“Earthquake 88s” to Shake Up St. Charles |  |
| Tuesday, 20 November 2007 04:53 |
 1968 L88 Corvette By Paul Duchene Corvette fans heading for the Bloomington Gold show at Pheasant Run resort, St. Charles, Ill. on June 26-29 2008 can expect an even bigger version of the ‘Earthquake 88’ show, 20 years ago. Bloomington Gold CEO David Burroughs has announced the featured model in 2008 will be the thundering high-compression, aluminum-head L88 Corvette and he plans to assemble more than 50 of them in the building where Gold School took place in 2007, across the highway from the Pheasant Run Resort. There were 216 L88s built in all, 20 in 1967, 80 in 1968 and 116 in 1969. On Sunday June 29, the show will introduce the first All Brand Survivor Show on the Pheasant Run Golf Course. “If you think you have a survivor, you are invited,” says Burroughs. “The car has to be 20 years old and be driven there. It can be a pickup truck or a car. We’re expecting everything from Mopars, Corvettes, Packards and Duesenbergs.” Burroughs stresses this will not be a Corvette-focused show – there are plenty of Corvette events at the festival, including an auction, benchmark and survivor judging. Entrants for the All Brand Survivor Show can register on the Bloomington Gold website. “We just want people to enjoy this, there’s no judging and nobody has to worry about driving their car to the event and having somebody say ‘What are you doing here? This isn’t even close’. If you think it belongs and you register, you’re in” said Burroughs. Burroughs plans to have an education tent set up with examples of Mustangs, Corvettes and Pontiac GTOs to show benchmark standard, survivor standard and cars which don’t qualify, so entrants can see where their car fits in. “Instructors will be on hand to discuss what we’re looking for. Nobody will win or lose or be embarrassed,” he said. Entrants interested in becoming judges in different classes will be advised on how to apply and what’s involved in judging. “The next year, we’ll do it again and audition survivor judges to see if they pass. Judges will be certified once they are qualified. The third year we’ll have survivor judging. Burroughs says Bloomington Gold is also expanding its Road Tour schedule. “We’ve had road tours since the 1980s but we’re announcing off-season tours to the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains and Indy 500, for example,” he said. Burroughs is also taking the Bloomington Gold judging school on the road in May with three seminars planned so far, in Hartford CT, Chicago, Ill, and possibly Atlanta GA. “The seminars are to help people understand how we judge and attendees can decide if they are interested in learning how to become judges themselves,” he said. |