Review: 2023 Chevrolet Corvette 70th Anniversary Special Edition
America's sports car never looked better
It was the one that got away. But he sure made up for it.
Steve Clinkinbeard bought his dream car in 1985: a little red Chevrolet Corvette.
The Topeka, Kansas, accountant drove the sports car for a few years, but had to give it up when he moved to the countryside in 1992.
"I bought a house where there are gravel roads that aren’t good for sports cars, so I needed to get a truck," Clinkenbeard told Fox News Digital.
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He never lost his love for the Corvette, however, and two decades later decided to do something about it.
"I got the urge to buy one in 2012 and started shopping around," Clinkenbeard said.
This 1985 Corvette is just like Steve Clinkinbeard's original — and has just 17,895 miles on its odometer. (Mecum Auctions)
He found a red 1985 like his that was not too expensive, which led him down a different road than planned.
"I thought it was a lot of car for the price at the time, so I had this wild idea."
Clinkenbeard then set out to purchase one Corvette from each of the years that the fourth-generation version like his was available, from 1984 to 1996.
1984 was the first year the fourth-generation Corvette was sold. (Mecum Auctions)
"My only criteria were that they had to be red coupes with low mileage," he said.
Three years later he achieved his goal, covering all 13 years and then some.
Steve Clinkinbeard has kept his collection of red Corvettes in excellent condition. (Mecum Auctions/Steve Clinkinbeard)
Along with the standard Corvette, Chevrolet offered the higher performance ZR-1 from 1990 to 1995.
The ZR-1 features a unique V8 engine that was engineered by Lotus with overhead cams and manufactured for Chevrolet by Mercury Marine.
It is rated from 375 hp to 405 hp, depending on the year.
The Corvette ZR-1 is powered by a V8 developed by Lotus. (Mecum Auctions)
Clinkenbeard has one ZR-1 from each of those years, plus 1990 and 1995 base Corvettes for good measure.
He said the 1994 and 1995 ZR-1s are his favorites.
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They have all been stored in a warehouse and properly maintained, but Clinkenbeard, now 75, said he is not in physical shape to enjoy the low-slung cars as much as he used to in earlier years.
So he's putting the 15 cars up for auction at the Mecum Auctions Kansas City event on Saturday, Dec. 3.
1996 was the final year of the fourth-generation Corvette. (Mecum Auctions)
"I didn’t want to leave them to my wife to deal with if anything ever happened to me," he said.
He will be there to find out what happens — and about 40-50 of his family and friends are coming with him to watch, he said.
Steve Clinkinbeard's 1995 Corvette ZR-1 is one of just 448 that were built in its final year. (Mecum Auctions)
The cars are being offered as individual lots, but Clinkenbeard is kind of hoping that someone steps up and buys them all.
"They can become ‘the guy with the 15 red Corvettes,'" he said.
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"I’m the only one in the world with that title — some would say the only fool — but it’s been fun to have that," he also said.
(Steve Clinkinbeard of Kansas is putting his 15 red Corvettes up for auction, but keeping one for himself.)
Clinkinbeard did learn his lesson this time around, however, and will still be the guy with one red Corvette.
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He has a 1986 in the corner of the warehouse that needs some work.
And he'll be fixing it up and hanging onto it for as long as he can.