Member in the Spotlight

Each quarter, a member of the North Central Chapter NCRS will be selected at random and highlighted as Member in the Spotlight.  We hope this will allow all members to get to know one another better. In the past, this was “Member of the Month,” and these have all been archived in the years listed below. View the Master List to peruse all of the previously highlighted members.

Master List | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024

Current Member in the Spotlight

Dan Simpson

PASSION FOR CORVETTES

Included with my passion for Corvettes is the support my family has given me throughout the past 45 years. My wife, Jayne, and I have been married for 51 years. She is retired now after over 45 years in administrative assistant positions. I am retired from various customer service positions at a car dealership. I now work part-time at a convenience store close to home where I can walk to – getting my daily steps in! I continue to enjoy my car and aircraft hobbies.

We have three children (Greta, Gavin, Garett) and six grandchildren (Evelyn, Quinn, Kai, Dylan, Eliana, Arielle). With our children located in three different states, this gives us many opportunities for road trips!

During the 1950’s I lived on a farm in Richland County, WI during which time I dreamed of having my own car. We had some old Model A Fords on our farm which I enjoyed tinkering with, even at a very young age. Once we moved off the farm, my dad started a repair shop in a very small town, Rockbridge, WI. We started out doing mechanical work but changed to a body shop business. By the time I was 15, I was fixing and painting cars. My first cars I worked on included a 1951 Ford custom 2-door hard top and a 1963 Ford Galaxy 500 convertible. The 1963 needed more work and I enjoyed the challenges. By 1970 I bought a 1969 Dodge Super Bee. As I look back now, I think I made a mistake selling it – after seeing what this type of car goes for at this time!

The early 1970’s was a changing time for me. I joined the Navy and then got married upon completion of my service years. It took until 1978 before I started looking for another car project. In the winter of 1979 I found my first Corvette, a 1965 convertible. The car was equipped with 327/350 HP, 4 speed, and 2 tops. I loved the Milano Maroon exterior color with Maroon interior. When I purchased this car, it was torn apart and some restoration had begun. It took me over 4 years to get it restored – raising our family and work were first priorities. After completing the restoration, we took the car to the Bloomington Gold show in Bloomington, IL. It took 2 trips to get Gold Certified. We were very thankful to receive this prestigious award!

During the 1980’s I bought and sold two 1972 Corvette coupes. In 1988 I decided to sell our 1965 Corvette convertible. In late 1989 I purchased a big block Corvette – a 1969 427/400 HP coupe, side exhaust (factory), P/S, P/B, P/W, with automatic transmission. It was in bad shape and I did a full restoration. This was a great driving car. I learned a lot about the tri-power carburetor system. I sold the car in 1992 and bought my first C4 – a 1988 convertible. This C4 was the most high-tech Corvette I had owned.

In 1999 I decided to leave my Corvette hobby to pursue aviation. Upon selling the 1988, I purchased a 1955 Piper Tripacer which required restoration. With help from a certified inspector, I got the plane flying in 2004 at which time
I also earned my private pilot license. I still own the plane today after 23 years.

By 2020 I started looking for another Corvette. As I liked the 1988 I previously had, the C4 was my next choice. The comfort and styling impressed me.

In February 2022 I purchased a 1993 40th Anniversary convertible. This car sat in a dealership inventory for over 15 years. At the time of my purchase, this car had just under 20,000 miles on the odometer. Having sat for so many years, I had a list of maintenance items to do. Most challenging was installing a new heater core. This followed with replacing the water pump and intake manifold gaskets. I also changed the rear brakes, fluids, filters, tires and did other miscellaneous maintenance work. I plan on keeping the 1993 Corvette for a long time while enjoying driving it on the many back roads I will be scouting out.

I just rejoined NCRS after being away from it for over 30 years and look forward to the many activities offered by this organization.