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The following is a letter from Roger and Monica from Oakley, California. They Factory ordered a new 2014 Stingray cpe in Black with 3LT Kalahari interior with the following equip: Transp roof, Batt pkg, Auto trans, Perf exhaust and most importantly R8C Corvette Museum Delivery. Below in their own words they describe the 4,300 mile trip and Museum delivery experience they had. It doesn't get much better then this!! Tons of pictures after their story. Well worth reading!
Mike,
"Apologies for such a long delay in composing this email, but things are fast and furious in our lives and we have had little free time to direct towards this end. I did, however, want to take the opportunity while I am able and properly punctuate our wonderful experience buying and receiving my wife’s new Stingray.
First and foremost, as I have shared with numerous people in person and in forum postings, this has by far been the most simple and seamless automotive purchase of my life. From the initial contact with you (Mike Furman) via a couple of PM’s, to a brief phone call to actually submit and finalize the order, you were the consummate professional as I had expected. The after-sale treatment was just as wonderful, from being provided the order number and status information as soon as available, to assisting with setting up our special Museum delivery logistics within our very narrow window of opportunity.
And what a special day and experience that turned out to be. I had read numerous postings from various individuals who have experienced the Museum delivery, some with the current Stingray model, some with prior year models, and many who have done so multiple times, so I had a pretty good idea what the experience might hold. However, I had no idea just how our experience would play out as some reports were extremely favorable, some were neutral, and a few were quite negative. I had high hopes that ours would exceed our expectations, and in fact it did indeed.
We flew into Nashville the day before our scheduled appointment, and due in part to a stopover delay in our flight, we made it to Bowling Green in the early evening without much time to explore. We did, however, make the run to the Museum so that I knew where it was located and how long it would take to get there.
While we were in the parking lot, it dawned on me that they would have staged her car already and that it should be visible via the delivery webcams. I saw it on the first cam I viewed, and was immediately overwhelmed with emotion. We rushed back to the motel and spent some time looking at the Museum webcams, trying to drink in all the details we could.
After a very restless night, got a bite to eat, and packed up for our journey. As I went to the front desk to drop our key, I was met by a familiar looking figure coming out the lobby door. I immediately recognized the gentleman as Tickle, from the Moonshiners series, and he was kind enough to stop and allow me to briefly speak with him. I didn’t bother him for a picture or an autograph.
As I approached the doors to the Museum, I was overcome with emotion and had visible tears. My wife was giddy with excitement. Our car was the first car as we approached the lineup.
We were met by a gentleman who surprisingly called us out by name. He introduced himself and explained that he was going to be our guide for the delivery experience. Larry was incredible, and we couldn’t have been more fortunate, as he was the perfect person for this delivery. He was knowledgeable, patient, professional, and represented both Chevrolet and the NCM perfectly.
We signed the paperwork, met Shane and Lori, and Larry then began the PDQ phase of the delivery with my wife while I listened in and shot photos. After a portion of the PDQ was completed, he indicated that it was time to head over to the factory for the VIP tour. It was incredible seeing the names on the display both inside the delivery area, and on the marquee outside of the factory. We took our time enjoying the full factory tour, all the while catching the glances and acknowledgements from most of the factory workers, and certainly took full advantage of the opportunity. Several employees were able to chat along the way, and it was very revealing how obviously appreciative they were. At the end of the line we saw two mule Z06 Convts – red with Kalahari tops and interior, and I was suitably excited to see them.
Once back to the Museum, Larry grabbed a couple of lunch tickets for us and suggested that we get a bite while he made preparations. We signed the rest of the paperwork, then went for a full tour of the Museum. This being our first time, it was an awesome experience which neither of us will ever forget. Capping it off was the amazing sink hole, and the display of the recovered cars. Did I mention that we took delivery on Friday the 13th?!? Once or twice we had to question whether our car would be intact when we arrived to take delivery!
We finished up our special day with the rest of the PDQ session – Larry was very patient and thorough and again quite knowledgeable. I had read the PDF manuals cover to cover twice, so was quite familiar with the operations and features, but my wife hadn’t had any such familiarity and was the beneficiary of the knowledge transfer. Once complete, the wife rode with Larry out to the sound of applause while I shot photos.
Once outside the Museum, my wife broke down and let her emotions flow. As did I.
One of the most awesome aspects of this experience is the fact that they have all of the webcams in place. We were able to share our day with many of our friends, several who were able to follow most if not all of the delivery almost as if they were there. It was very cool having them send and share various screen shots.
The NCM webcams are an incredible asset and a very valuable part of the experience!
So with that, we were off on our bucket list adventure to get to know the Stingray, visit some dear faraway friends, and see a good portion of this beautiful country which I hadn’t seen since very young (and which the wife had never seen before).
