Daughter dedicates car restoration to her late father
GREEN BAY (WLUK) - — Around a hundred Corvettes filled the parking lot of Wally's Spot in Green Bay. The event marked its 8th annual Father's Day car show.
"Some people spend all of their time on the golf course, some of these guys spend all of their time in their garage fixing up their Corvettes," said Dan Linssen, Corvettes of the Bay Show Planning Committee Chair.
One Corvette, a custom made, black, 1960 convertible, was very close to still being in Jamie Fletcher's garage.
"This was a chance finally to bring it back to life," said Fletcher.
The car broke down in 1974 when Jamie's parents-- Ron and Gerilyn-- were on their way back to Wisconsin from the east coast.
"We got home and he totally dismantled the engine, it was in boxes," said Gerilyn Fletcher.
Ron had plans to restore it, but health issues got in the way.
Eight years ago, he passed away.
"I never knew him as a healthy young man," Jamie Fletcher said.
But she knew he loved that Corvette. And Fletcher decided she would put down nearly her entire life savings to fix the car in memory of her father.
"Alright dad, I've lost my mind, I'm going to do this, let's do this," said Fletcher.
It was an investment toward her dream.
"This is something that has been chewing at me my entire life," she continued.
Now, after about a year and a half of repairing and remodeling, this car looks as good as it did the last time it hit the pavement, over 40 years ago.
"It was bringing the car back to life and getting to know my father possibly for the first time in my life," Fletcher said, "really getting to know my dad."
"I followed her home the other day when she picked it up and I'm watching that car and I'm just seeing my husband sitting in that car tooling down the road ahead of me," Gerilyn Fletcher said.
When it was time for Fletcher to get plates for her remodeled Corvette, she thought a tribute to the car's original owner would be appropriate.
"My mother, she always said well you always say it was dads, because everyone would ask, well where did you get the car? Where did you buy that? Well, it was dads," she said.
And now, the car is one of the most popular attractions at its first car show on Father's Day.
"I know my dad's up there smiling down. And he'll be instructing me," said Fletcher.
Fletcher's Corvette won over a number of different judges, winning three first place trophies, as they chose her car as the Corvette they liked the best.
