Our Museum Delivery and Journal

Wow, what a day that was!
My wife Maureen and I picked up our new TR , Z51, Convertible yesterday at the National Corvette Museum and it was everything I was expecting and a little more. After having been through the experience once I do have some recommendations for those who have not been there yet. First it was a very FULL day. We had a 10:30 start time, I would change this if I could do it over again and get the 08:30 delivery time if available so we would not feel rushed. We arrived at the Museum parking lot around 10:00 and spent about 15 minutes taking pictures outside. This was a mistake on our part as we entered through the doors we were met by our guide who knew who we were and immediately showed us to a conference room where we watched a video with several other new owners. Apparently they will start the process as soon as everyone is there and ready to go.

The plant tour was awesome and we were able to see quite a bit of the assembly process. There were two areas that we did not go into and that was where the engines were mated to the torque tube and rear assembly. We were told that these areas were eliminated from the tour about three months ago at the request of the UAW safety committee. We did see one general public tour and we stepped aside so that they could pass us. We never saw them again. We were able to linger at different areas of interest and several employees engaged us in conversation. They all seemed to be very pleasant and happy to be working on these beautiful vehicles. You could see the pride they took in their work.

The museum tour was great as well and seeing the sinkhole and all of the recovered cars was very interesting and sobering. Several of the cars were un recognizable to me as to what they originally were. Out tour guide was very knowledgeable and thorough. It was an enjoyable experience for all of us.

We arrived in Nashville on Tuesday night the day before our delivery and we spent a very enjoyable night at the Bluebird Café listening to Cactus Honey. This was a fantastic show but you need to make reservations way ahead as it only seats 100 people. If I were to do this again I would spend an extra night in Nashville and then drive to Bowling Green the day before the actual delivery so you can get to the museum by 0830. I will post more about our adventure as time permits.

The Car

All the adjectives used previously to describe this car are true. It is fantastic! We have spent about five hours and 275 miles so far and the car handles and rides beautifully. The power and torque is electric and it allows you to power out of corners in a gear that should be lugging the engine. But this car just pulls and it pulls hard when you slightly open the throttle. I cant wait to really stand on it! About the ride, I have a Z51 with the magnetic ride shocks, and I have been reading all these posts about people being concerned about the ride quality. All I can say is don't worry, this car rides like a dream! It is taut as a sports car should be but it is never harsh or abrupt, but it never wallows around either like a soft suspension car does. I am not saying the base suspension wallows or doesn't handle well all I'm saying is the Z51 Mag ride handles wonderfully with absolutely no harshness. Yesterday we drove from Bpwling Green to Loretto to tour the Makers Mark distillery and we got off the freeway early to take the scenic drive. We drove through some beautiful country on a two lane country road with a lot of twisites mixed in with nice straight sections of road. The C7 handled this road with amazing accuracy and was a joy to drive. I still cant get the smile off my face.
Everywhere we went we were greeted with waves and thumbs up and comments galore. Last night we drove into downtown Nashville to go to Tootsies and we were lucky to get a parking spot right on Broadway where we could watch the car from the rooftop café. I was amazed at how many people stopped with their cameras to take pictures of her sitting on the street.
Today the adventure continues.