This 35th Anniversary Special Edition C4 Corvette At MCACN 2024 Is Courtesy Of The Next Generation Of Enthusiasts

With the entire world at their fingertips via the Internet and so many enticing things competing for their attention, it’s rare to find twenty-somethings who are fully immersed in the vintage car hobby. There are exceptions however and 21-year-old Colton Silvey is a powerful example. When Colton was about 6 years old his grandparents visited the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky and brought him back a T-shirt that said, “When I Grow Up I’m Going to Drive a Corvette so Watch Out!” Cute, but hardly life changing. Or was it? “That T-shirt had a profound effect on me,” Colton recalls. “Even at six years old I really took its message to heart, and it made me determined to own a Corvette one day.”

Colton’s grandfather bought a 1968 Corvette in 1970 and enjoyed it immensely over the following two decades. In fact, he enjoyed is so much that it was worn out and in need of general restoration. When Colton was 10 years old, he and grandpa tackled the project together. They rehabilitated the engine, interior, and various other parts of the car. Several years later, when the lad was about 14 years old, his grandfather bought a very tired 1976 Corvette at auction and the dynamic duo did a near-total restoration of that car. “We did everything except remove the body from the chassis,” Colton recalls. “I did all the body work and prep and then painted it. We rebuilt all the mechanicals and restored the interior. In the summer I worked on it with my grandfather every day from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., and when it was finished, he gave me the keys and said, ‘It’s your car now’, which was amazing for a 14-year-old!” 

While in high school Colton did restoration projects and detailing for others to earn money and saved just about every penny for – what else – another Corvette. Shortly after graduating but before starting college he spotted a 1988 35^th Anniversary Special Edition package Corvette on Facebook marketplace. “I didn’t know much about C4s at the time, but I sensed that there was something special about this car. It would take every penny I saved to buy it, and I was concerned, so I asked my mom for her opinion. Considering my age, that I was soon to start college, and that I already had a Corvette, I thought my mom would say it’s not a good idea, but instead she encouraged me to buy the ’88, so I did.

After getting the 35^th Anniversary Special Edition car home and carefully going through it, Colton realized that it was almost completely original. That motivated him to take it through the NCRS judging system. Though the car was extremely original, it was 33 years old and showing its age in various places. He worked long and hard to get every single thing in the car looking and working like new again and all of the effort paid off with local and regional Top Flight awards, followed by passing the Performance Verification test and ultimately earning a Dave McLellan Mark of Excellence award, the highest honor that the NCRS bestows on C4 Corvettes.

In the process of restoring his C4, Colton had to rebuild many of the car’s electrical components, including the ECM, speaker amps, and the HVAC system’s controllers. He also had to make several plastic parts that were not available, including the bladders for the seat bolsters. He ultimately turned the knowledge gained into a small reproduction parts business that he still engages in.  

Learning about the history of Corvette and the inner workings of the cars also inspired Colton to study electrical engineering in college. When he completes his schooling in about a year he hopes to land a job in the auto industry, and there’s no doubt which car company he’ll be calling on first!

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