Recently, we were contacted by Playboy Enterprises. The decision was made by the powers that be at Playboy, that the 2000 Playmate of the Year was going to receive a new Corvette as part of her numerous awards! They needed a 2000 C-5 coupe immediately for a photo shoot for the magazineıs upcoming issue. After the initial indecisiveness about color, it was decided that the only appropriate color was Torch Red. The only problem was that there were no Torch Red cars to be found. . .anywhere! So with only a few days before the shoot, hours were spent searching dealer inventories from L.A. to San Francisco, but nothing was found. We had to think fast! Mike Vietro remembered recent customers Dennis Moore and Jackie Saling from Barstow, CA. had a Torch Red 2000. A call went out to them, and they graciously agreed to lend us their car for the shoot, but right before they were to leave to bring the car down to us, Playboy called and said the star of the shoot, Playmate of the Year Jody Patterson, was sick and it didnıt look like she was going to make the scheduled date! I quickly called Dennis and Jackie back and told them the news and to stand by. No sooner did I hang up the phone with them, Playboy called back and said that Jody was going to make the shoot after all. Then there was a threat of rain, but despite all of these obstacles, the car was finally delivered to our Anaheim showroom, detailed, and very gently driven down to the photo shoots Hollywood location, right across from Mannıs Chinese Theater.

After arriving, photographer, Arnie Freytag and crew meticulously arranged every detail. My job was to prep the car and move it into position. As often happens, everyone was running a little behind with setting up, so I had a chance to get in some last minute car cleaning, and since we were shooting in the middle of Hollywood Blvd., It didnıt take long before a crowd started to gather around the car. Tourists wanted to pose in front of it for pictures and I found myself doing crowd control along with the security cop that was hired for the evening. The shoot finally got under way at about 6:00pm. It lasted for about three hours and Arnie shot a lot of film. As the official Corvette Mike photographer for the event I was able to get some nice shots myself! The car looked great. Oh, and so did Playmate of the year, Jody Patterson. It all went very well.

The next day, the car was delivered back to Dennis and Jackie, safe and sound. A week passed, and Corvette Mike was again contacted by Playboy. Seems they needed the car back again, this time for the video shoot! As Playmate of the Year, Jody has her own video featuring her in different vignettes, one of them with the C-5. Here we go again! The arrangements were made to bring the car back to Corvette Mike. Again, the car was detailed and driven to the location of the video shoot in L.A.ıs San Fernando Valley. This shoot was slightly more complicated then the one the week before. It was done on a very small stage and maneuvering the Vette onto it was a little tough but I managed to get it placed with help from the crew. The car was featured in a fantasy sequence with Jody lying on the car, and thatıs about as much as I can describe without getting myself into trouble. Buy the video and I think youıll understand what I mean! Anyway, the shoot went great and the Vette was trucked back home again to itıs owners in Barstow, CA.

We knew that we were going to have to order the Corvette for the actual Playmate of the Year presentation, but we were told the car wasnıt needed until June. We had plenty of time, right? Wrong! At the last minute, we were informed that the car was needed in mid April! Too late to order one from the factory! We were frantically calling Chevy dealers; Les Stanford Chevrolet, Budıs Chevrolet, Tom Jumper Chevrolet, Campbell Chevrolet, but no avail. No Torch Red 6-spd coupes to be found! When all else failed, we put in a call to the East Coast Korvette Kid, Mike Milian of Corvette Mike New England. As luck would have it, the exact Corvette we were looking for had just been delivered to Gary Enckıs Car Store in the Baseball Hall of Fame city of Cooperstown NY. Milian found the car in less than an hour!

Well... allıs well that ends well! The arrangements were made and the car was shipped to us just in time for the April delivery by our exclusive auto transporter Intercity Lines (see ad in this issue). Next stop, the Playboy Mansion for the P.M.O.Y ceremony! So remember, next time you need a Vette in a hurry, call Corvette Mike! Weıll deliver the goods!