Corvette and a seventh generation bright racing yellow 2016 Stingray .
“ I always wanted one and when I got the chance to get my ’ 95 model , I bought it ,” said Lampton , who tends to find a car , fix it up , drive it and then find a new car project . ” Then I found my yellow Corvette .”
Lampton said he enjoys driving a Corvette and is surprised about the good gas mileage he gets in his car .
“ One of the things about a Corvette is that it drives like nothing else ,” he said .
“ A lot of people that have them leave them in their garage . I don ’ t understand that ,” he added .
Club member Greg Nave , who works in insurance sales , said he first remembers seeing a Corvette as a child watching the 1978 Mark Hamill movie , “ Corvette Summer .” He has been fascinated with the sports car ever since .
“ That car was nice ,” he recalled , “ but I knew growing up , I would never own a Corvette because it was out of my price … So I always wanted a mustang .”
“ The first Corvette I really ever paid any attention to I was in the 11 th grade , and they came out with that ’ 68 , and I loved that Shark nose car .”
A couple of years ago , he purchased his first Corvette , an eighth generation 2022 Stingray that he shares with his daughter . Dad , however , may have become too attached to it . “ I had not intended on buying a new one . I was going to buy a used one , but my daughter said , ‘ no , you aren ’ t buying a used car ,’” he said , jokingly . “ She thought I should get one with more of the Ferrari look , the new body style .”
They also chose the beautiful bright rapid blue color , which is becoming quite popular among Vette owners .
“ She liked red but she didn ’ t want her car to be red . She said , ‘ we are going to buy us a popping color .’ She wanted to be different ,” he said .
The members of the Meridian Corvette Association have a strong camaraderie and are passionate about the brand . They meet monthly at Car-Mart of Meridian and attend several car shows around the region every year . They also hope to use their passion for automobiles to work with local youth and inspire them to do good .
“ We started planning this club back in 2013 ,” said Cannon , who is one of the original founders of the association , along with Nelson Hall and Bo Hawkins , and currently serves as president .
Hall , who owned Nelson Hall Chevrolet , asked Cannon to start the Corvette association since he had been a member of two previous clubs , Cannon said . Hall then asked Hawkins , the dealership ’ s new car manager who was a salesman back in 2013 , to serve as the Corvette liaison .
“ So we started working and everything . We started recruiting , and we recruited quite a few guys , and the club became active in January of 2014 . We actually started the club , you know , we had bylaws , we had our club
James Cannon , president of the Meridian Corvette Association , pictured with his 2013 black patch ,” Cannon recalled . 427 convertible , one of only 2,552 made .
“ We started having monthly meetings . Every second Saturday here at Nelson Hall Chevrolet , we had a club meeting . You ’ d have about 40 or 50 Corvettes out there .”
“ At one time , this club was 60 strong ,” he added . “ Then with people moving with their jobs and people getting sick , we ’ ve lost about five or six members due to cancer , it ’ s just dwindled down to where it is small .” The COVID pandemic also took its toll on the club . “ COVID really slowed us down ,” Cannon said . “ It stopped a lot of our events because everybody was scared of everybody , but COVID looks like it is on the back burner so we are coming back .”
With about 10 current members , the association is attempting to revive interest in the Corvette club and draw in new members . They also have started to attend more car
24 • MERIDIAN LIFE