We had intended to stay in Nashville for the night, then travel on to our friends’ in Charlotte North Carolina to stay and visit with them for the weekend. However, once we started driving we were hesitant to park and leave this amazing vehicle. While the district looked to be hopping, we opted to remain ensconced in the 3LT interior and make our way as far as we could.
The Stingray was simply amazing. It was comfortable, steering was tight, suspension was smooth, and handling was perfect. I had the NAV figured out before I left the parking lot, and used it to guide us along the way. We enjoyed ourselves immensely in our new Corvette and were lost in the hours and miles. We finally decided to stop about half way to Charlotte and grabbed a bite and a room for the night.
The next morning, we got on the road fairly early and drove the rest of the way to stay with our dear friends. While in Charlotte, my friend and I drove out to CMS and the Z-MAX dragstrip.
After a nice weekend in Charlotte, we began our journey back to the Bay Area. We had no reservations made, no hard itinerary, and only a few target cities and logistic guidelines. We had to be back at work on 6/24 – the rest was dynamic and fluid. First up, however, was a visit to Lynchburg Tennessee so that I could visit the Jack Daniels’ distillery.
I had intended to make it there in the afternoon for the last tour, then proceed to Nashville for the night’s stay, but called an audible and we decided to stay overnight and see the distillery in the morning. This would become a pattern (audibles), and was one of the best choices we made as we thoroughly enjoyed staying in this quaint little community. We had some great Southern hospitality at Barrel House BBQ, and met my new buddy Joe (recent high school graduate) who wore us down trying to get us to let him drive the Stingray! Finally, Mona told me to take him for a ride when we were leaving. I got to show him a little about the Corvette, all the while watching fireflies lighting up everywhere and reminding me of a trip to visit grandparents when I was quite young.
The next morning we awoke, took the distillery tour (which we both thoroughly enjoyed), and got to purchase a few specialized bottles of Jack to take home with us.
From there, we traveled to Saint Louis where I had intended to stay over. We drove through the city and did some sightseeing, but opted to call another audible and instead hit the road to make progress towards our next POI.
Next up on the itinerary was Kansas City. We again made a pass through and took in what was of interest, but decided to continue on our journey instead of staying in the city center. We passed through Lincoln Nebraska and Cheyenne Wyoming along the way, then headed north to work our way into Yellowstone for our final couple of days. We stayed in Thermopolis Wyoming before heading into the park, and stayed at the Days Inn which has one of the most amazing collections of mounts and photos I’ve ever seen.
We spent all day driving and exploring the northwest section of Yellowstone, and ended up staying at our second favorite stop of the trip – Gardiner Montana. The folks were so friendly (really a theme from the entire trip) and accommodating, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We then worked our way across to the northeast entrance, where we were able to observe most of the Yellowstone denizens that we encountered – everything from antelopes, deer, elk (by the hundreds), bison (by the thousands), a sow black bear with THREE cubs (fairly rare number of offspring), and even a white fox. We missed opportunities to see grizzly bears, as there were 7 sightings that day. Needless to say, we took advantage of the time we were there and having great camera gear in tow. I’ve got so many good photos of the critters – I’ll put some of the best of the lot at the end of the thread.
We then proceeded down through the middle of the park and out the West entrance into West Yellowstone, Montana, where we stayed the final night as it turned out. Our evening was spent taking in the Union Pacific railroad museum, walking through the various shops downtown, and enjoying a nice meal and libations at one of the more renowned establishments. Great capper to an unbelievable trip of a lifetime.
The next morning we finished up driving down the west side, took in Old Faithful and most of the geological wonders, and headed out the South entrance and directly into Grand Teton state park.
In all of our travels during this trip, we had only seen two other Stingray’s to this point. We finally saw the third and final C7 coming into the South entrance as we were leaving.
We then went into road warrior mode and put the nose down to head for home. We ended up driving straight through for 19 hours (originally intended to stay around Salt Lake City), and the C7 was such a dream to drive the entire way. I have some back issues, and it is testament to the comfort of the new design that I was able to remain in the saddle for such an extended duration without discomfort.
And kudos to the designers as well for the engineering marvel that is the C7 Stingray! We had stretches of highway where we were averaging 35-36 MPG sitting on cruise control at 80 – 85 MPH.
Our all trip best was the stretch between Reno, Nevada and Sacramento, California in the home stretch, sitting on cruise control at 70 MPH, where we ended up with a best average of 49.7 MPG for the last 50 miles! Just incredible.
All told, we traveled 4320 miles across 15 states in 9 days in my wife’s beautiful, wonderful new Stingray, and truly experienced a bucket list trip of a lifetime! Thank you Mike Furman, Jackie Wells, and all of the staff of Criswell Chevrolet for helping to make our dreams come true!"
