History

The Queensland Corvette Club was formed after the  “Corvette Owners Association of Queensland” dissolved in  mid-1980’s. Our founding member, Con Milos #1, had been an  office holder and dedicated member of that Club since he was  

eighteen years old. 

Con Milos had started the Corvette Owners Association of Queensland and a registry of  Corvettes and their owners in the early 80’s this Club was around for a few years. In  October 1989 he contacted every Corvette owner and placed an ad in the Courier-Mail  with the hope of gathering enough interest to start another Club. The response was  positive, and the first unofficial meeting was held in McDonalds where Con was elected as President. Fourteen dedicated enthusiasts and their families attended the Club’s first  official meeting 1/11/89, 5 of these are still financial members in the Club today. 

Membership grew quickly and the Club became incorporated in 1991. In 1998 the Club  had 2 Members; Rob McAllister & Howard Dorling left to start a new Club trying to use the name ‘Corvette Association of Queensland’ to establish a connection to the original Qld  Club. However, the application was quashed by the Royal Australian Navy as the name  was too like a Naval association for sailors of Australian Corvettes (naval vessels). Coming  up with ‘Corvettes Down Under Car Club’. The Qld Corvette Club has had 827 members  over the past thirty-two years with our current financial membership being in excess of 160 members  including partners and family and growing strong every year.. 

The club has always been active in promoting the Corvette marque providing varied and  exciting displays at Motor & Hot Rod Shows as well as attendance at numerous motoring  events and parades open to the public. In 2006, Corvettes were the Marque for the prestigious "Noosa Classic Car Show" and their committee was thrilled to  draw the biggest crowd in the history of the event.

 

 

One of the many highlights for the Club was the 1998 Club Concourse held at Sanctuary  Cove with 127 Corvettes on display attracting more than 22,000 visitors on the day. The  Club’s 10th Anniversary Dinner in 1999 was held at the Chifley and had many of the  original members in attendance. Likewise, a 15th was held at Robertson Gardens, 20th held  at Park Regis, 25th at the Mercure Carrara Gold Coast with the 30th Anniversary being  held for a second time at the Park Regis, with the 5 founding members we also have 16  long term members 20+ years under their belt that are still financial in the Club today.

The 13th Annual Corvette Convention, "Fun in the Sun 2001," hosted by  the Qld Corvette Club Easter 2001 was our first official Nationals for our  Club and was a huge success with entrants from every state in Australia  and an entrant from New Zealand. 

Queensland hosts this National event every six years, and we repeated that success with a huge "Corvette Heaven 2007" 19th Nationals being held at the Radisson on the Gold Coast this  brought around 154 entrants and partners for a fantastic Easter weekend. 

Our Club missed a year with Easter 2013 “Drive your Dream in Twenty 13” the 25th Nationals was hosted by  

Corvettes Down Under Car Club in Toowoomba.

Easter 2019 “Cruising the Coast” 31st Nationals held at Sanctuary Cove was another great long weekend meeting up with our Australian & International Corvette Enthusiasts. 

In 2002, the Club held an Official Indy Support Event on the Gold Coast combining the  Concourse and Gymkhana to provide a memorable weekend. 2003, being the 50th  Anniversary of Corvettes, we were again involved with the Indy 300 and to celebrate this milestone we had the honour of doing the Drivers Parade Laps on the Gold Coast with 39  Vettes for the V8 Supercar Drivers and 24 Vettes for the Indy Champcar Drivers. It was  great to see our cars on National television. We repeated our involvement with the Parade  Laps for another five years to 2008 including other Muscle Cars / Chevy & Fords. 

2007 sees us again hosting our Indy Muscle Car Show 'n' Shine / Gymkhana (our 6th  year) at the Broadwater Car Park, Southport, on the weekend before Indy. We have also  invited numerous other like-minded Car Clubs to join us, to make it a true "Muscle-Car"  gathering. Whilst the Broadwater Car Park was closed for refurbishment the Club’s annual  Show ‘n’ Shine/Concourse was held on the Esplanade Surfers Paradise for a couple of  years, then returning to the refurbished Broadwater Parklands from 2010-2018. 2019 saw  us at the Runcorn Tavern with 2020 cancelled due to COVID. 2021 was held in the Arena  at Carrara Markets on the Gold Coast. 

All the above Events could not have happened without the help & money donated from our  3 Major Sponsors which have supported us for the 30 years.  

‘Performax (Formally Corvette Queensland), Shannons Insurance & Mothers Car Care Products.

 

  

Another highlight of 2008 has been an invitation to one of our members to bring their  highly modified Gold 1962 C1 Corvette to attend the "Carlisle Corvette Car Show," in  Pennsylvania, USA. This is the largest gathering of Corvettes in America and our  member's car was one of the "Top 12 Modified" Corvettes in the world at that time.

The Club website www.qldcorvetteclub.com.au links Corvette enthusiasts Worldwide and  the Club continues to grow from strength to strength with the PASSION and  ENTHUSIASM of Corvette Owners, the comradeship of members, the dedication of the  many hardworking committees and the support of sponsors.