History
The Queensland Corvette Club was formed after the “Corvette Owners Association of Queensland” dissolved in mid-1980’s. Our founding member, Con Milos #1, had been an office holder and dedicated member of that Club since he was
eighteen years old.
Con Milos had started the Corvette Owners Association of Queensland and a registry of Corvettes and their owners in the early 80’s this Club was around for a few years. In October 1989 he contacted every Corvette owner and placed an ad in the Courier-Mail with the hope of gathering enough interest to start another Club. The response was positive, and the first unofficial meeting was held in McDonalds where Con was elected as President. Fourteen dedicated enthusiasts and their families attended the Club’s first official meeting 1/11/89, 5 of these are still financial members in the Club today.
Membership grew quickly and the Club became incorporated in 1991. In 1998 the Club had 2 Members; Rob McAllister & Howard Dorling left to start a new Club trying to use the name ‘Corvette Association of Queensland’ to establish a connection to the original Qld Club. However, the application was quashed by the Royal Australian Navy as the name was too like a Naval association for sailors of Australian Corvettes (naval vessels). Coming up with ‘Corvettes Down Under Car Club’. The Qld Corvette Club has had 827 members over the past thirty-two years with our current financial membership being in excess of 160 members including partners and family and growing strong every year..
The club has always been active in promoting the Corvette marque providing varied and exciting displays at Motor & Hot Rod Shows as well as attendance at numerous motoring events and parades open to the public. In 2006, Corvettes were the Marque for the prestigious "Noosa Classic Car Show" and their committee was thrilled to draw the biggest crowd in the history of the event.
One of the many highlights for the Club was the 1998 Club Concourse held at Sanctuary Cove with 127 Corvettes on display attracting more than 22,000 visitors on the day. The Club’s 10th Anniversary Dinner in 1999 was held at the Chifley and had many of the original members in attendance. Likewise, a 15th was held at Robertson Gardens, 20th held at Park Regis, 25th at the Mercure Carrara Gold Coast with the 30th Anniversary being held for a second time at the Park Regis, with the 5 founding members we also have 16 long term members 20+ years under their belt that are still financial in the Club today.
The 13th Annual Corvette Convention, "Fun in the Sun 2001," hosted by the Qld Corvette Club Easter 2001 was our first official Nationals for our Club and was a huge success with entrants from every state in Australia and an entrant from New Zealand.
Queensland hosts this National event every six years, and we repeated that success with a huge "Corvette Heaven 2007" 19th Nationals being held at the Radisson on the Gold Coast this brought around 154 entrants and partners for a fantastic Easter weekend.
Our Club missed a year with Easter 2013 “Drive your Dream in Twenty 13” the 25th Nationals was hosted by
Corvettes Down Under Car Club in Toowoomba.
Easter 2019 “Cruising the Coast” 31st Nationals held at Sanctuary Cove was another great long weekend meeting up with our Australian & International Corvette Enthusiasts.
In 2002, the Club held an Official Indy Support Event on the Gold Coast combining the Concourse and Gymkhana to provide a memorable weekend. 2003, being the 50th Anniversary of Corvettes, we were again involved with the Indy 300 and to celebrate this milestone we had the honour of doing the Drivers Parade Laps on the Gold Coast with 39 Vettes for the V8 Supercar Drivers and 24 Vettes for the Indy Champcar Drivers. It was great to see our cars on National television. We repeated our involvement with the Parade Laps for another five years to 2008 including other Muscle Cars / Chevy & Fords.
2007 sees us again hosting our Indy Muscle Car Show 'n' Shine / Gymkhana (our 6th year) at the Broadwater Car Park, Southport, on the weekend before Indy. We have also invited numerous other like-minded Car Clubs to join us, to make it a true "Muscle-Car" gathering. Whilst the Broadwater Car Park was closed for refurbishment the Club’s annual Show ‘n’ Shine/Concourse was held on the Esplanade Surfers Paradise for a couple of years, then returning to the refurbished Broadwater Parklands from 2010-2018. 2019 saw us at the Runcorn Tavern with 2020 cancelled due to COVID. 2021 was held in the Arena at Carrara Markets on the Gold Coast.
All the above Events could not have happened without the help & money donated from our 3 Major Sponsors which have supported us for the 30 years.
‘Performax (Formally Corvette Queensland), Shannons Insurance & Mothers Car Care Products.
Another highlight of 2008 has been an invitation to one of our members to bring their highly modified Gold 1962 C1 Corvette to attend the "Carlisle Corvette Car Show," in Pennsylvania, USA. This is the largest gathering of Corvettes in America and our member's car was one of the "Top 12 Modified" Corvettes in the world at that time.
The Club website www.qldcorvetteclub.com.au links Corvette enthusiasts Worldwide and the Club continues to grow from strength to strength with the PASSION and ENTHUSIASM of Corvette Owners, the comradeship of members, the dedication of the many hardworking committees and the support of sponsors.
