Rides from the Readers: 2007 Chevrolet Corvette
Hagerty readers and Hagerty Drivers Club members share their cherished collector and enthusiast vehicles with us via our contact email, tips@hagerty.com. We’re showcasing some of our favorite stories among these submissions. To have your car featured, send complete photography and your story of ownership to the above email address.
Today’s featured vehicle is a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. The third model year of the C6 generation, the 2007 Vette came equipped with a 6.0-liter LS2 making 400 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. The following model year, Chevy replaced the LS2 with the 6.2-liter, 430-horse LS3, adding niceties such as keyless access and satellite radio. Steering feel also improved. That said, the 2007 car was no chump; Car and Driver pitted it against an Audi R8 and a Porsche 911 Turbo at Virginia International Raceway, and the Corvette proved victorious.
Today’s ’07 Vette belongs to Tom Ryan and, as he writes, is his second dream car. His first was the 1981 Corvette shown below. Ryan fondly recalls a trip he and his wife took up the East Coast to Ogunquit, Maine, in 1990 for their first anniversary: “Newly married, driving up Route 1 with the T-tops off was a magical time.” Fast-forward 30 years, and the ’81 has yielded to an ’07. To celebrate the purchase, Ryan and his wife decided to reprise the Route 1 trip and even took a photo in front of the same lobster shack they had visited three decades earlier.
Ryan credits his love of cars to his father, a GM engineer who frequently took his son along for business trips between Buffalo and Detroit. He and his father restored several classic cars together, including a ’63 Corvair convertible, a ’30 Model A, and a ’65 Corvair.
“I am stiffer and greyer, the car is newer, and my son is now frequently my co-pilot,” Ryan reflects. “But what hasn’t changed is the love of cars and driving that my father inspired in me, and it will forever be the bond we share.”
