Bloomington Gold in St. Charles, IL
For those of us of a certain age, it seems like it wasn’t that long ago that the Corvette celebrated its silver anniversary with a special silver and charcoal anniversary edition car in 1978. So it’s hard to believe that any Corvette show is approaching forty years old, but this year marks the 37th annual show for Bloomington Gold.
Even though the show has been around for a long time, it hasn’t gotten stale or rested on its laurels. Over the years, Bloomington Gold brought the concept of certification to the show field where cars don’t compete against each other but against themselves for accuracy against the standard of how they left the factory. “No better or no worse” as founder David Burroughs is fond of pointing out.
One of the prime missions of Bloomington Gold has been the preservation of Corvette history. The loss of well-preserved original cars in pursuit of trophies so troubled David Burroughs that he developed the “Survivor®” certification process that recognizes well-preserved unrestored cars. To qualify, a Corvette must be over 20 years old, pass a road test over 20 miles, remain over 50% unrestored, un-refinished, or unaltered, and retain finishes good enough to use as a color guide for the restoration of a car just like it.
Over the next several years, Burroughs and Bloomington Gold plan to extend the Survivor concept beyond Corvettes. On Sunday June 28, Bloomington Gold will hold an all-makes Survivor car show open only to unrestored cars. In addition to the Survivor Car Show, regular Gold, Survivor and Benchmark Corvette certification will take place, but perhaps the highlight of the show will be the Special Collection of the rarest, fastest and most expensive Corvettes on the planet.
Anyone in the market for a Corvette should not miss the Dana Mecum auction of 350 Corvettes on June 26 and 27 on the grounds of the Bloomington Gold show. Corvettes ranging from 1953 to 2009 are expected with one for nearly any budget. If you can’t make it in person, you can register as a telephone bidder or watch the auction live on Discovery HD.
The show location is the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL on Illinois Route 64, three miles west of Illinois Route 59, next to the DuPage County Airport. Gates open at 7:00 am on Thursday June 25 and the show runs through Sunday afternoon, June 28.
