September's
FEATURE CAR
Tom Hopkins
1957 Corvette
Dallas, Texas
Tom's Corvette has
provided him a lifetime of enjoyment.
Read all about this unique Corvette
and where it's been!
Tom
Hopkins has had this 1957 Corvette in his life for 52 of his 68 years. Him and
this Vette have enjoyed a fantastic time together, taking each other places they
never dreamed of.
It was 1967 when Tom and his father placed an ad in the Dallas paper searching
for a Corvette. From that effort this 10 year old Corvette caught Tom’s eye and
for $550 Tom began a love affair that has now lasted 52 years. Tom drove his
Vette through high school and college while attending SMU (he attended Woodrow
Wilson High School in Dallas where his Dad also graduated with none other than
Carroll Shelby in 1940!). The ’57 Vette was Tom’s primary transportation for
years.
In the late 70’s, Tom decided to see what kind of fun he could have with his
Vette on the race track. He took it out to Green Valley Raceway on the drag
strip a few times, and spent even more time running road races at the fabled old
race track that closed in the early 80’s that was located near N Richland
Hills. It was in 1984 that Tom really took a leap and after getting certified
and making some upgrades to the old Vette, he shipped the car to the Bahamas for
the first Grand Bahama Vintage Speed Week. The Vette was loaded on a ship along
with many other vintage racers and big rigs in Miami and shipped to the
Bahamas. More than 125 vintage racers took part in the revival of the old
Bahamas Speed Week that took place from 1954 to 1966 when winning racers
included Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, AJ Foyt, Roger Penske, Mark Donohue among
others. This first revival event in 1984 had the likes of George Follmer, Augie
Pabst, cars like a ’57 Scarab, Ferraris, Porsches, Grand Sport Corvettes and
Jaguars. And a guy from Dallas with a ’57 Vette named Tom Hopkins. It was an
adventure of a lifetime and while Tom didn’t win in his class (Group 3), it was
worth every bit it took to prepare the car and get it and himself there to
compete. One interesting note about this event, Tom’s starter went out after
getting to the Bahamas, so with a trip down to the local NAPA store he found in
stock a rebuilt starter for his Vette that came from the NAPA distribution
center in Mesquite!
If that was not enough, the same year (1984) the Dallas Grand Prix took place
featuring the Formula 1 circuit as the headliner at Fair Park. Tom entered his
trusty Vette in the vintage class at this event and competed on the same course
as some of the most skilled drivers in racing. Tom would race several more
times in Dallas Grand Prix events, and in 1988 the Dallas Times Herald did a
write up about Tom and the actor/racer Paul Newman comparing the big buck guy
and the low buck guy! Newman (the high buck guy) arrived with rigs, crew and
the finest racing equipment, while Tom drove his racer from his house in
Pleasant Grove over to Fair Park each day to compete!
Since those fun and fast days, Tom's Vette got put back in
it's 'Street Trim', putting the original wheels and tires on, yanking out the
roll bar among other things. Tom has worked on and restored many cars for
customers in the past. Old Cadillacs, Porsches, vintage T Birds,
Studebakers to name a few (he even has a '51 Studebaker Convertible sitting
waiting for him to build!). It was just in the past few years that Tom
went back to the Vette to 'bring it back'. He doesn't drive it a lot but
when he does he still gets that thrill like he had in the past. With a 283
bored to a 301, 11.5 pistons, 4 speed and a 4:56 rear end, he can get to where
he needs to go quickly, but nowadays he takes it at a slower pace.
Tom learned about the club by accident as club member Rodney Nevils who worked
as patrol for the Dallas Police Department close to Tom's home came upon him one
day. Rodney, also the owner of a '56 Corvette told Tom about the club and
eventually Tom made it out to a club event and joined. We hope to see more
of Tom and his first love at upcoming events!
MORE PHOTOS
HERE