Many of our members have had the pleasure of
picking up their new Corvette at the National Corvette Museum
in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I thought a little more information about this special
delivery would be of interest to all of our members and a great way to support the NCM. If
you are into surprises and do not want to know all of the details, STOP
here! Sherry Myers, the Corvette
Museum Delivery Coordinator was able to give me the details of the delivery and
the following is her description of the program and how it operates.
Daily the NCM receives acknowledgment forms from Chevrolet dealers alerting the staff
that the customer has opted for the R8C
option, "Corvette Museum Delivery".
Each week Sherry’s office receives a fax from the Corvette Plant with the order
numbers for the next weeks "build week". She proceeds to match those order
numbers with the ones on the fax and then generates a letter to the selling dealer
requesting that they contact their customer and advise them of the two week pick up time
frame and have them call to schedule their delivery date.
The customer usually goes to the assembly plant for a general tour and then comes to
the museum for the delivery. They are greeted as soon as they enter with their names on
the welcome reader board. Their private tour of the museum begins by some of the members
of the Delivery team, Sherry
Lloyd, Ryan Alexander, Adam Boca, and Sherry Myers. Somewhere during the
tour, they will come upon their new Corvette displayed inside the NCM. A sign there
congratulates them on the delivery of their new Corvette. After photos are taken, the
lucky customers enter the delivery office to exchange paperwork, talk about the warranty,
and view a fifteen minute film of the operational features of their Corvette. I imagine
this is the antsy part of the tour and I did not find too many that remembered this part.
If the customer is not a member of the museum, they are presented with an individual one
year NCM membership. Mart Cassady, NCM, also says that they are averaging a 75% renewal
rate on delivery recipient memberships.
What a great way to introduce new Corvette owners to the National
Corvette Museum.
After the office portion, they are taken into the delivery bay, where they receive a
hands on explanation of how to operate their new Corvette, while they sit behind the
wheel. Then they are presented with a gold "Corvette Museum Delivery" decal and
an order of a laser engraved wooden plaque with their name, date of delivery, and VIN is
made. Special thanks to Sherry Myers for this information.
Our own C5 Registry has found out that as
of October 5, 1998, the R8C went from $400 to $490.
I hope that all of this increase is going to the NCM. I have been told that about $166
less $35 for the laser engraved plaque of this goes to the NCM, with the remainder going
to the Chevrolet dealerships. Some dealers will cut a portion of this price, which is
their profit. As you can see from the description above, the NCM staff provides a great
service with the tour, decal, and special plaque, with photos to remember the occasion.
Cave City Chevrolet, which I understand is about thirty miles away, does the prep work and
accounts for the mileage on the odometer.
Twenty-three Registry members responded to my request for information about the
program. I enjoyed reading the comments of those that had taken delivery and think that
you will too.
Stan Kessel, C5R#0104, picked up his 98
convertible and got to see it the night before delivery. Stan’s was the first 1998
Corvette and the first C5 convertible to be released. Only negative part was his having to
accept delivery in a room with glass windows covered with paper, because it was 15 days
before introduction. Kevin and Sue Wilkinson, C5R#1677, picked up their 99 Pewter Coupe
for their 20th Anniversary gift to each other. I liked their comment, "We
will stand in a room full of Corvetters and declare that WE had the best Museum Delivery
EVER and it will be hard to deny." Willie Favero, C5R#W0969, said to make sure that
the NCM staff got a good mention, they spent over three hours talking to him and showing
Vettes, including some in the back room. Mase Sanford, C5R#W0374, got his 98 Torch red
convertible as a Christmas present from his family. Mase said it so well, " having
the most wonderful car in the world, given to me by the most wonderful family in the
world, at what was the most wonderful place to be, with some of the most wonderful people
I’ve met. Pick the best part…I can’t, its like saying which part of a
chocolate sundae is best." Pat McInerney, C5R#W0178, said that the moment, at the end
of the tour, seeing their 98 Sebring Silver coupe, was beyond description. Paul Johnson,
C5R#W0279, picked his 99 Torch Red coupe up the day before the 98’ NCM Labor Day
Celebration and entered it in the Quadra Challenge show winning first place and also was
picked as a Celebrity Judge award by Wendell Strode, the NCM Director. What a weekend! Bob
Brown, C5R#W0758, 99 "lipstick red" ragtop, enjoyed the experience with his son,
the whole experience- the welcome sign, his red convertible behind the ropes, and the 2400
mile trip home, top down. Kay Guthrie, C5R#0893, surprised her husband, Marvin with a
surprise 55th Birthday delivery of a triple black roadster, and enjoyed dealing
with the NCM staff the best. Sherry can keep a secret. Barry and Jan Schofield, C5R#W0580,
drove back to Olympia, Washington with their 98 Carmine coupe after "a magical
delivery worth every penny." John and Janet Wood, C5R#0197, loved the plant tour
best, followed closely by their 8 hour trip home in their first Vette, listening to their
favorite mix of music. The absolute high for Denny Gibson, C5R#W0407, was starting his C5
inside the NCM and driving out, top down, girlfriend at his side. Glad he got to do that,
after a scheduling error, where the previous Corvette was still on display. Denny did
christen his C5 with champagne in the parking lot, front tire, of course. "I was in
dreamland the whole day - everything was too much…" - Les Goldman, C5R#V0052. Ed
Goldman, C5R#W0513, enjoyed picking his up during the 1st C5 Birthday
Celebration with a group of C5 enthusiasts there during his ‘discovery’. Any
relation with here, Ed and Les? Lynn Kennedy, C5R#0520, suggests a t-shirt saying,
"I’m picking up my new Vette today", because it would "explain why
you’re walking around like a mule eating briars!!" After an 8 month wait, Dale
Schmidt, C5R#W1004, enjoyed the factory tour and seeing his 99 Torch red convertible in
the NCM and blasting back to Wisconsin. Hope everyone has read about Russ Cartmill’s,
C5R#W0115, delivery on the web page, another satisfied customer. The personal tour of the
NCM and seeing his car at the end, Torch red coupe, was the highlight for Dave Micek,
C5R#W0550. Hank Vezina C5R#W0114, received a big smile and a thumbs up, instead of a
ticket, from a state trooper on his way home from picking up his Nassau Blue ragtop.
Fellow NCM Ambassador, Glen Sands,
C5R#W0517, points out that the R8C option is on top of the normal destination charges.
Glen still recommends this option to anyone, "it just doesn’t get any better
than picking up your new Corvette in Bowling Green at the NCM." Check out Glen’s
delivery at http://members.aol.com/vettintnc/sandncm.html
.
As earlier mentioned, Sherry Myers is the
NCM contact for the NCM Delivery Option and she can be reached by phone at 1-800-53VETTE,
or by e-mail at sherry@corvettemuseum.com .
Please give her a call with any questions or e-mail the ones that have done it, they will
be glad to tell you the rest of the story. We have started a list of NCM deliveries with
their e-mails and would like to keep adding to this list, so please let myself or Frank
know when you choose the R8C option.
Thank-you for supporting our museum.
