Frank Stech was 14 years old when he first laid eyes on an advertisement for the 1968 Chevrolet Corvette.
"I fell in love with that body style," he said. "It looked futuristic."
Ever since that day, Stech, of Pitman, knew he would one day own one from that era. Today, his pride and joy is a black 1967 coupe, restored to look exactly like it did the day it rolled off the factory floor.
The Corvette is one of the best-known model of cars ever made. Even the lay person who pulls alongside one at a red light can tell right away that it's a 'Vette.
Corvette production started in June 1953, with only 300 built that year. The 1 millionth Corvette was built in 1992, according to the National Corvette Museum.
Those who own Corvettes are passionate about their cars. Many people with older models won't take them out in the rain and may drive them only a few hundred miles a year, often trailering them to car shows and parades.
"It's a religion," said Stech, 52, who also has a 2003 model. "It's a way of life."
Paul Sedacca, 56, of Cherry Hill, owns six Corvettes, including a 1965 model once raced by actor Peter Fonda on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. "I'm a big nut for the 1963 to 1967 years," said Sedacca, a physician who also races BMWs on road courses. "The styling is as timeless now as it was then."
Sedacca, president of the South Jersey Corvette Club, tries to drive his cars at least once a month. It's good for the car to get the engine running every now and then. "It's a thrill because you're sitting in a piece of history," he said. "And it does make people turn their heads."
Dan Soldano, 56, of West Deptford, also got hooked as a kid, watching the television show Route 66, based on two drifters traveling the famous highway in a Corvette.
"I thought "What better way was there to live life then drive around in a Corvette, seeing the country?' " said Soldano, who has a classic, red 1962 model that's also meticulously restored. "I knew before I could drive that I would have one."
In 1957, Frank Andalora, now 65, of Cherry Hill got a new Ford Thunderbird to go with his drivers license. But what he really wanted was a Corvette, which he bought 12 years later and still owns.
"All of a sudden, that car became a museum piece," he said. "A lot of people had Corvettes when they were young and got back into it later in life.
Once it's in your blood, it's always there."
