The NCRS Cypress Gardens Winter Event
a Staple of the Corvette Hobby
NCRS Cypress Gardens Winter Regional – circa 1993
Take a stroll through Corvette history with these images from 25 years ago- The National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS) Cypress Gardens Winter Meet in 1993. The Florida Chapter of the NCRS was one of the largest and most active of the 30+ NCRS Chapters. They did a fantastic job of creating events and adapting to ever-changing location challenges over the 40 years that they hosted a winter Corvette show.
The Cypress Gardens Show
Everyone has a favorite Corvette event. Back in the day- most would agree that Cypress Gardens was the most beautiful spot possible for a Corvette show and swap meet. There was no other Corvette event near the same time or hosted in Central Florida where the weather was significantly better than the Midwest or Northeast US in January! This guaranteed huge attendance numbers for several decades.
Management changes, a lack of nearby hotels, and financial problems within Cypress Gardens forced the NCRS show to move to the Kissimmee area in 1999. The 1993 show was the lone exception to beautiful weather. This year brought temperatures in the fifties and brisk sweatshirt sales for the NCRS Cincinnati Merchandise & Membership Office. Please enjoy these images from a quarter-century ago.
The Cypress Gardens entrance sign
Corvettes on the plantation house lawn
Wildlife around the Cypress Gardens lake
The swap meet as seen from the “Island in the Sky”
The “Island in the Sky” ride
A view of Corvettes around the lake from the “Island in the Sky”
The Corvettes at Cypress Gardens
NCRS held their Flight Judging for 1953 through 1982 Corvettes at the 1993 Cypress Gardens Regional. Judged cars were spread out on the lawn in front of the Plantation House as well as along the lake. It was an unmatched location for Corvette events of that time. Some of the later images are Corvettes displayed in the swap meet area.
Early Corvettes on the lawn
Judging activity around the lake
Beautiful location- chilly weather
More judging around the lake
American Thundercar Racing Association
Corvette Mike (Vietro’s) L-88
John Carusso’s #46
Race Engineering Development #4
Chevrolet was always bringing special displays to the event. Here is one of the 1993 Indianapolis 500 Pace Cars.
The Corvette People
The NCRS Winter Meet was run spectacularly well by the NCRS Florida Chapter with Ed Augustine, Bill Locke and Tyler Townsley contributing a crazy number of hours over the years. While it was a show hosted by the NCRS- the bulk of the attendees were Corvette fans from all over the Midwest, Northeast, and especially Florida. Dozens and dozens of nearby Corvette clubs made a yearly pilgrimage to the Florida Chapter show, swap meet and in later years, the Mecum Auction.
Zora Arkus-Duntov
Zora was known as the “Father” of the Corvette and Corvette’s first Chief Engineer. He was a fixture at the yearly January shows for decades. Zora and his wife Elfie always enjoyed leaving their Grosse Point Farms home just north of Detroit and spending a few weeks in the Florida sunshine with their Corvette friends. Here, Zora is talking with a few fans. I believe that the gentleman on the left is Gary Whiting, owner of Quanta Corvette Products.
Bob Clift
Bob was an engineer on the Corvette platform who worked with Zora. Here, Bob is speaking at the NCRS Awards Banquet. He always had fun stories of his time working with Zora during Corvette’s early years.
Wayne Ellwood
Wayne is a very talented writer who covers the “Shark” model year Corvettes (1968-1982). He was another fixture at the winter meets held in Florida. He founded “Shark Quarterly” magazine, an excellent publication that ended way too soon.
The National Corvette Museum
The 1993 NCRS Cypress Gardens Winter Regional was most likely the first time that the National Corvette Museum ever had a display at a Corvette event. This event was held six months before the museum broke ground in Bowling Green. Unfortunately, this is the best image I could locate of their display. Visit the National Corvette Museum online at www.corvettemuseum.org.
Cypress Gardens Today
Sadly, Cypress Gardens is no more. The financial issues that (in part) drove the Florida Chapter to move the meet elsewhere also shut the amusement park down intermittently while new owners were located. Legoland eventually purchased Cypress Gardens and opened “Legoland Florida” in late 2011. In a nod to their history- Legoland created the Cypress Gardens Belle out of Legos and costumes their ski show participants as Lego characters. Both were icons of Cypress Gardens since it’s inception. Maybe someday we will come full circle and see a Corvette show again held in Legoland / Cypress Gardens!
Keen Parts Vendor Display
You will always see Tom Keen, and several of his team set up at the major Corvette shows in the United States. Tom takes thousands of parts and a large number of “deliveries” (pre-ordered parts being delivered FREE to the event). Tom likes attending shows because that is by far the best way for customers to see the quality. Interacting with friends and customers at a show also allows Tom to consider reproducing new parts. Stop by and say “Hi”!
Who is Keen Parts?
Keen Parts is a leading manufacturer and retailer of Corvette parts and accessories. We have over thirty years of happy customers all over the world and look forward to helping you with all of your Corvette needs. Our catalogs cover more than 25,000 Corvette parts and accessories. Our retail shop and warehouses are located in Cleves, Ohio just north of Cincinnati. We are right off Interstate Highway I-74 and only six minutes from Cincinnati. We stock parts available for Corvettes from 1953 to the present. If you own a C1 through C7 Corvette- we have the Corvette parts and accessories that you need!
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- Closed on Sunday to be with our families
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