STATE

Corvette's endless summer: The iconic sports car is very popular in the Panhandle

Jim Thompson GateHouse Florida
Members of the Playground Corvette Club stand near their cars as they gathered recently for a meeting at Props Brewery & Grill in Fort Walton Beach. [GATEHOUSE FLORIDA/MICHAEL SNYDER]

FORT WALTON BEACH — "They're fast and fun. ... Does that work?"

Ask any Chevrolet Corvette owner what they like about having America's iconic sports car in their garage, and they're likely to answer just like Barbara Cormier, with just a touch of incredulity that the question has to be posed at all.

"She's always been a car girl," Cormier's husband, Dave, said with a smile.

Barbara Cormier is, in fact, on her third Corvette. Before acquiring the 2016 model she drives now, she owned a 1988 Corvette, and followed that up with a 1991 model.

Dave Cormier drives a 2003 Corvette, the model marking the brand's 50th year. There are also a 1968 Corvette, and a 1970 model — in various stages of disrepair headed toward resurrection — in the couple's inventory.

Together, the Cormiers are part of the reason — an outsized part, to be sure — that you're likely to see more Corvettes cruising along Florida's streets and streaking down its highways than just about anywhere else on Earth.

The Playground Corvette Club is a testament to that.

Once a month, dozens of Corvette aficionados from Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties meet to talk 'Vettes. In addition to their mutual love, club members support a number of community organizations, including The Arc, an advocacy group for people with cognitive disabilities, the Alaqua Animal Refuge and Covenant Hospice.

Playground Corvette Club mirrors the state's love of the American made muscle car. Its members, many of them military retirees, have opened their wallets to buy everything from the jauntily sporty early iterations of the car to its latest versions, snarling low-slung powerhouses all but ready for the racetrack.

Two years ago, the GM Parts Center (General Motors is the parent company of Chevrolet) paired Census data with the IP addresses of customers making online purchases of Corvette parts on its website to determine that Florida ranked second in the nation in both the total and per capita numbers of Corvettes among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Florida was identified as one of six states — the others are Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky (Corvettes are built in Bowling Green) and Michigan — where Corvettes were most popular.

Playground Corvette Club president Dave Cormier doesn't need GM to tell him that Florida is a popular place for Corvettes.

"That doesn't surprise me at all," he said.

There are a couple of likely reasons that Florida roads host a lot of Corvettes, according to Cormier. One is the weather, which is conducive to lots of top-down driving for convertible or T-top models. Second, Cormier said, is that Florida is home to a large number of retirees who have a significant amount of discretionary income.

"A lot of us have worked very, very hard," he said. "Now, the kids are gone and we can blow a few bucks on ourselves."

The Corvette has been a part of Chevrolet's offerings every year since 1953, and in that time, it has not deviated from its original conception as a two-seat American sports car. The Ford Thunderbird, designed to compete with the Corvette, was produced as a two-seat sports car from 1955 through 1958, but evolved into four-set personal luxury car. The Thunderbird briefly returned as a two-seater from 2002 through 2005, but was discontinued after the 2005 model year.

The Corvette's virtually unchallenged status as America's only two-seat sports car is a large part of the reason for its appeal.

"We just have a love affair with this car," Dave Cormier said.

Part of that love is based on — well, OK, let's just say it — the need for speed.

In a decidedly unscientific poll conducted at the club's Wednesday meeting at Props Brewery & Grill, with more than a half-dozen Corvettes parked outside, most owners admitted that, yeah, given half a chance and a clear stretch of highway, they'll press the accelerator pedal and move through the gears.

"You'll hit 100 (mph) in this car in seconds," said Steve Payne, vice president of the Playground Corvette Club. "Even your most basic 'Vette will scoot. ... They are built for speed — and handling."

The vanity license plate on Payne's ruby-red 2009 Corvette suggests that perhaps, on occasion, he just possibly might venture into triple-digit speed.

The plate reads "NOGOSLO."

With some exceptions, Corvettes have consistently had a reputation as fast cars, a reputation enhanced in recent years by the transfer of racing technology into street cars. And even though Cormier is lusting after a 755-horsepower 2019 Corvette ZR1 (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, $118,900), he is now of an age where he can, for the most part — for public consumption, anyway — resist the temptation to test that kind of horsepower on local highways and byways.

"Maybe 40 years ago," he said.

But he added quickly, "You can still play with it as long as you don't get stupid."

"Stupid" does happen, though. One member of the club confessed Wednesday that he had been pulled over and ticketed after being clocked at 85 mph on a local highway. However, the ticket did come with a token of respect from the arresting officer.

"The cop said, 'I'm glad to see you're in a car that's worthy of a ticket,' " said the luckless Corvette owner.