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Classic Corvette rides again at car show
By Tim Sapp, Staff writer
In 1968 a young boy made a promise to his father, “Dad, you buy me this car and I will never sell it.” His dad took him up on that promise and 40 years later Jack Hays of The Colony still has that same car.
The green 1965 Corvette was sold in McKinney in 1966 to a man that collected cars.
“He would rotate through cars every six months,” Hays said. “When he bought a new car he would sell the oldest one that he had at the time. We just happened to be there when it’s time came.”
“It has many more miles than that,” Hays said. “When I parked this car 11 years ago the odometer had been broken for a couple years and it showed 270,000 miles.”
“I have been through a few motors with this car. We have gone from being an everyday car while I was young to a drag racer when I was older.” Hays said. “I parked the car 11 years ago with plans of rebuilding the car. I worked on it for about a year and was then drafted into being a manager for my daughter’s soccer team.”
Hays’ father started getting sick a few years back and that changed his son’s plans for the car.
“I knew that I had to get the car back into running shape again for my dad.” Hays said. “I contacted some of my friends in the Corvette Legends of Texas car club and told them I needed some help.”
“We would have weekends where only one or two of us would be working on the car, then the next weekend there would be 10 working on it,” Hays said. “I could have not done it without them.”
The car has spent the last 11 years in the garage of fellow Corvette owner Albert Payton. “I have over 2,000 hours working on this car.” Payton said.
“I had really cut the car up when I was into racing.” Hays said. “The tires that I was using were so large I cut the fenders open. Albert had to rebuild all four fenders from foam templates that we cut from another ’65 Vette.”
“When we finished the car I drove it over to my parents’ house. Mom told Dad that he had to come out and see the car.” Hays said. “Dad was just about blind by this time but he commented that he could still see the chrome and could tell that it was really bright. He loved the sound of the engine and the way he was thrown back into the seat.”
Hays lost his father, Albert Hays, in September 2007.
“I was glad that Dad and I got to spend that final time together. It meant so much to him that I still had the car that he bought me.”
The Corvette looks so good that the Corvette Legends of Texas club has decided to sponsor it in the Dallas Autorama this year. There are hopes that the 65 Corvette will bring home a trophy for all of the hard work and dedication.
The Autorama is 3 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. Sunday. The theme for this year’s Autorama is Happy Days reunion, with appearances by Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie in “Happy Days,” and Cindy Williams, who played Shirley in “Laverne & Shirley.”
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