Vern Eden lives in Valleyford, Washington, an unincorporated community twelve or so miles from Spokane. It’s a sparsely populated area with plenty of room to roam, which will serve the 87-year-old enthusiast very well when he wants to take his new 2021 Chevrolet Corvette for a spin.
Eden told Cindy Hval from TheSpokesman-Review that he likes fast cars and has always wanted a ‘Vette. However, he didn’t approve of the way previous models were built; he felt they were heavy on the front end. When the mid-engine model became available, Eden got on board and ordered it in red. Originally, he considered getting the sportscar in blue to match his truck, but decided "red is a Corvette color."
The man likes to drive, and trucks have been a big part of Eden’s life for the past 44 years. He drove for URM Stores (a food distribution company based in Washington) for 40 of those. And when he’s not tending to his family farm, where he has lived since he was four, he and his wife Linda travel all over the world.
He says his favorite country to visit is Cambodia because “it’s still kind of wild there, and you can rent a motorcycle for five dollars a day.”
After waiting a year and a half for his Corvette due to delays due to the pandemic, global chip shortage, and a strike at the manufacturing plant, Eden and his wife are taking their new mid-mounted, 490-hp 6.2-liter V8 for spins as often as they can. He had wanted to take a road trip with his grandson all the way out to the factory at Bowling Green, Kentucky to pick up his car. When he discovered they weren’t giving tours at that time, he decided to zip over to nearby Pullman to retrieve it instead.
Another reason Eden finally purchased his beloved Corvette is that he wonders if the 2021 Corvette will be the last in the series before the company converts to an electric model.
“That would be like a trumpet player blowing and no sound coming out,” he told The Spokesman-Review wistfully.
For now, his beloved 2021 Corvette is powered just the way he likes it and he uses it as a daily driver, including grocery runs and trips to pick up tractor parts. The car is capable of a top speed of 194 mph, and Eden told Hval that he plans to put it to the test as soon as he finds a suitable place to do so.
If you see an octagenarian speeding down the road in a red Corvette with a giant smile on his face, it's probably Eden, driving his dream car.
Got a tip? Send the writer a note: [email protected]
