I’m Carol Jent and I have loved Corvettes since the day they came out in 1953. I remember seeing one for the first time in Decatur, Ill. in 1953. I was 11 and I loved it! I’ve always loved vehicles and I remember thinking it was a neat little sports car. I knew since that day, that I would own one.
Cars have always been a part of my life. My great uncle owned part of the Chevy dealership in Shelbyville, Ill. and I was there a lot. I always helped my dad washing the family car because I was the only child. I was kind of a tomboy when it came to cars.
When the Corvette came out, I tried to talk my dad into buying one. He always asked, “Where would your mom ride?” I’d say, “She never goes anywhere with us anyway! What difference does it make?”
One of my favorite memories is going to the debuts of the new car models with my dad. Dealerships used to keep new cars hidden until show day. They would bring them out and give away rulers and other memorabilia. Every year when the new Corvette came out we would hit three or four dealerships to see the new series of cars and wish we had one.
I have always been drawn to the Corvette and love the earlier generations. I also like the C5. Over the years I had my son, and then other expenses came up. So in 2007 my husband told me that if I wanted a Corvette, I had to sell one of my other cars. I sold my 1964 Impala SS convertible and bought a C5 Commemorative Edition convertible in Lemans Blue. It had to be a convertible; it’s a sports car!
Our Corvette is just like the day we bought it. It had 36,000 miles then and now has close to 40,000. I just love getting in my Corvette to take a trip or go somewhere with our Club. Our Corvette has won a few awards, but mostly we just like to drive it. We don’t drive it every day. When we want to take a trip, we get in the car and drive, mostly on road trips and cruising with the top down on a nice day.
Our club, the Coles County Corvette Club in Illinois, has about 60 members. We take trips to Moonshine, a small burger stand in rural Illinois, and to Herman, Mo. My favorite Club trip so far was the trip to Herman because it was the longest drive. The great thing about a Corvette Club is that you always have a good time when you get together. It’s fun to go on trips with these friends and there’s always good fellowship.
We love being so close to Mid America Motorworks. We have been coming to Corvette Funfest for years – since before we even had our Corvette. I came to look at the other Corvettes and wish they were mine!
Now we enjoy coming to make new friends and catch up with people we only see once a year. We also help with Funfest parking and other activities. The entertainment is always a highlight and the whole event is fun.