In a series, motoring reporter Shawn McAvinue speaks to a member of a Dunedin motoring club. For this instalment he talks to Dunedin Corvettes committee member Gregory Scott, of Fairfield.
Q: What year was the club established?
Officially about a year ago. We established a committee because we are hosting the National Corvette Convention in Dunedin in March next year. It’s the first time the convention will be held in Dunedin and it’s going to be a big one.
Although we weren’t an official club before, we’ve been going on runs in Corvettes around Dunedin for more than 10 years. We try and get a run in about every four to six weeks. The last one was to Middlemarch for a lunch at Kissing Gate. It’s a really good group.
Q: Any plans for the convention?
We are going to have a tartan theme and a piping of the haggis and we’ve got a logo designed for the event. During the three-day event, we are expecting about 100 Corvettes from across New Zealand to be on display at the Great USA Day at Hancock Park in St Kilda.
Q: What else is planned over the three days?
Registration is on Friday, March 5. Saturday is the show and shine and on Sunday we are going to the Village Green Cafe & Bar in Sunnyvale for a lunch and prizegiving.
Q: What will be the oldest and newest model Corvette at the event?
A 1953 C1 and we hope to have the latest 2021 C8.
Q: How many Corvettes are there in Dunedin?
Easily 30.
Q: What is the rarest Corvette in your club?
Mine is pretty rare, it’s a 1978 Chevrolet Corvette Indianapolis 500 25th anniversary edition pace car. It’s a bit of history it’s the first time Corvette was used at Indianapolis. There was 6500 built they were the fastest production car out of America but it was only 125mph (200kmh) because they were 220hp – it was the smog era with all the emission control.
Q: It’s a good-looking car.
It’s modelled on a stingray. It has a two-tone paint job, there’s a pinstripe on the mags, it has louvers and steel gussets and overriders on the bumpers, silver leather and a blue mirror tint, an 8-track stereo and cruise control – it’s fully loaded.
Shawn McAvinue
