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1996 Corvette
On August 21, 1995, at 06:34, dealer order # 408NG2 was built and shipped to Jack Cauley Chevrolet Inc. in West Bloomfield, Michigan. It was a Torch Red (#70U) Coupe with a black leather interior. It was equipped with Corvette Preferred Group #1, which included Electronic air conditioning, Delco/Bose music system, six way power driver’s seat. The engine ordered was the LT4-5.7 liter SFI V8 330 horsepower with the mandatory ZF six speed manual transmission.
Dealer order #408NG2 also included a Blue tinted removable top, and the upgraded Delco/Bose music system, which was an electronically tuned AM/FM stereo radio with seek-scan, digital clock, stereo cassette tape, compact disc player and Delco Loc II security system. A six way passenger power seat was also ordered. It was equipped with P255/45/17 S/B radial B/W front tires and P285/40/17 S/B radial B/W rear tires.
The total price on the window sticker was $41,924.00 including all options ($4134) and shipping charges ($565).
The total price on the window sticker was $41,924.00 including all options ($4134) and shipping charges ($565).
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My suspicion was that this car's first owner leased it. The car was traded back to the original dealer three years later with 35,692 miles on it. All attempts to contact the dealer for this information via phone and e-mail were not answered.
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The second owner was a school teacher who lived in Minnesota who was very meticulous about the maintenance of this car and stored it in the long cold Minnesota winters. I have all the records of how and when it was serviced, even when it was waxed and stored. The records that Ken kept even indicated what kind of wax and oil that was used.
Ken and his wife enjoyed the car for the next two years and when he retired, he decided to sell the car to raise some cash to buy a home in Arizona. He brought the car to the Bloomington Gold car show and placed it in the cars for sale lot. On Saturday, June 23, 2001 our youngest son spotted this car in the cars for sale lot and fell in love with it immediately. In attendance at the show were some of our “Corvette expert” friends, and they were called upon to evaluate this car. We test drove the car and decided to buy it from Ken. When we bought the car in 2001, the mileage was 45,227.
Our son owned the car for 5 years, and sold it to us in February of 2006 with 57,109 miles on it. He was also meticulous in the maintenance of this car and also stored it in a heated garage for all of the 5 years he owned
it. He drove it often and road raced it at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. He liked to drag race and won his class at Byron Drag Raceway in Byron, IL. As you can tell, this car was no “trailer/garage queen”, it was driven the way it was built to be driven.
We continued our tradition, like we did with the '67, of making sure we drove the car at least once a week by taking day trips and having lunch at all the state parks and points of interest in the area.
it. He drove it often and road raced it at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. He liked to drag race and won his class at Byron Drag Raceway in Byron, IL. As you can tell, this car was no “trailer/garage queen”, it was driven the way it was built to be driven.
We continued our tradition, like we did with the '67, of making sure we drove the car at least once a week by taking day trips and having lunch at all the state parks and points of interest in the area.
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We borrowed it from him to go on the 2004 Hot Rod Power Tour with our friends Barb and Earl.
We joined the Power Tour in St. Louis and enjoyed stopping in Schaumburg, IL, to meet our son Jake and his family for dinner. We drove through some pretty heavy rains almost every day on the Power Tour on our way to Green Bay, WI.
One of our nicest trips was when we went to the ZR1/C4 Gathering at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY in 2006. Not only did we get to see the museum, but toured a winery, had a great road tour to a Federal Grove
Bed and Breakfast, went to a wonderful bar-b-que at the Homestead Bed and Breakfast, visited an original Shaker house and went on a tour of the Patton Museum next to Fort Knox.
Bed and Breakfast, went to a wonderful bar-b-que at the Homestead Bed and Breakfast, visited an original Shaker house and went on a tour of the Patton Museum next to Fort Knox.
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Click here to see a factory tour in 1992: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-general-discussion/3246786-plant-tour-during-building-of-the-c4-great-video.html
Our next weekender was to Galena, IL with our friends, Sue and Barb and Earl.
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We belonged to a late model Corvette group called The Starved Rock Corvette Club for a few years before it went bust. We met a lot of really nice people and went on a few good outings. One of them was the John Deere Homestead in Grand Detour, IL for a fall color tour and quite a few car shows.
One of the thrills of Jake's life was to drive the '96 on the Road America track celebrating Chevrolet's 100th Anniversary.
We arrived at the track at 6:00 AM on the day of the 100th Anniversary of Chevrolet celebration, August 21, 2011. We drove under the Kohler Bridge and then around the infield to get acquainted with the place. We spent the next two
hours checking out all the old race cars and the new offerings that Chevrolet had on display. We were directed
to park in the North Paddock. At 8:00 the RA Center was open for a breakfast buffet sponsored by Chevrolet and what a grand buffet it was! We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and mingled with the crowd, including the officials and celebrities in attendance. At 9:00 the Vintage race group was assembled and allowed to go out on the track.
What a sight to see all those old historic, significant old race cars and to hear and smell the cars running. At 9:30 the Historic and Contemporary race group went out to qualify. To see these old race cars flying around the track was very exciting. We walked between turn 5 and turn 6 just to the north of the Corvette Bridge, and sat in the stands in turn 13. At 10:30 they assembled all the historic race cars on the grid between turn 5 and 6 for the dedication of the Corvette Bridge. We had excellent seats in the grandstands on the hill overlooking the whole ceremony.
At 11:30 the Touring Group was assembled and entered the track at turn 13. We were allowed to take 10 laps and everyone drove aggressively, but not at a dangerous pace. As each lap was completed, it seemed like the pace was faster, and the laps were going much quicker. This was the first of three sessions on the track. After the first session we all went back to the RA Center for another fabulous meal.
After a lunch break, the Vintage cars put on a show in the Feature race. Then at 1:00 the Historic and Contemporary cars had their race. After all the racing, over in the Lester Building, the Concours Final
Awards were handed out. At the same time (2:00) the Touring group was allowed on the track for the second
session. As before, like the first session the pace got faster as the laps were completed. It was more fun this time because you had the experience of the first session. You learned that you could go deeper into the turn and brake later and hit the apex of the turn and accelerate out of the turn in a higher gear. After ten laps of this exciting drive, I was ready to take a break and let the car and brakes cool down. We sat in the stands
in turn 13 and watched all the cars racing and listened to the different sounds of the small block and big block cars.
We enjoyed some cool drinks in the RA Center, then at 3:45 the Touring Group was assembled and sent out on the track for the final 10 lap session. This time it felt like it was a full bore race pace, and everyone was sliding through the turns and accelerating flat out and braking hard in every corner. It was so fast, I experienced brake fade about 5 laps into the session. I had difficulty deciding which gear to exit turn 5 and be able to pull strongly
up the hill under the Corvette Bridge. If I downshifted to second gear, I would over rev the engine before I got to the bridge, but I discovered if I downshifted into 3rd gear, the car would pull strong enough to stay ahead of the pack and not run out of RPM. I particularly liked coming out of Canada Corner (turn 12) and accelerate towards turn 14. I was able to shift from third gear to fourth gear and never lift at turn 13. It just felt right that I could hold the throttle to the floor and negotiate that turn and never lift! Even with the brake fade, I was staying in front
of the cars behind me. On the last two laps, the pace was considerably slower, so I suspect other cars were experiencing the same brake fade as I was. After the two “cool down” laps the cars exited the track at turn 5 and entered the North Paddock to park. I had driven about 121 miles on the track, and some of it at a frantic
pace. I had a grin on my face as wide as Texas.
We left the track about 5:00 PM and went to the Hotel in Elkhart Lake. After checking in and taking a nice hot shower, we walked over to the Restaurant for a sumptuous dinner looking out over Elkhart Lake. After
dinner we walked along the beach and slowly worked our way back to the Hotel for a good night’s sleep. The next morning, we went back to the same restaurant for breakfast and enjoyed another wonderful meal. We checked out of the Hotel and started our journey back home. We drove south along Highway 67 to the town of Plymouth. As we drove along Highway 67 towards Plymouth, I glanced at the fuel gauge and it read EMPTY!! I failed to realize that all the full throttle racing was killing my gas mileage. I know when we arrived at the track, I had a half tank of gas, I guess it was not enough to run 121 miles at race track speeds! I was having so much fun, that I never noticed the gas gauge read empty! I started to seek out a gas station, but none was to be found. We
drove west on 23 to a little town called Greenbush. I drove into the town, and could find no gas station. I
even stopped two women who were out for their morning walk and asked if there was a gas station in their town. They replied that there was not a gas station in that town, but about 5 miles west on Highway 23 there was a gas
station. I thanked them and started to drive very conservatively, trying to save every drop of gas that I
could. I even shut the engine off while cruising down the hills. That was the longest 5 miles that I ever
travelled. Sure enough, what seemed like an hour’s drive west, there was a new gas station. I almost kissed the ground. We filled up the car, and I put 20 gallons of gas in the 20 gallon tank—we were on the fumes!!
The rest of the trip home was uneventful, and we traveled the scenic back roads through Wisconsin and into Illinois. We stopped for lunch in Johnson Creek, and drove on into Illinois. We arrived at our home in Lake Holiday thoroughly refreshed and satisfied that we had made a trip that we will never forget!
hours checking out all the old race cars and the new offerings that Chevrolet had on display. We were directed
to park in the North Paddock. At 8:00 the RA Center was open for a breakfast buffet sponsored by Chevrolet and what a grand buffet it was! We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and mingled with the crowd, including the officials and celebrities in attendance. At 9:00 the Vintage race group was assembled and allowed to go out on the track.
What a sight to see all those old historic, significant old race cars and to hear and smell the cars running. At 9:30 the Historic and Contemporary race group went out to qualify. To see these old race cars flying around the track was very exciting. We walked between turn 5 and turn 6 just to the north of the Corvette Bridge, and sat in the stands in turn 13. At 10:30 they assembled all the historic race cars on the grid between turn 5 and 6 for the dedication of the Corvette Bridge. We had excellent seats in the grandstands on the hill overlooking the whole ceremony.
At 11:30 the Touring Group was assembled and entered the track at turn 13. We were allowed to take 10 laps and everyone drove aggressively, but not at a dangerous pace. As each lap was completed, it seemed like the pace was faster, and the laps were going much quicker. This was the first of three sessions on the track. After the first session we all went back to the RA Center for another fabulous meal.
After a lunch break, the Vintage cars put on a show in the Feature race. Then at 1:00 the Historic and Contemporary cars had their race. After all the racing, over in the Lester Building, the Concours Final
Awards were handed out. At the same time (2:00) the Touring group was allowed on the track for the second
session. As before, like the first session the pace got faster as the laps were completed. It was more fun this time because you had the experience of the first session. You learned that you could go deeper into the turn and brake later and hit the apex of the turn and accelerate out of the turn in a higher gear. After ten laps of this exciting drive, I was ready to take a break and let the car and brakes cool down. We sat in the stands
in turn 13 and watched all the cars racing and listened to the different sounds of the small block and big block cars.
We enjoyed some cool drinks in the RA Center, then at 3:45 the Touring Group was assembled and sent out on the track for the final 10 lap session. This time it felt like it was a full bore race pace, and everyone was sliding through the turns and accelerating flat out and braking hard in every corner. It was so fast, I experienced brake fade about 5 laps into the session. I had difficulty deciding which gear to exit turn 5 and be able to pull strongly
up the hill under the Corvette Bridge. If I downshifted to second gear, I would over rev the engine before I got to the bridge, but I discovered if I downshifted into 3rd gear, the car would pull strong enough to stay ahead of the pack and not run out of RPM. I particularly liked coming out of Canada Corner (turn 12) and accelerate towards turn 14. I was able to shift from third gear to fourth gear and never lift at turn 13. It just felt right that I could hold the throttle to the floor and negotiate that turn and never lift! Even with the brake fade, I was staying in front
of the cars behind me. On the last two laps, the pace was considerably slower, so I suspect other cars were experiencing the same brake fade as I was. After the two “cool down” laps the cars exited the track at turn 5 and entered the North Paddock to park. I had driven about 121 miles on the track, and some of it at a frantic
pace. I had a grin on my face as wide as Texas.
We left the track about 5:00 PM and went to the Hotel in Elkhart Lake. After checking in and taking a nice hot shower, we walked over to the Restaurant for a sumptuous dinner looking out over Elkhart Lake. After
dinner we walked along the beach and slowly worked our way back to the Hotel for a good night’s sleep. The next morning, we went back to the same restaurant for breakfast and enjoyed another wonderful meal. We checked out of the Hotel and started our journey back home. We drove south along Highway 67 to the town of Plymouth. As we drove along Highway 67 towards Plymouth, I glanced at the fuel gauge and it read EMPTY!! I failed to realize that all the full throttle racing was killing my gas mileage. I know when we arrived at the track, I had a half tank of gas, I guess it was not enough to run 121 miles at race track speeds! I was having so much fun, that I never noticed the gas gauge read empty! I started to seek out a gas station, but none was to be found. We
drove west on 23 to a little town called Greenbush. I drove into the town, and could find no gas station. I
even stopped two women who were out for their morning walk and asked if there was a gas station in their town. They replied that there was not a gas station in that town, but about 5 miles west on Highway 23 there was a gas
station. I thanked them and started to drive very conservatively, trying to save every drop of gas that I
could. I even shut the engine off while cruising down the hills. That was the longest 5 miles that I ever
travelled. Sure enough, what seemed like an hour’s drive west, there was a new gas station. I almost kissed the ground. We filled up the car, and I put 20 gallons of gas in the 20 gallon tank—we were on the fumes!!
The rest of the trip home was uneventful, and we traveled the scenic back roads through Wisconsin and into Illinois. We stopped for lunch in Johnson Creek, and drove on into Illinois. We arrived at our home in Lake Holiday thoroughly refreshed and satisfied that we had made a trip that we will never forget!
We enjoyed an overnighter to Lacrosse, WI (Northern end of The Great River Road) with our friends Bonnie and Ralph whom we met through The Starved Rock Corvette Group. We went on an old paddle wheeler boat down the Mississippi River and saw a unique swing bridge.
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Decided to go overnight with Bonnie and Ralph to Quincy (Southern end of The Great River Road.)
A great way to spend the day is at the Fair Oaks Farm in Indiana. It was a huge immaculate farm where they have public birthing rooms where you can sit and watch a calf being born, cow tour buses to show you around and a nice farm museum to visit. They also have a great gift shop and restaurant with the best ice cream we've ever tasted.
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Wanted to try the Beloit Car Show in Beloit, WI for the first time and it was worth the ride especially over the little one way bridge. Fun to spend time with our son Jake, Earl and Glenn, and Bonnie and Ralph.
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We took a day trip up to Lake Geneva, WI with Barb and Earl and Bonnie and Ralph. Had a great lunch at Lake Lawn Resort.
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We have also maintained this car, with the proper synthetic oil and stored it in a heated garage since we have owned it. It has provided many happy miles of enjoyment since 2006 when we bought it from our son. At the present time (2/26/13) it has 80437 miles on it. All of those miles that we have had it were not trouble free. Since we have owned it I have replaced the water pump, the fuel pump, the opti-spark distributor, clutch, flywheel, coil, ignition module, spark plugs, ignition wires, all hoses, windshield washer pump, heater core, brake pads and rotors, some plastic interior parts, 2 batteries and 4 tires. Some of those items were normal preventive maintenance items, and some were just plain worn out. It is still driven on road trips and has proven to be
a comfortable, reliable highway cruiser. We have looked at and driven new Corvettes and always come back to our 1996 LT4 Corvette coupe and say, “we like this car better than the new car.”
a comfortable, reliable highway cruiser. We have looked at and driven new Corvettes and always come back to our 1996 LT4 Corvette coupe and say, “we like this car better than the new car.”
Went on our first day trip for 2013. We went to the I80 Trucking Museum in Walcott, IA with stops in LeClaire, IA at Antique Archeology, which is the home of the Antique Archeology television show. It was fun to see items for sale that we saw Mike and Frank originally pick. We also visited the Buffalo Bill Museum in LeClaire. We enjoyed the beautiful cold, but sunny spring day with Barb and Earl, Bonnie and Ralph, Chuck and Sally, Bob and Pam and Steve and Jackie.
Jake finally got to drive on the Tail of the Dragon Run on Rt. 129 that runs from Tennessee into North Carolina. It's 11 miles with 318 turns. We went on the Corvette Museum sponsored tour with Barb and Earl and Ralph and Bonnie. We made our first stop at a covered bridge in Lake of the Woods.
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From there we went to Gross's for the best hamburgers for miles around in Danville, IL.
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We arrived at the museum in time for lunch and to explore the museum and gift shop.
We spent the rest of the day at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY and that night had a driver's meeting for the Dragon Run the next day.
Unfortunately Mother Nature would have her own way and it poured down rain all day and we were unable to stop and take any pictures. One good thing about the rain was that there were no motorcycles on the Dragon that day. They were all hunkered down out of the rain. Here is Jake's description of the actual run:
The good news-Car was flawless. We had the only C4 on the Tail of the Dragon run. 4-5 C5’s (including Ralph) and all the rest were newer Z06’s and 427 Convertibles, 25 cars in all. It poured down rain all day Sunday, the rain was washing across the road on the Tail, 1 inch deep! One section was closed due to a mud slide! BUT—that did not slow down the leaders. 4 late models and 1- Z06 were leading the group—very fast! We were the 5th car in line. The Z06 in front of us was a “race prepared” car, 500 HP at the rear wheels, special “Track” suspension, and Michelin Pilot PS2 tires on super wide rims. The funny thing was—he couldn’t shake us! We were right on his bumper the whole way through!!! Turn for turn, curve for curve, straightaway for straightaway, I was able to stay with him, because when he had to brake, I could go through the turn without braking! He would slow with his brakes, and I would be able to climb up to his rear bumper if I wanted to. The old LT4 was really in her element!!! On the really tight turns, and there was a lot of them, both left and right, I would tap the brakes to settle the front end and she would bite like no tomorrow, either left or right and the back would follow as soon as I was back on the gas! The whole 11 miles I was in 2nd and 3rd gear. It was a good test of my abilities and the cars capabilities. After running the Tail of the Dragon I examined the edges of our tires and evidence of severe cornering wear was apparent. The next day, back at the hotel, the guy who owned the Z06 in front of us, made a special attempt to seek me out. He thought our car was supercharged!!! He kept saying that every time he looked in his mirror, I was right on his ass! He complimented me on my driving. He said he has over 1000 hours on a race track with that car, and has set records on the track at VIR, and it has taken him 2 years to “dial it in”. So I held up the honor of the C4's credentials. When we came to the end of the Tail, us five cars were waiting 10-12 minutes for the rest of the group. This Tail of the Dragon is a MUST DO. The nice part of the rain, was that we had the whole road all to our selves, no bikes, no other cars. It was so much fun, that I wanted to go back and do it again! To run this part of Route 129 fast, requires the best tires and the best brake set up you can afford. Our youngest son had installed Baer brakes and stainless steel lines on the car when he had it, and they are still on it now. The Firestone Firehawk wide oval tires shed water like a snow plow, never any slip of any kind, whether braking or accelerating. When we left the Tail of the Dragon on the way to the hotel, we were running 80-95 mph in the rain!!! It was like these guys were possessed, but they could not shake me! By the way—we averaged 24 mpg for the entire trip—1900 miles, 79 gallons of 93 octane.
The good news-Car was flawless. We had the only C4 on the Tail of the Dragon run. 4-5 C5’s (including Ralph) and all the rest were newer Z06’s and 427 Convertibles, 25 cars in all. It poured down rain all day Sunday, the rain was washing across the road on the Tail, 1 inch deep! One section was closed due to a mud slide! BUT—that did not slow down the leaders. 4 late models and 1- Z06 were leading the group—very fast! We were the 5th car in line. The Z06 in front of us was a “race prepared” car, 500 HP at the rear wheels, special “Track” suspension, and Michelin Pilot PS2 tires on super wide rims. The funny thing was—he couldn’t shake us! We were right on his bumper the whole way through!!! Turn for turn, curve for curve, straightaway for straightaway, I was able to stay with him, because when he had to brake, I could go through the turn without braking! He would slow with his brakes, and I would be able to climb up to his rear bumper if I wanted to. The old LT4 was really in her element!!! On the really tight turns, and there was a lot of them, both left and right, I would tap the brakes to settle the front end and she would bite like no tomorrow, either left or right and the back would follow as soon as I was back on the gas! The whole 11 miles I was in 2nd and 3rd gear. It was a good test of my abilities and the cars capabilities. After running the Tail of the Dragon I examined the edges of our tires and evidence of severe cornering wear was apparent. The next day, back at the hotel, the guy who owned the Z06 in front of us, made a special attempt to seek me out. He thought our car was supercharged!!! He kept saying that every time he looked in his mirror, I was right on his ass! He complimented me on my driving. He said he has over 1000 hours on a race track with that car, and has set records on the track at VIR, and it has taken him 2 years to “dial it in”. So I held up the honor of the C4's credentials. When we came to the end of the Tail, us five cars were waiting 10-12 minutes for the rest of the group. This Tail of the Dragon is a MUST DO. The nice part of the rain, was that we had the whole road all to our selves, no bikes, no other cars. It was so much fun, that I wanted to go back and do it again! To run this part of Route 129 fast, requires the best tires and the best brake set up you can afford. Our youngest son had installed Baer brakes and stainless steel lines on the car when he had it, and they are still on it now. The Firestone Firehawk wide oval tires shed water like a snow plow, never any slip of any kind, whether braking or accelerating. When we left the Tail of the Dragon on the way to the hotel, we were running 80-95 mph in the rain!!! It was like these guys were possessed, but they could not shake me! By the way—we averaged 24 mpg for the entire trip—1900 miles, 79 gallons of 93 octane.
We spent a beautiful, sunny, dry, warm, calm day at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. As part of the Tail of the Dragon Run we had a few specialty tours and two delicious meals.
The next day we headed home. Spent the first night in Bowling Green and last night on the road was in Terre Haute, IN.
Even though we have enjoyed this car and it performed flawlessly on the Tail of the Dragon we decided to downsize and sell our Grand Prix and the 1996 Corvette to purchase a 2013 Corvette.