Corvette Club of Delaware Valley
The Corvette became a reality during the winter of 1952. The 1953 Corvette was the first year with only 300 units being produced. Along with the Corvette, a new breed of motorist was also born.
It was in December of 1958 when approximately 25 Corvette enthusiasts formed the Corvette Club of Delaware Valley. Most of the original members purchased their Vettes from Sonny Stein Chevrolet, our original Club sponsor, located in Philadelphia.
Founding member & our first Club Vice President, Bob Levin, designed the Club logo and also came up with the “Gas Cap” name for our newsletter. That Club logo & the Gas Cap newsletter are still in use today!
Early Club members were heavily into racing. New Jersey’s Vineland Speedway was a popular racing/practice area. Pocono, Langhorne and Bridgehampton, plus mid-Ohio and Hatfield were also sites of several racing events. That racing heritage remains in the Club today with several members taking part in the ESC Corvette Challenge at Englishtown Raceway and local SCCA autocross races.
By interviewing some of the founding and former Club members plus researching old finance and activity records, as well as reviewing Gas Cap issues and photos dating back to the 60’s, we now have an extensive documented Club history initially requested by Bob Weiss and compiled by Joel Fellman, both former Club Presidents.
Over the years, many dealerships have been involved in our success including Roger Penske. However, Bryner Chevrolet has been our Club sponsor since 1971. That was also the year of our first Cavalcade which was held in Bryner’s showroom in Jenkintown, PA. By 1980, our Cavalcades became so famous and popular, that we needed a larger facility, and we relocated to the Willow Grove Naval Air Station.
Our 25th year of the Cavalcade marked the start of a new era. We formed the Corvette Enthusiast’s Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds solely for the good of our community. We also started our annual Corvette raffle with a 1978 Silver Anniversary Edition.
The main recipients of the proceeds over the last several years, from both C.C.D.V. and C.E.C.F., have been the Sunshine Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation as well as the National Corvette Museum and many other well deserving charitable organizations. In all, we have donated over $500,000. to several worthy causes.
The Corvette Club of Delaware Valley, being established in 1958, is one of the oldest Corvette Clubs still in existence. And with almost 400 members, we are also one of the largest. We are very proud to state that our Cavalcade of Corvettes remains one of the largest and longest running all Corvette shows on the East Coast.
We are enthusiastic about our past accomplishments and our future goals: to enhance the awareness of the Corvette, to remain a prominent and active Corvette Club and to continue to support the community through our various fund raising endeavors.
The new generation 2020 C-8 Mid-Engine Corvette is the best yet. We recently celebrate our 60th Anniversary and hope you will join us to celebrate even more accomplishments in the future.
Click Here to Download “The 50 Year History of CCDV”
- 1958 – 2008
- 164 pages
- Written by Joel Fellman