Roger and Monica Oakley, CA
Truly seeing the USA in a New Chevrolet!!:flag:
Mike,
"Apologies for such a long delay in composing this email, but things are fast and furious in our lives and we have had little free time to direct towards this end. I did, however, want to take the opportunity while I am able and properly punctuate our wonderful experience buying and receiving my wife’s new Stingray.
First and foremost, as I have shared with numerous people in person and in forum postings, this has by far been the most simple and seamless automotive purchase of my life. From the initial contact with you (Mike Furman) via a couple of PM’s, to a brief phone call to actually submit and finalize the order, you were the consummate professional as I had expected. The after-sale treatment was just as wonderful, from being provided the order number and status information as soon as available, to assisting with setting up our special Museum delivery logistics within our very narrow window of opportunity.
And what a special day and experience that turned out to be. I had read numerous postings from various individuals who have experienced the Museum delivery, some with the current Stingray model, some with prior year models, and many who have done so multiple times, so I had a pretty good idea what the experience might hold. However, I had no idea just how our experience would play out as some reports were extremely favorable, some were neutral, and a few were quite negative. I had high hopes that ours would exceed our expectations, and in fact it did indeed.
We flew into Nashville the day before our scheduled appointment, and due in part to a stopover delay in our flight, we made it to Bowling Green in the early evening without much time to explore. We did, however, make the run to the Museum so that I knew where it was located and how long it would take to get there.
While we were in the parking lot, it dawned on me that they would have staged her car already and that it should be visible via the delivery webcams. I saw it on the first cam I viewed, and was immediately overwhelmed with emotion. We rushed back to the motel and spent some time looking at the Museum webcams, trying to drink in all the details we could.
After a very restless night, got a bite to eat, and packed up for our journey. As I went to the front desk to drop our key, I was met by a familiar looking figure coming out the lobby door. I immediately recognized the gentleman as Tickle, from the Moonshiners series, and he was kind enough to stop and allow me to briefly speak with him. I didn’t bother him for a picture or an autograph.
As I approached the doors to the Museum, I was overcome with emotion and had visible tears. My wife was giddy with excitement. Our car was the first car as we approached the lineup.
We were met by a gentleman who surprisingly called us out by name. He introduced himself and explained that he was going to be our guide for the delivery experience. Larry was incredible, and we couldn’t have been more fortunate, as he was the perfect person for this delivery. He was knowledgeable, patient, professional, and represented both Chevrolet and the NCM perfectly.
We signed the paperwork, met Shane and Lori, and Larry then began the PDQ phase of the delivery with my wife while I listened in and shot photos. After a portion of the PDQ was completed, he indicated that it was time to head over to the factory for the VIP tour. It was incredible seeing the names on the display both inside the delivery area, and on the marquee outside of the factory. We took our time enjoying the full factory tour, all the while catching the glances and acknowledgements from most of the factory workers, and certainly took full advantage of the opportunity. Several employees were able to chat along the way, and it was very revealing how obviously appreciative they were. At the end of the line we saw two mule Z06 Convts – red with Kalahari tops and interior, and I was suitably excited to see them.
Once back to the Museum, Larry grabbed a couple of lunch tickets for us and suggested that we get a bite while he made preparations. We signed the rest of the paperwork, then went for a full tour of the Museum. This being our first time, it was an awesome experience which neither of us will ever forget. Capping it off was the amazing sink hole, and the display of the recovered cars. Did I mention that we took delivery on Friday the 13th?!? Once or twice we had to question whether our car would be intact when we arrived to take delivery!
We finished up our special day with the rest of the PDQ session – Larry was very patient and thorough and again quite knowledgeable. I had read the PDF manuals cover to cover twice, so was quite familiar with the operations and features, but my wife hadn’t had any such familiarity and was the beneficiary of the knowledge transfer. Once complete, the wife rode with Larry out to the sound of applause while I shot photos.
Once outside the Museum, my wife broke down and let her emotions flow. As did I.
One of the most awesome aspects of this experience is the fact that they have all of the webcams in place. We were able to share our day with many of our friends, several who were able to follow most if not all of the delivery almost as if they were there. It was very cool having them send and share various screen shots.
The NCM webcams are an incredible asset and a very valuable part of the experience!
So with that, we were off on our bucket list adventure to get to know the Stingray, visit some dear faraway friends, and see a good portion of this beautiful country which I hadn’t seen since very young (and which the wife had never seen before).
We had intended to stay in Nashville for the night, then travel on to our friends’ in Charlotte North Carolina to stay and visit with them for the weekend. However, once we started driving we were hesitant to park and leave this amazing vehicle. While the district looked to be hopping, we opted to remain ensconced in the 3LT interior and make our way as far as we could.
