C3s of Vettes at the Port 2017

Excellent weather and close to 250 Corvettes made for a fantastic event during the 16th Annual Vettes at the Port 2017 car show.

My Corvette performed without a hitch during the 160-mile drive (total mileage) down to Cape Canaveral and back, and the few little details that remain should be addressed this week at Rilley Auto Repair in Daytona Beach.

The C3 category was split into two classes: 1968 to 1977 and 1978-1982, so my Vette was in the C3 "A" class and I must say, in very good company. I do not have an exact count, but I am guessing there were at least thirty C3s there between the A and B class and those in a separate section for Cape Kennedy Corvette Club member cars.

Above: Partial view of the C1 and C2 area with the Exploration Tower in the background.

I assume that they separated CKCC members from non-members in order to have a fair way to judge category winners, which ranged from C1s to C7s.

Since cars rolled in at different times during the morning, I missed a few C3s, but the ones I was able to photograph, show the quality of the cars in attendance.

Above: My 1976 Corvette Stingray.   

Since this was a people's choice awards event, I decided to stay until the end to see who would take top honors, ranging from 1st to 4th place, and always hopeful that my Vette would make the cut.

Glad I decided to stay, but—honestly—I was not expecting this...

As they called the four winners to the podium, I could not believe they had called up my name, and as they awarded the trophies for Fourth, Third, and then Second place, I was starting to think that maybe someone had made a mistake.

When they handed me the trophy for First Place of the C3 "A" class, the hundreds of hours spent ordering, cleaning, detailing and/or replacing parts, upgrading this and that, taking the car to various shops and spending thousands of dollars trying to make it better, instantly went away and were replaced with a sense of pride and happiness that it's impossible to describe.

Most of us don't enter car shows to win anything. We do it for the fun and camaraderie, but this award certainly was the icing on the cake.

For 2018, Vettes at the Port is moving down the road to The Avenue, Viera, with lots of shopping, restaurants, and plenty of parking space as the event keeps growing every year. The new address is 2261 Town Center Avenue, Viera, FL 32940. The event is scheduled for April 14th, 2018.

Thanks for following my '76 Vette Blog!



Product Links... (#sponsored)

• How to Restore Your C3 Corvette: 1968-1982
• 1968-1982 Corvette Restoration Guide, 2nd Edition
• Corvette Black Book | 1953-2019
• 1976 Corvette Service & Overhaul Manual
• 1976 Corvette Service & Overhaul Manual CD-ROM
• 1976 Corvette Dealer Sales Brochure | GM-Licensed Reprint
• 1976 Corvette Stingray Owner's Manual | GM-Licensed Reprint
• 1976 Corvette Assembly Manual