La de dah… It’s Mardi Gras!
by steamtug on Feb.21, 2017, under General
Ethyl, well she’s my old corvette. 
And she loves nothing better than a parade! And now that it’s Mardi Gras time, what better excuse to polish up and roll out and wave to all the girls in town, than a Mardi Gras parade, right?
So I spent all Saturday morning polishing and buffing the old girl. 41 years old, but she still has the complexion of a lady much younger. The weather the day before had been wet, and having to drive her daily to work meant she get’s dirty far too often than I would like. But she really looked a treat as I pulled up with the rest of the Contraband Corvette club from Lake Charles, and I spent the waiting time putting on her lipstick (tyre black) just to tart her up.
Well we went down the parade, waved to all the girls and had a lovely time. And when it was all done, we drove off the parade route and was looking for a place to stop and park, when I spotted an amazing site. A 1981 C3 corvette on a trailer behind a big truck, parked up at the front of one of the local businesses. I made a quick U-turn and pulled up beside it. Was this a Corvette club member’s new car that I didn’t know about? I took a photo just in time to see a young kid come over and meet me.
He wasn’t part of our club, He wasn’t even in the Mardi Gras parade! Turns out (you gonna love this story) he had driven to Louisiana after buying this old Corvette and had come to take her home. He didn’t know about the Mardi Gras parade, and regretted not meeting me earlier to get him to come with us.
So where was home? UTAH!!! 25 hours drive. And…. he was just 17 years old! He had borrowed his mum’s truck, hired a trailer and come to the deep south to take his prize home. He told me he had been nuts about Corvette’s since he was 10 years old. I told him, ME TOO! Ha….
His Corvette had been converted to have a 454 cu-inch engine and turbo 400 auto transmission, with tunnel ram intake manifold and duel 4 barrel carbies. I asked him if he had every heard of the Bonneville salt flats in Utah. He rolled his eyes…. he’s from bloody Utah!! He wanted to take it home to the salt flats and try it out on the quarter mile and see what she did. How amazing was that.
AND HE’S JUST 17 YEARS OLD!!!
