And, after several months went by, I called him to check on the status of our car. 

"I don't want to paint it that color," he responded.

Naturally, my thoughts were: "What the heck? It’s our car, and that's the original color that we really like or we wouldn't have bought it!"

"Whoa,” he said. “You don't understand. I want to buy it and paint it a different color."

 “But, you’re a Mustang guy,” I responded. “And, I wouldn't take less than $12,000 for the Vette.”

He asked if he could take the car for a test drive and call me back. And, I thought he really went off the deep end, because he had the keys the whole time and never drove it. About an hour later, I got the call to come get the check. 

And, I thought “Oh, sure.”

So, I drove over to see what the joke was all about. But, to my surprise, he handed me the check. And, I said that I would have to go get the title.

I was driving home, thinking: “Wow. I can't believe how easy that was. All I need to do is ask Janet where the title is.”

Then it hit me: How am I going to tell her that I just sold her favorite Vette?

I ran in the house, handing her the check and blurting out: “Let’s get a C5.”

She said “Why? What happened to the ‘90?”

Oops. I knew I was in trouble, now. 

But, I finally got her to start searching the Internet for a C5, in May of 2005. Janet found one that was the same color as the one we had just sold, and I commented that we had already owned two that color. I thought we should find a color we had never owned— preferably one that's not real common.

I mentioned a green that was on model year ’99.

But, she found an Aztec Gold ‘98, first.

I said that I never seen or heard of a gold ’98, so I called Rogers Corvette in Maitland, Fla.  He said that indeed, the original window sticker showed Aztec Gold.

The next day, we went to check out the car. And, it was love at first sight. So, we returned home with Vette No 9.

We joined the local club “Corvettes of Charlotte County” and entered our first show ever, following everyone's advice: “Clean, clean, clean." After eight hours cleaning, we arrived at the Corvettes of Naples show, and a crowd gathered around us as we were trying to park.

I thought I had run over someone's kid or pet… But, to my relief it was just the car.

Several comments came from the onlookers about how many Aztec Gold cars were built, but everyone had a different opinion.

We won First Place and proudly went home wondering just how rare the gold Vette was.

We have since entered 37 judged shows and won 35 trophies-- three of which were National Council of Corvette Club’s concours class. That's some really tough judging.

After we purchased the car, we drove it occasionally (not daily), including a trip to the National Corvette Museum and the Corvette factory at Bowling Green, Ky.

At Carlisle ’07, Will Cooksey and Tom Hill signed the hood and told us all about the history of the gold cars.  We also received a special invitation to Mid America's Fun Fest.

At Carlisle, we also had some substantial offers from collectors.

And, that’s when we realized that the car should be preserved for the enjoyment of other Corvette enthusiasts. With that decision made, we tried to purchase insurance that would cover the collector value of the car in the event of a loss-- not what the average ‘98 Vette was worth.

What a shock it was trying to find a company that would insure a collectible car that was less than 15 years old… until we called Grundy Worldwide.

Finally, we didn't hear "We only insure cars older than 15 years." 

The company’s representative was friendly and asked us to document as much as we could about the car…. its history, how we used it and why it was so rare.  We were quoted a very reasonable premium for an “Agreed Value” that was very different from the scary, low, Blue Book value.

Next, we bought a trailer to use when hauling the gold car to events over 100 miles away. And, Grundy was happy to insure it, also.

Over the last 40 years, we have always driven our Vettes, because we enjoy going places and doing things with other Vette owners. So, we bought a Quicksilver ‘01 as a driver. So, now, we have precious metal gold and silver.

We will continue to drive to shows with the Aztec Gold car for club events in the two clubs that we belong to: Corvettes of Naples and Corvettes of Charlotte County.

The Aztec Gold Vette was featured in the April 2008 issue of Corvette Magazine and the Official C5/C6 Registry publication.

-George and Janet Jackson, Punta Gorda FL

Story edited by: Becky McLaughlin