I
fthere was any enthusiast totally enthused
with and i nspired by the Corvette model,
then it would have to be Jeff Shadbolt; his
commitment and passion for themknows no
bounds. He has evenestablished hisown club,
CAPS(Corvette Appreciationand Preservation
Society)butmore ofthat late r. Hisinterest in the
modelstarted fromaveryearlyage and would
lead him andbusiness partnerand long time
friend Craig, into establishingEssex Corvettes,
based in Mountnessing. The company specialised
in importing Corvettes, ostensibly from the USA,
and thenselling them. EssexCorvettes wasactive
for several years beforeJeffand Craig embarked
uponnewprojects and the company ceased
trading.
“I owned my firstCorvette,alovely white
1980C3, in the early Nineties,” remembers Jeff.
“In the mid-NinetiesIpurchasedared 1984 C4
and thentook timeout before establishing Essex
Corvettes withCraig. We found some really fine,
low-mileage carsinF lorida,the likes of which
simply couldn’tbesourced here.Ire-established
my Corvetteownership in 2014 witha‘TopFlight’
1971BrandHatch Green C3. I’dsetout with
my seven-year-old sonTommy,ona‘boys-only’
Corvettesourcin gmissio ntoFlorida in February
2014.We ultimately viewed eight C3s,but
none werereally suitableasmanywere in poor
condition and weren’tworth importing back to
the UK.”
1971 Corvette C3 Stingray
Coupe
There was justone more C3 to view and, judging
by the photos alreadyreceived,it did look to be
verypromising and waslocated in Hudson, just
north ofTampa. As luck would have it, Jeffhad
definitelysaved the bestfor last. “AssoonasIsaw
thecar in reallife,Isimply knew that this was the
car for me,” he enthused. “I tried veryhardtofind
faultwiththe car, whic hwould hopefully give me
alittle bargaining power,but it was sogood.
“ThenIlearned that anotherpotential
1971 CORVETTE C3 STINGRAY
COUPE
1of14,680 built in 1971
ENGINE:350cu in 270bhp
GEARBOX:Four-speed Muncie M21,1of
2387
COLOUR:983 Brands Hatch Green
Metallic,1year only colour,1of 3445
produced
INTERIOR:Saddle leather
OPTIONS
C60 air conditioning
N40 power Steering
U69 AM/FM radio
purchaser wasalsoinFlorida and looking for
an excellentC3,sot he pressure was on.Tryas
Imay,the onlythingthat Ifound was the air
conditioningpump wasn’tconnected. However,
this C3 had its original 350cuinengine,the
original radio still worked, as did thevacuum
wiper panel. The fibre optic system, unusually,
was in fullworkingorder,and the icing on the
cake for me, wasthatith ad aMuncie M21
manual gearbox, witha3.0:8 rear end and I’d
alwayswantedamanual ‘Vette. TheBrandsHatch
metallic green paintwork wasaone-year option
only and contrastedwonderfully with thepristine
Saddle leather interior.”
Jeff, Tommy,and theCorvette’sowner ,Bill,
sat down together and Billtold them thathe’d
ownedthecar fo raround20years and it had
been the subject of an 18-year,no-expense-spared
restoration.Adeal wasstruck, Jeff andTommy
went off toalocal bank topayadepositand the
plan was to wire thebalance as soon asthey got
back to the UK. Their flight homewas afew hours
away−talk aboutalast minute deal−almost
literally!
“Kev and Jamie from Hill Shipping (www.
hillshipping.comtel. 01795876000) didtheir
usual first-class job ofgetting the C3 shipped to
the UK withoutsomuchasascratch,” saysJeff.
“It seemed like an eternity waiting for the carto
arrive,but in reality it wasonlyabout five weeks.”
There had beenacouple of problemswhich
were swiftly resolved even beforethecar left
Hudson.Apparently,itw asn’talegal requirement
for thecar to haveatitl einNew Hampshire,
where the car had been first registered to Bill prior
to moving to Florida. Bill, his wife Barbara and the
DMV office in Florida, sooncame to the rescue
and organisedatitle, without whichthe carcould
never havebeen able tobe exportedtothe UK.
So Jeffnow ownedtheCorvetteof his dreams,
and first timeout in the UK it was to attend the
Essexsection of the CCCUKmeet atthe Red Lion
at Margaretting where, naturally,the C3was very
well receiv
g , y, y
ved. ❯❯
