Lucky number 7 was originally purchased at Corvette Mike's in Plymouth, Mass. by my mother. It had just 21,000 miles shortly after September, 2001. The idea was if this was the end, then she might as well have fun.
When she got the car home she found the car to be in sad mechanical shape, but driveable. So she drove it around until one day the rear main engine seal let go. Upon getting it to Corvette's and Classics in Taunton, Mass., Mike and his crew made the necessary repairs and they noticed that the car had a really low VIN number.
The shop called my mother to inquire about it and she wasn't aware of what she had. The mechanics at Corvette's and Classics recommended that she do a title search of the car and find out who the first owners were. She couldn't find any listed – as in no previous title.
Fast forward to 2012. Over the last ten years, my mother had 70,000 miles on the car and had made several minor repairs. So she decided to give the car to me and immediately after receiving the title, I proceeded to do a search though the Corvette Museum and various other sources.
One of the first things I got back was the window sticker and build sheet for the car, which listed the dealer and purchaser of the car. To my surprise, I found out that the car was owned GM Chevrolet Engineering and was shipped to the proving ground in Milford, Michigan.
Armed with this information, I managed to find out that this car was one of 6 pilot cars for the 1982 model year. This car was equipped with the FE7 suspension package and two-tone paint. Now I'm in search for what this car was used for at the proving grounds and how it got out into the public. Most pilot cars for GM were either sold within GM or destroyed, so this makes this car a true survivor "Lucky number 7."