A 50-Plus Year Golden Love Affair With A ‘54 Vette

John Loper CorvetteJohn Loeper’s 1954 Corvette Hot Rod – Subtitle: Dad’s advice was, “Buy American! It will last a lifetime!”

by K.Scott Teeters (as originally published in Vette Vues magazine)

Sometimes, the things our fathers tell us when we’re young, really stick. John Loeper was just 16 years old in 1959 when he discovered a car that he just had to have.

John worked all summer, mowing lawns, doing odd jobs and such, to scrape up the $800 for a ‘54 Corvette that was previously owned, many times over.

In fact, John was the 13th owner and as fate would have it, the last owner of the car.

Loeper grew up in the beautiful, ocean side resort town of  Ocean City, New Jersey and was a teenager in the ‘50s. I can’t think of a cooler place and time to be as a teenager.

John explains the car culture this way. “Back in ‘58 there really weren’t that many Corvettes on the road. Chevy had only made a little over 13,000 Corvettes by the end of ‘57 and they had a reputation as a rich kid’s car. Continue reading “A 50-Plus Year Golden Love Affair With A ‘54 Vette”