Tom Clark’s 38th Corvette

When Sanford’s Tom Clark was about 12 years old, he discovered a car that would change his life forever.

Clark’s cousin had recently returned from the service, landed a job at General Motors, and purchased a new Chevrolet Corvette sports car.

The cousin dropped by for a visit one day and Clark was instantly smitten with the vehicle.

“‘When I get out of high school, I am buying a Corvette,’” he recalls telling himself.

Clark kept his promise to himself, and then some.

Over the last 53 years, he has bought and sold 37 different Corvettes. On Friday, he picked up his 38th Corvette, a new red convertible from Garber Chevrolet in Midland.

Clark usually purchases used Corvettes, but this time around he couldn’t resist the 2021 model.

“It’s one of those things,” Clark said. “They get in your blood.”

Known as “America’s sports car,” the Corvette is the world’s longest-running, continuously produced passenger car, according to the National Corvette Museum. It began production in 1953 in Flint, Michigan, before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, and finally to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Clark said factory slowdowns forced him to wait more than a year for his latest Corvette. When he learned his car had finally been built, he was thrilled.

“It was pretty exciting since I have been waiting for so long,” he said.

‘An obsession’

Clark said his journey to 38 Corvettes began rather simply: it’s a hobby that makes him feel alive, especially when he has a convertible model.

“I have just been a fan of Corvettes, the feeling when you are driving it,” he said.

Clark is a tall man, measuring 6 foot, 3 inches, but that hasn’t deterred him from squeezing into the vehicles.

“You wouldn’t think I would like smaller sports cars,” Clark said. “I still get in and out pretty good.”

Friend and fellow car enthusiast Tony Laughlin uses one word to describe Clark’s relationship with Corvettes.

“An obsession,” Laughlin said with a laugh.

Laughlin and Clark have visited many car shows together and even the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. He said Clark treats each of his Corvettes well.

“They have always been meticulously kept,” Laughlin said. “Never driven in the winter. He respects their heritage. He loves being involved with Corvettes.”

Clark’s first Corvette was a red 1964 convertible, a vehicle he purchased for $1,500 in 1968. He feels his most unique Corvette was the 1963 Split Window Coupe, and his favorite Corvette was the 1966 convertible, which he bought in 1988.

With the new No. 38 in his driveway, Clark doesn’t envision any Corvettes requiring major work in his future. He simply wants to drive.

“I am 75 years old,” he said. “I just want to throw my golf clubs in the trunk and put the top down.”