Last weekend Bloomington Gold formally inducted the 2012 honorees into The Great Hall. The 3rd class of cars features the earliest known production Corvette, 2 very famous racecars, and arguably the most famous Corvette styling car of all time. The diverse list of people and organizations consists of a Lemans winning racer, the founder of Corvette Central, and a former Corvette Chief Engineer.

The Great Hall will honor 10 people and 10 Corvettes annually until 50 people and 50 cars have been recognized. The Great Hall’s intent is to salute the pioneers of our hobby – the people, organizations, and the cars that helped create the phenomenon we know and love today. It’s their passion and drive that helped build the hobby for all of us.

This was the best collection of significant Corvettes assembled in quite some time. The grouping covered nearly 40 years of Corvette styling and performance. In addition, a recently discovered 1967
white/red 427 coupe with just 2,996 miles on it (that’s not a typo) greeted attendees before they even got to the honorees. We can’t wait to see what The Great Hall comes up with next year to top 2012.
The only disappointment was that 1953 VIN 003 couldn’t make the event. Its original frame, which was separated from the car after development testing, attended its place. Maybe one day it will be reunited with the actual car.

The cars inducted this year are:

• 1953 Corvette s/n 003
• 1956 Corvette ? The Real Mccoy
• CERV I
• 1961 Mako Shark
• Original Stingray Racer
• 1967 Corvette SURVIVOR
• 1967 Corvette Coupe Le Mans L88
• 1970 Corvette LT1
• 1969 Corvette L88 Coupe BFG ?Stars & Stripes? Racer
• 1990 ZR-1

This year’s people/organization honorees are:

And here are how the 2012 Great Hall Inductees were displayed at Bloomington Gold: