Colton Silvey and I’m currently 21 years old. Our story began a long time ago. At every Corvette meet I attend I meet lots of great people, many who were shocked by my age and knowledge of Corvettes, let alone that I brough my own car to the meet. Many people have asked me where my passion for Corvettes began. So, I will go back to the very beginning. My love for Corvettes started at a very young age when my grandparents brought me a tee-shirt from the National Corvette Museum that read, “When I Grow Up…I’m Driving a Corvette…LOOK OUT!” I was six years old at the time, and I fell in love with the red C6 on the shirt, in hopes that one day I would own a Corvette. By the time I was 10, my grandfather Ronnie Silvey decided to restore the 1968 Corvette that he had bought in 1970 when he was 20 years old. The car had the same blue and white paint scheme, white top, black interior, and manual transmission that it wears today. He used to drive his new Corvette down a dirt road to pick up his future wife—my grandma. Now that’s what you call love. My Grandma said that she would look out the window of the house and here he came, very slowly up the dirt road. I remember helping him with the restoration of the car. When I turned 14, my grandfather and I began the restoration of a 1976 Corvette that he had bought at an auction. We spent the next summer on that car, doing everything ourselves: interior, engine, paint, and chassis. We did all the bodywork together, and my father painted the car. When we had finished, my grandpa gave me the keys and said that it was mine. I will always cherish the hours he and I have spent on Corvettes. We got the car finished just in time for the Super Summer Car Show in Branson, Missouri. My grandpa and I had a blast at the show, showcasing all the work we did that summer. During the restoration of the ‘76 I joined the NCRS because I heard that it was a great organization with lots of information on these cars. I wanted to learn about and understand the number and date codes on the 1976 that my grandpa and I had restored. The more I researched NCRS, the more I knew that one day I wanted to have a Top Flight and McLellan Award-winning car. At the age of 16 I started a detailing and restoration business that has given new life to many vehicles and boats over the years. Many people that know me will say that I have the highest standard around for automobile cleanliness. And if you’ve ever seen my own car, you would probably agree; that’s just what I do. I graduated high school in 2021 and started college at the University of Arkansas that fall semester to study electrical engineering. A week before college began, I found a 1988 35th Anniversary Corvette for sale on Facebook Marketplace. I felt that there was something special about this car, could it be the McLellan Award Winning car of my dreams? You’ll have to wait to find out. I told my mom that I really like the car, and she urged me to message the seller. Like any great mother would do. She said that it would be a great way to build and establish my credit score. I debated on it for a while and finally sent the seller an offer. To my surprise it was accepted. We picked the car up that weekend. Once I finally got it home, I was so excited that I don’t remember sleeping that night, I must have stayed up all night in the garage. I had ordered a NCRS judging guide and began going through this car. I quickly realized that this car was way more original than I thought. With a 35-year-old car comes many aging problems. With parts simply not available and being an upcoming engineer, I decided to take on the task to remanufacture a few of the unavailable parts: a set of sport seat lumbar bladders, lumbar pump diaphragms. I also rebuilt the speaker amps, headlight motors, and repaired the original antenna mast. My first NCRS event was the Oklahoma Chapter meet, where I earned my first Top Flight Award. My grandpa and I continued to take the car through the system, where it achieved another Top Flight Award, passed Performance Verification, and earned the awaited National McLellan Mark-of-Excellence Award in 2023 with a score of 99.7%. The Grandfather and Grandson Top Flight Award is earned when the pair’s vehicle receives a top flight together. However, our roles were reversed usually, it’s the grandfather owning the vehicle bringing his grandson with him, but I owned the car and brought my grandfather with me. Now for the life story of my 1988 35th-Anniversay Corvette. As soon as I got the car home, I started going through all of the paperwork and documents to learn the car’s history. During my search I found the original owner’s name and phone number hidden inside the owner’s manual. I decided to text the number but didn’t really expect a response. Nearly immediately, there was an answer from a lady. The car was a 36th birthday present from her husband. It was originally sold at Bill Heard Chevrolet, Sugarland, Texas, and still wears its license plate from that dealer. A business card in the owner’s manual states, “Unquestionably SOLD! 6-9-88” on the back. The lady stated that her husband bought her this car instead of what they really needed - a truck. Six months after leaving the dealership, it was time for Christmas. She took her new Vette, popped the back hatch open, and brought home their Christmas tree for that year. She said, “We didn’t have a truck, so I figured that you have to use what you got.” She owned the car for 33 years until I became the owner. Over the years my grandpa and I have been to many shows together, and we plan on attending many more. Some of our favorite memories are at a local show where cars are judged solely on cleanliness. We took on this challenge spending a week in advance detailing our every square inch of our cars, even taking it as far as removing the wheels and cleaning the chassis. With all this work came big rewards, we took home first place for 2 years straight. Grandson like Grandpa, we both fell in love with Corvettes at a young age and purchased our first one around the age of 20. He is still in possession of his 1968 and purchased a brand new 2014 Stingray convertible in 2013. I felt like the coolest kid in middle school when he pulled up straight from the dealership to pick me up in his brand-new 2014 Stingray convertible. Our passion for Corvettes has always connected us, and it’s a bond that will continue to drive us forward, mile after mile. I'll forever cherish these memories, and it all started with a tee shirt. This phrase fits our story perfectly…“When I Grow Up…I’m Driving a Corvette…LOOK OUT!”