Bloomington Gold

"We’re in the credibility business," says David Burroughs, chief executive of Bloomington Gold, a car show that celebrates the Corvette, reports Paul Ingrassia in the Wall Street Journal (6/24/10). David’s outlook was shaped at a Corvette car show in Bloomington, Illinois he attended back in the early 70s. He found the judging criteria inconsistent, and eventually took over the show, imposing a simple standard: "no better, no worse, no different." David’s idea was to evaluate vintage ‘Vettes by how well "they’ve been preserved or restored to their original condition."

At the show, judges "evaluate the exterior, the interior, the engine and the chassis. Even a square-head bolt gets a demerit if the original was round." Winning cars receive one of three designations: "Gold Certified, Survivor and Benchmark — the last meaning that the car is in near-mint condition with mostly original parts." This year’s show also included an exhibit "of historically significant Corvettes, including the prototype displayed at the 1953 Motorama (image)."

Says David: "What I want to leave behind is a documented history of how all this unfolded. How did this car create a loyal fan base and then become a phenomenon?" It’s a good question, given that the first Corvettes were so awful (six cylinders and two-speed automatic transmissions) that General Motors nearly killed it after the first two years. It was only after Zora Arkus-Duntov, a GM engineer, sent a memo making a case for a more muscular approach that the car took off. Zora’s memo, along with his ashes, are now enshrined at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.