How was the National Corvette Museum's "Official Camaro/Firebird 35th Birthday Bash?"

Well, let's see:

>Three kinds of Racing: Autocross, Drag, and Go-kart
>Friday Evening BBQ with Cruise
>Saturday Evening Banquet at the NCM with guest speaker John Heinricy - Former Chief
Engineer for the Camaro/Firebird.
>Corvette Plant Tour
>Corvette Museum Tour
>Seminars by:
-John Heinricy - F-car Chief Engineer
-Jon Moss -GM Specialty Vehicles Manager
-Art Spong - F-Car Brand Quality Manager
-Jenny Miller - SLP Engineering
-Tom Clary - Supercar Workshop
-Matt Murphy - GMMGInc.
-and yours truly with little known facts about the beginnings of Camaro…..

>2002 Berger Camaro SS Unveiling
>Two more scenic Cruises on Saturday and Sunday (and the museum really knows how to set up
a cruise--
>22 Camaro and Firebird project/historic vehicles on display - including the famous Black 800HP
ZL1 -with Jon Moss at the wheel - and several vehicles provided by SLP Engineering ..(Thanks, Dave, Reg, and Jeff!)
>Celebrity Autograph Session
>World Wide Camaro Display
>Kenny Brown Display
>Show Field with Celebrity Judging
>Hundreds of Camaros and Firebirds
>Demonstration of how a Camaro can become a "cruise missile" (but we aren't talking about that…….)
>The first-ever "Camaro Museum Delivery" - a 35th Anniversary Brickyard 400 Camaro delivered
to Verling "Smitty" Smith of the Central Michigan Camaro Club
>An auction featuring many autographed items, Camaro memorabilia, and seats at Bragg-Smith and Justin Bell that raised $4,000 for the Corvette Museum
>Car & Driver TV enthusiast interviews
>Super Chevy enthusiast interviews
>a few late night get-togethers in the hotel parking lots
>A few Mustangs that will not soon forget the lesson they learned from a "certain" Hugger Orange
Camaro SS from the Grand Rapids area……….

And most importantly, lots of great Camaro and Firebird Friends reuniting…or meeting for the first time….to celebrate a great milestone - 35 years of Camaro/Firebird performance.

As one rather prominent owner of several Camaros from Michigan put it (and I paraphrase here)
"Gee, this wasn't just a Camaro or Firebird Show…it was a real convention!"

Pictures will be on the Corvette Museum's website early this week…just log onto www.corvettemuseum.com and click on "F-body Celebration"

I put forth two challenges to the group after the auction on Saturday night:
>I challenge all Camaro and Firebird owners to come together to set a record of 1,000 F-cars at one show in the following year…..and yes, we are planning another event even bigger and better next year, same timeperiod, at the NCM…will get a firm date out to everyone within the next two weeks so that you can put it on your calendars for next year….

>I pledged $500 toward an Extra Large "Camaro/Firebird" walkway stone at the museum entrance……so that we could show our Corvette Friends that Camaro and Firebird owners are here to stay…..and I challenged the group to raise enough money to purchase the stone ($2,500) before we left on Sunday. I'm pleased to announce that the following clubs met the challenge…and we hit the goal:
--Western Michigan Camaro Club
--American Camaro Association
--World Wide Camaro Association
--Central Indiana Camaro Club

We now have the opportunity for each person to purchase a small brick in their name, business name, or family name….or, of course, a Club can purchase the brick…to fill in around the "Official Camaro/Firebird Stone" - (very nominal cost, and tax deductible…) For more information on Brick Purchases…or membership, please log onto www.corvettemuseum.com or call 1-800-53VETTE.

A Special "Thanks" to Andy Archer and his beautiful bride for all the hard work they put into making this a great event...also Larry Hayes and the entire team at NCM for their hospitality...and to Wendell Strode and his family (Executive Director of the NCM for hosting hundreds of us at his estate on Friday evening for a Welcome BBQ)

For those of you who were able to attend, it was great to see you once again, and on behalf of the NCM and Chevy, I hope you had one of the most memorable weekends in a long time. And remember the challenge…bring two friends with you next year….so that we far surpass the 1,000 Camaro/Firebird "milestone."

For those of you who could not make it this year, we missed you! And I hope that perhaps you can attend next year.

The Fbodfather

P.S. -Congrats to PoSSum on his first-place victory in Autocross...and "Fbodfather" Pick award for his '99 SS convert!

I was glad to see the event take place, and I look forward to the pictures from this year, and sharing in the fun next year.

Thanks once again for your support and enthusiasm.

way to go Art!! Looks like you'll have the edge at Bragg-Smith!

It was impossible to take part in all the events, and the weekend just went from hi-lite to hi-lite, mine being:

The cruise down with Curtis (CK1) and Greg, and the humor that comes with being able to tease a couple of Saskatchewan "country boys"

1st in AutoX ... by .08 of a second ... thanks to Tim getting the tire pressure "just right" during the drivers meeting ...

At least $125 worth of Go-Kart racing for $25 ... they had a "slick track" oval that was siliconed to make it real exciting, and a road course ... there was no shortage of "strategic bumping"...

A new personal best at the track ... 13.341 @ 106 and change .... making it to the final 5 in bracket eliminations ... and driving home with 16 straight pushrods.

A ride with the F-bodfather in the 302 ... I lust after that car .... it's raw excitement in the best sort of way ...

A ride in the LS6 ZL1 with Matt Murphy complete with him laying down a "?" mark in front of the museum and a demonstraton of the line-lock behind the building ... and listening to him explain what he was doing to the "rent-a-cop" on the NCM grounds.

The museum was incredible ... especially the "guided" tour ... thanks Scott

And of course, getting the Celebrity choice award from Scott added just another layer of the finest icing.

Plus ... we have a documented commitment from Scott that if we get 1,000 cars out next year, he will QUIT SMOKING .... cigarettes that is!!!