What a Fall, what a ball ~ we had it all! Beginning with Corvettes at Carlisle in late August, then on to the NCM’s 5th Anniversary Labor Day Celebration and ending at the SEMA show in Las Vegas with their Grand Prix in November. Throw in a couple of hurricanes (what’s Fall without ‘em) for this State Farm agent and . . . it’s been nuts around the Registry office!

Our membership continues to grow - we are over 3600 members now! The C5 Net is bursting at the seams - due to tremendous growth, we just completed the process of changing servers because we have outgrown our current provider! Talk about growing pains! The C5 Net continues to be the best and once-in-a-while, the worst of the Corvette hobby! Please try and remember when passions are running high, so are the emotions . . . use care when you type in replies on your keyboard after reading a post that annoys you! We are in this for a good time and to have fun talking about our C5’s!

If you haven’t checked out our Web Site recently, it would be worthwhile to pay it a visit! We have a new page called “HOT Specials from our Corporate Members.” http://www.c5registry.com/classifieds/corpspecials.htm  Here they can advertise any product and/or service they are currently offering. We have also upgraded our C5 Members section - especially the page where members can submit photos and a brief description about themselves and their C5. It is under the section called “Members’ C5’s.” http://216.157.52.139/r8c/index.html . If you haven’t already sent or e-mailed photos with your story, please do so!

There is another section I would like to call to your attention. The Museum Delivery Option page. http://216.157.52.139/r8c/index.html  We are compiling a list of all C5 Registry members who have taken Museum Delivery. If you did so and would like to be included on this page, simply click on the “Let Us Know” at the bottom of the page and send us e-mail! We will get you on the list!

We continually strive to make the Registry more useful and meaningful to you. If you have an idea for an improvement or suggestion, we welcome hearing from you! We may not be able to do everything that is suggested, but we like to have the feedback. Many of our improvements and new features started as ideas from members! We want you to enjoy your C5 Registry experience.

On another subject that is dear to my heart - C5 RACING! I am so happy to see C5’s racing in different venues around the country - and now . . . all over the world! As many of you know, we just finished the debut season of the C5R racecar in the Petit Le Mans series and we did okay! I would have liked to see a win or two, but we did have a number of podium finishes. The SCCA World Cup Challenge has just finished and in that series the C5 did have some wins!

The first win was our own C5 Registry member, Scotty B. White [C5R# X1686], winning in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. There are also many other C5’s active in the SCCA T1 class. In this year’s SCCA National Run-Offs, this race pits regional racing winners against each other, a C5 Corvette won the T1 class beating Porsches and Vipers! These are the cars you can drive right off the showroom floor!

I have been disappointed with the lack of publicity that has been given to the Corvette racing program. Vette Magazine, Corvette Fever and Vette Vues have written very little about the C5R and the race program and its successes. It seems to me that if these magazines represent the hobby, they should be telling the hobbyist about the successes that the C5R is having! In my opinion, they could do a little more to publicize the racing efforts of the World Cup racers and the many C5’s racing in the T1 class of the SCCA all over the country. When I talk to the magazines about this, they tell me that in survey after survey, the feedback they get from their readers is they do not want to know about racing. If you read and/or subscribe to any of these magazines and want to see the coverage on C5 racing improve, please be sure and let them know. This is the only way to see the C5 race effort become more visible in Corvette magazines.

To this end, we are going building a Corvette Racing website at http://www.c5rmotorsports.com  our C5R Corvette Racing pages will include the T1 SCCA schedule and the World Cup schedule. It would be great if members could show up at some of these small SCCA races - you can really get up close and personal to the cars and drivers - and help cheer them on to victory! In most T1 SCCA regional races, there are no more than a handful of spectators. Everybody there is pretty much a racer or corner worker - so a couple of C5 Registry members there cheering would really make an impact!

To compliment our Web Site and show our support for the C5R racing effort, we are starting a Corvette C5 Racing Fan Club. It will be named “C5 Registry Motorsports.” The purpose is to foster support for C5 Corvette racing! There is no fee to join … only enthusiastic support is required to participate!

We now have a member that is racing a C5 in Australia! His name is Murray Carter [C5R# X2000]. You may want to drop him a line or a quick e-mail to let him know of your support here in the U.S.

  Murray Carter Racing Promotions
  411 Bay Road, Highett • Melbourne, Australia 3190
  Fax: 011-61-3-5557085 • Phone: 011-61-3-5557058
  E-Mail: murrayc@onetel.com.au

The big racing news of the year is C5R will compete in the most prestigious race in the world . . . the 24 Hours at Le Mans in Le Mans, France! This race takes place in June 2000 and the C5 Registry will be there! Consider this the official announcement that we have put together a trip to go to Le Mans and cheer our C5R on to victory! It will not only include you, but as an option, you can bring your C5 along! I can picture it now . . . a caravan of 20 C5’s from the United States winding their way through the wine country of France to their final destination . . . the 24 Hours at Le Mans!

I have been told by GM Europe that if we are able to pull this off and show up with the C5’s they will get us a parade lap around the famous Le Mans circuit before the start of the race! GM Europe is also talking about setting up a driving tour to some of the famous motor racecourses in Europe where we can take hot laps with our C5’s! They are even talking about a photo shoot for the press on the beaches of Normandy. This will be a once in a lifetime trip!

Rick Berry [C5R# W1077] has been in contact with a company that ships very valuable antique cars between the U.S. and Europe and the cost for transporting each C5 via boat is approximately $2200. My estimate on the entire trip is about $8000 per couple (which includes shipping your C5). Mark Rodino [C5R# X3041], who lives in London, England, has been very helpful in securing accommodations and driving directions while we are in France. My initial thoughts are to leave the plans surrounding the race very flexible. If you have the time and money to extend your stay, please make those plans. Space is limited so please e-mail me if you are interested so we can get an idea of what kind of accommodations to make. Keep checking the Events Page of the Web Page for more information as it transpires. Right now, I need a count of all members who want to join us.
Please either call (321) 452-2743 or send us an email c5dan@c5registry.com Make your C5 famous!

All for now . . . I do hope all of you will come to a C5 Registry event this year. Join Corvette in their march to Le Mans!

See you at the races!
Dan