Classic Corvettes roar into Muscatine, Iowa

From the Muscatine Journal: Classic Corvettes roar into Muscatine
MUSCATINE, Iowa - Looking shiny and new, the throaty rumble of the past roared into Muscatine [last] Friday afternoon.

The thunderous sound of seven Corvette Sting Rays shook the windows of the Muscatine Journal at 301 Third St. as the classic cars idled on Cedar Street. The cars - owned and driven by Corvette fans from across the country - are on a Great River Road Trip organized by Dennis and Cindy Manire of Titusville, Fla., who oversee the 1963-67 Sting Ray Registry.

The 14-year-old online registry serves as a centralized database of the American-made cars. The Chevrolet division of General Motors has made Corvettes since 1953. The Sting Ray - made from 1963-'67, which are known by fans as the mid-years - is often referred to as the second-generation Corvette.

Doug Jones, 63, of St. Charles, Ill., owner of a 1965 Roadster, scouted out the trip along the Mississippi River last year with another member of the club.

"We did it in two phases, talked to people along the river, and found places that we thought would be worth stopping at," Jones said.

Jones said everywhere they go, people stop them and ask questions or take pictures of the 'Vettes.

The members of the group started their two-and-a-half-week trip on Sept. 10 at the headwaters of the river in Minnesota and will end up at the Gulf of Mexico. From Muscatine, the group was scheduled to stop in Burlington for a drive down Snake Alley.

"People ask if we're a group, but we don't pay membership dues," Jones said. "We're more like a gang."