Photo Credit: Keith Cornett

Last weekend we made a second visit to city of Bastrop in Texas for the annual Corvette Invasion show, and I can’t stop raving about how much fun we had there.

Hosted by our friend Shawn Jones and his dedicated staff of volunteers, Corvette Invasion is very well organized, and it really shows when you have so many moving parts coming together to pull it off successfully. I would also like to give a shout out to Stephanie who take care of the VIPs and made sure we were all fed and well hydrated.

Corvette Invasion has put together the perfect itinerary for a Corvette show. It kicks off on Friday night with a reception featuring food and a live band. Also in the room where are the vendors showing off their wares. Several of our friends were there including the Vette Pocket Guide, E5 Wheels, and Amora the Corvette Lady.

The featured speakers this year was Corvette Racing’s Ben Keating who gave a talk about returning from mountain bike accident to win at Le Mans in a race car that his dealership on the side of it. Cool stuff! Amy Hardin from the National Corvette Museum gave us some insights into what’s happening with the NCM including the new Collection Facility which now has drywall and windows up on the inside. And finally, the featured speaker was Harlan Charles who talked about his career at GM as your Corvette Product Marketing Manager, and he shared many photos from the three decades he worked on America’s Favorite Sports Car.

At the close of the Friday reception, everyone went outside for the Corvette light show which is also one of our favorite events. It’s fun seeing these Corvettes all lit up and the different kits out there that allow them to do it.

The real action got underway on Saturday morning with the arrival of over 300 Corvettes to the Bastrop Convention Center. A rousing rendition of the National Anthem was performed by one of Bastrop’s elected officials and then a fly-over was performed as well. This year, show organizers had spots for 375 and I believe I heard the count was somewhere around 325 or so. Not bad considering there was some wicked weather in the state earlier in the week that might have derailed the plans of some of those no-shows.

Some of the attendees simply park their cars and walk around while others invest some series time and thoughts in creating a display. There was also a section for the classics as the C1s through C4s all got to park next to each other towards the front.

There were so many great cars here at the show but one that got attention was an attendee who created an automotive diorama of the Corvette Invasion show, which was on display in the back of his Corvette at the Corvette Invasion show. Very creative!

Once again, I was honored to do a “Keith’s Choice” award for the show and this year it went to a 1957 Corvette that was recently passed down from father to daughter. It’s another great “family legacy” story and I will have more on that in a separate post.

And finally, Corvette Shows are fun not just because of the cars but because it’s great to see all of our old friends while also meeting new friends. A shout out to my good friend Steve Garrett of Corvette Today as well as Rick Conti, Mike Brink, Harlan Charles, Brad Christman, and Paragon’s Rob (in a Z06) just to name a few!

For those of you in the Lone Star state, you’ve got one of the greatest Corvette shows right in your backyard. Shawn has already announced that next year’s Corvette Invasion will be held July 16-17 in 2027. If all goes well, we’ll be returning and we hope to see you there as well! As I said last year, the only way that this show could have been better is if I had my own Corvette there to display and drive. Maybe next year?

Source:
Photos by Keith Cornett

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