t tom

Went to Champaign , Illinois for "Gold" today! First class operation, free parking for all corvettes!! Got a great deal on air intake for my C5, installed for under 300, and what a difference in performance!! Got it at the Mid-America tent. Vettes of all years, vendors galore, interior and convertible top installs going on right there, as well as exhaust installs! These guys know what there doing!! Had a great time! Nice people everywhere!! Head over tomorrow if weather permits!

chuckeb84

send some pics wish i were there!!!

4XLR8N

K9KUZ

Vetteman Jack

I was there yesterday and was rather disappointed. The number of vendors were way down from what showed up say 5 years ago and some of the major vendors were not even there (WCC, Ecklers, etc.). At least I did not see them. And it seemed that unless you had an older Vette, the availability of used parts was pretty slim. There were some very nice cars there though and I think the show organizers did a good job considering all the construction going on at the site. And the ability to get various parts installed on site was nice. The loss of the Mecum auction was a blow IMO.

As a bonus, Chevy had both the Z06 coupe and vert models there for everyone to drool over.

Have gone to all but 3-4 of the Bloomington shows since 1991. Will have to think hard about whether to go back next year. But that was just my observations. The OP enjoyed it and I'm sure others did as well.

JohnnyDee

CorvetteJimZ06

+2 I have to agree that there was a lack of vendors like in the old days. It's nothing like it used to be in the 80s, but it was still worth the drive up from Florida. The crowd has gotten older (myself included) and talking with some of my old buddies up there, the price of the new Corvette and the older ones being priced sky high you're seeing more investors than hobbyists. I still remember a hot Saturday afternoon in the 80s at the air-conditioned bowling alley in Bloomington having a cool one and Zora was holding court with about a hundred of us and he was concerned the hobby was getting too expensive, but felt the Corvette needed to be a world class sports car even if it meant higher pricing. I feel it lost a lot when the show left Bloomington/Normal, although the ones in Springfield were very good too. This was my 24th BG.

1bdvet

Thanks for sharing!

ERDOC

I enjoyed Bloomington Gold and had a good time this year. I second moving it back to its namesake, Bloomington, even if I have to hotel it in Normal or Springfield. There didn't seem to be as many vendors as in the past, and it was a little to spread out for me with the heat. I did get to drive the new C7 Corvette and LOVED IT! This may end up being a very expensive trip for me

olbear1962

Was my first Bloomington Gold, not sure if I will make it back.....

Jeff T.

My second trip to BG first with my car. I had a ball looking at all the C1, 2, & 3's that you just don't see that much at local shows.

I too enjoyed watching the boys wrestle with some of the exhaust systems and really enjoyed the kid at Christmas look on some of the guys faces when their cars fired up for first time.

Had fun on the Gold Tour, met some new folks at the show as well as the hotel Friday night and Saturday morning.

I'll be back next year!