The Stingray was simply amazing. It was comfortable, steering was tight, suspension was smooth, and handling was perfect. I had the NAV figured out before I left the parking lot, and used it to guide us along the way. We enjoyed ourselves immensely in our new Corvette and were lost in the hours and miles. We finally decided to stop about half way to Charlotte and grabbed a bite and a room for the night.
The next morning, we got on the road fairly early and drove the rest of the way to stay with our dear friends. While in Charlotte, my friend and I drove out to CMS and the Z-MAX dragstrip.
After a nice weekend in Charlotte, we began our journey back to the Bay Area. We had no reservations made, no hard itinerary, and only a few target cities and logistic guidelines. We had to be back at work on 6/24 – the rest was dynamic and fluid. First up, however, was a visit to Lynchburg Tennessee so that I could visit the Jack Daniels’ distillery.
I had intended to make it there in the afternoon for the last tour, then proceed to Nashville for the night’s stay, but called an audible and we decided to stay overnight and see the distillery in the morning. This would become a pattern (audibles), and was one of the best choices we made as we thoroughly enjoyed staying in this quaint little community. We had some great Southern hospitality at Barrel House BBQ, and met my new buddy Joe (recent high school graduate) who wore us down trying to get us to let him drive the Stingray! Finally, Mona told me to take him for a ride when we were leaving. I got to show him a little about the Corvette, all the while watching fireflies lighting up everywhere and reminding me of a trip to visit grandparents when I was quite young.
The next morning we awoke, took the distillery tour (which we both thoroughly enjoyed), and got to purchase a few specialized bottles of Jack to take home with us.
From there, we traveled to Saint Louis where I had intended to stay over. We drove through the city and did some sightseeing, but opted to call another audible and instead hit the road to make progress towards our next POI.
Next up on the itinerary was Kansas City. We again made a pass through and took in what was of interest, but decided to continue on our journey instead of staying in the city center. We passed through Lincoln Nebraska and Cheyenne Wyoming along the way, then headed north to work our way into Yellowstone for our final couple of days. We stayed in Thermopolis Wyoming before heading into the park, and stayed at the Days Inn which has one of the most amazing collections of mounts and photos I’ve ever seen.
We spent all day driving and exploring the northwest section of Yellowstone, and ended up staying at our second favorite stop of the trip – Gardiner Montana. The folks were so friendly (really a theme from the entire trip) and accommodating, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We then worked our way across to the northeast entrance, where we were able to observe most of the Yellowstone denizens that we encountered – everything from antelopes, deer, elk (by the hundreds), bison (by the thousands), a sow black bear with THREE cubs (fairly rare number of offspring), and even a white fox. We missed opportunities to see grizzly bears, as there were 7 sightings that day. Needless to say, we took advantage of the time we were there and having great camera gear in tow. I’ve got so many good photos of the critters – I’ll put some of the best of the lot at the end of the thread.
We then proceeded down through the middle of the park and out the West entrance into West Yellowstone, Montana, where we stayed the final night as it turned out. Our evening was spent taking in the Union Pacific railroad museum, walking through the various shops downtown, and enjoying a nice meal and libations at one of the more renowned establishments. Great capper to an unbelievable trip of a lifetime.
The next morning we finished up driving down the west side, took in Old Faithful and most of the geological wonders, and headed out the South entrance and directly into Grand Teton state park.
In all of our travels during this trip, we had only seen two other Stingray’s to this point. We finally saw the third and final C7 coming into the South entrance as we were leaving.
We then went into road warrior mode and put the nose down to head for home. We ended up driving straight through for 19 hours (originally intended to stay around Salt Lake City), and the C7 was such a dream to drive the entire way. I have some back issues, and it is testament to the comfort of the new design that I was able to remain in the saddle for such an extended duration without discomfort.
And kudos to the designers as well for the engineering marvel that is the C7 Stingray! We had stretches of highway where we were averaging 35-36 MPG sitting on cruise control at 80 – 85 MPH.
Our all trip best was the stretch between Reno, Nevada and Sacramento, California in the home stretch, sitting on cruise control at 70 MPH, where we ended up with a best average of 49.7 MPG for the last 50 miles! Just incredible.
All told, we traveled 4320 miles across 15 states in 9 days in my wife’s beautiful, wonderful new Stingray, and truly experienced a bucket list trip of a lifetime! Thank you Mike Furman, Jackie Wells, and all of the staff of Criswell Chevrolet for helping to make our dreams come true!"
Roger and Monica Oakley, CA
Truly seeing the USA in a New Chevrolet!!:flag:
