The 2022 Corvettes Rock the Bay car show presented by the Corvette Club of South Australia was surely the biggest Corvette gathering in Australia for several years. With the influx of 10 Victorian Club cars, the official total of cars on display numbered 98, falling just short of the magic 100 Corvettes hoped for.
Over and above the Victorians who belonged to several different clubs, there were another three Victorian visitors at the event who also brought along a big Black Silverado 2500 towing a Black car trailer. Yes, this was the GMSV team who brought along, in that big black trailer, their Rapid Blue 3LT C8 Coupe. This added an extra level of interest to the car show with the GMSV folks kept busy all day answering questions and allowing the lucky ones a photo opportunity sitting in the driver’s seat of Chevy’s finest.
A beautiful summer’s day ensued the next day for the big show. The quality of the Corvettes attending was of a high level. Every year it seems the Corvette population of Australia attains a new level of quality as owners attempt to keep up with the quality of the cars around them.
The location of the show in the extremely popular holiday destination of Glenelg guaranteed a big crowd of people would attend. The extremely well organised event featured a line-up of Corvettes from every generation so those new to the marque could visualise the design progression from the C1 to the C7. At the other end of Wigley Reserve the admirers could take in the very latest in Corvettes – the C8. With the first C8s just now being delivered to their owners, these eight generation Corvettes are very rare to see on our roads.
But the festivities had begun the night before when the CCSA put on a dinner at the Watermark Hotel, right next door to Wigley Reserve, Glenelg, the site of the big Sunday Car Show. The Victorians were happy enough to have a place to eat together on Saturday night and to meet up with some of their friends from the SA club, but they didn’t expect to be looked after in the manner they were. After to being treated to a warm welcome by CCSA President Rob McConnell they found they were dining as guests of the SA club, as well as receiving a gift in the form of a bottle of Nationals Port. GMSV played their part by gifting all in attendance with merchandise packs.
The appearance by the GMSV Corvette was enhanced by the arrival of a full-blown racing C8, the Phenix Corvette C8, brought along by long time racing identity and successful Adelaide businessman, Malcolm Ramsay. Ramsay’s team woke up the crowd several times by firing up the 6.2 litre LT2 with its open exhaust system.
The day ended with the presentation of the trophies for the cars voted the best at the show. For those interested the winners will soon be announced on the CCSA website.
Corvette owners from the Corvette Clubs of both South Australia and Victoria have built a warm friendship over the last few years, travelling together to the Gold Coast Nationals in 2019 and then meeting up in Mildura last year for the “Meet the Vics” weekend. This latest catch-up has helped cement the relationship even further. The Vics were extremely impressed with the running of Corvettes Rock the Bay by Event Organiser Peter McBride and his team, and can’t thank CCSA President, Rob McConnell, and his club for their hospitality over the weekend.
