2025 Induction

Corvette Enthusiast Category

Charley & Jim Robertson

Corvette Racing fans know Jim and Charley Robertson as the heartbeat of the paddock. From organizing pit tours to running auctions that benefit both the Museum and local charities, the Robertsons have transformed Corvette Racing events into community-driven experiences. Their generosity and dedication have turned thousands of spectators into lifelong supporters of the brand and champions of the Museum’s mission.

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John Amgwert’s Corvette story really begins with a 1930 Ford Model A. His grandfather had been the first person to buy one in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. Some 40 years later, John and his
dad thought it might be fun to buy that car back and do a restoration on it. When the car’s owner refused to part with it, John began looking for another fun car to restore instead. He wanted it to be something old, and unusual… something a little different. That was when he came across a 1954 Corvette.

The problem was that back in the early 1970s, not a lot was commonly known about these cars. Even the Chevrolet dealers had limited resources in terms of service manuals, service bulletins, and
such. To remedy that, Corvette clubs were forming for socializing, having fun, and sharing information.

As this effort was going on, it became clear to John and a few others that a reorganized national group might be better equipped to get Corvette enthusiasts on the same page with their restorations. In 1974, fliers were printed and sent out welcoming everyone to the first meet of the National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS). The directors on the flier were listed as Dick Campbell, Joe Chess, Tom Essig, Sam Folz, Jay Kellogg, Gary Mortimer, and John Amgwert. These men would later be recognized as the seven founders of the NCRS.

At the time John was working at a small print shop and used this connection to produce a newsletter. He would end up being the editor-in-chief for The Corvette Restorer magazine for 25 years,
where his skills as a researcher, writer, and historian became a resource to others interested in Corvette’s heritage. Later, when he learned about efforts to collect Corvette history in a central location, John made a presentation to the NCRS Board proposing the formation of a technical library that would ultimately become the National Corvette Museum.

John’s passion and commitment for seeking out the truth about key cars in Corvette history continue to this day, and the impact of his work will go on for as long as the name Corvette is spoken.

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April 25, 1915 – October 23, 2008

If Zora Arkus-Duntov is the godfather of the Corvette, Elfi-Arkus Duntov is its first lady. With her blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, Elfi helped personify the car in her own inimitable way. But Elfi was much more than Zora’s other half. She had her own claim to fame as a professional model in Berlin and as a dancer with the Follies Bergère in Paris, the Copacabana in Miami and on Broadway in New York. She even learned to fly an airplane long before Zora did.

A native of Berlin, Elfi came from an artistic family. She specialized in ballet. Elfi met Zora as a teenager in Berlin, lured by the warm glow of a Berlin café after ducking out of the rain on her way to meet a date with another guy. As fate would have it, Zora was inside with a few friends of his when their eyes first met. Captivated by each other, they instantly fell in love.

Almost inseparable, they began running around Berlin together in Zora’s Bugatti Type 30. The German city had something for everyone – the arts, theaters, and concerts. They enjoyed nightclubs, cabaret shows and summer days boating around nearby lakes. She’d spell out “Zora” in Russian with bandages on her body and then tan in the sun to brand herself as his girl.

Elfi remained Zora’s girl for life. After moving to Paris because of Nazi harassment, she got a job with the Follies Bergère while Zora partnered with a wealthy friend of his to race MG’s.

They married outside of Paris in February 1939 under the gathering storm clouds of World War II. After Zora joined the French Air Force, he was assigned to bombardier training in the city of Toulouse in the Bordeaux region of southwestern France, leaving Elfi behind in their Paris apartment. The Follies had closed in Paris on the day of general mobilization.

Elfi knew the Germans were advancing on Paris and spent days frantically trying to obtain an exit visa and other the necessary paperwork to get past both Allied and German checkpoints. She’d have to make do with a stateless passport issued after the marriage, since she had given up her German citizenship when she married Zora.

When the German tanks began rolling down the streets of Paris, she knew she had no choice but to leave immediately.

So, she grabbed everything she could, including treasured photographs and other memorabilia, jumped into her prized MG roadster, and got out of town. But the journey would be extremely dangerous. Without papers and very little money for gas or food , she had to trust in the kindness of strangers.

Instead of contending with traffic and checkpoints on the main roads, she chose the back ones where she could make better time. She saw a plane go down in the distance with the sickening sight of black smoke and flames. She didn’t know whether it was German or French.

The first night she spent the night with a French soldier who offered her shelter in an old peasant’s house which had a fireplace. Since she was so exhausted, she agreed to sleep with him on the only bed in the house. He fed her strawberries the next morning and sent her on her way.

Several days into the trip, her MG broke down and wouldn’t start, despite several gallons of gas in the tank. After pushing the car to the point of exhaustion as the sun was going down, she heard a group of soldiers in the distance singing in English. It was a contingent of Scottish soldiers. Seeing a beautiful young woman in their midst, they eagerly took her back to their quarters, put her up in a peasant’s house and fed her a warm breakfast the next morning. They even fixed her MG and filled it up with gas.

After four harrowing days she reached Toulouse, where she was reunited with Zora. Together, they engineered a harrowing escape from Nazi-occupied France, hiding out in a Marseille brothel before finding their way to a New York-bound refugee ship out of Lisbon in December 1940. Landing at Ellis Island, they blended in the west side Russian-Jewish community that gave us the likes of Irving Belin and Leonard Bernstein. After the United States entered the war, they struck it rich in the war munitions business and enjoyed a Penthouse view from their Riverside Drive apartment.

After the war, Zora converted his war munitions business into ARDUN Mechanical (a blend of his father and stepfather’s surnames) and began manufacturing bolt-on overhead valve cylinder heads for the Ford Flathead V8. After that business eventually failed, Zora and Elfi split up for a time. He moved to London to work for Sydney Allard’s sports car firm while she moved to Miami and joined the June Taylor Dancers, performing at the Copacabana. They eventually reunited in New York where Zora first laid eyes on a Corvette at the GM Motorama Show in January 1953.

Zora pulled out the stops to get a job at GM so he could influence the future direction of Corvette. Elfi was at his side for all of it – Pikes Peak, Daytona, Sebring, Nassau, Indianapolis and Le Mans. For decades, the two personified the performance and the sexiness of the Corvette.

Once established in Detroit, Zora bought a wooden-hulled Chris Craft boat and had twin Chevy big-block V8s installed. They used it to cruise around Lake St. Clair on summer days and often entertained the likes of Alan Shepard, Betty Skelton, Jim Rathmann and others.

Even well into their years, the pair had an energy and spark that infected everyone around them. Their proudest moment was August 1994 when they were the guests of honor at the grand opening of the National Corvette Museum.

Zora died of complications from cancer in April 1996 and Elfi would follow in 2008. She was indispensable in getting Zora’s whole life story published into his official biography, Zora Arkus-Duntov, the Legend Behind Corvette. Their ashes are interred here at the National Corvette Museum.

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January 1945 –

Key to the success of Corvette has always been this trinity of forces between GM, racing and the enthusiast. It is interesting to note that when there wasn’t a factory racing effort, enthusiasts stepped up to fill that gap with privateer teams. When performance suffered due to government mandated regulations, enthusiasts kept buying Corvettes as Chevrolet worked to overcome those obstacles. When GM was in trouble back in 2009, the Corvette Race team continued to race, reminding everyone that we all had something worth fighting for. Today, it is that customer interaction, tech transfer from the race team, and a commitment from GM to the car and customer, that has led us to the most revolutionary, advanced Corvette ever, the 2020 Stingray Corvette.

In short, it took all of us to get here.

The Corvette Hall of Fame reflects this relationship by honoring someone from each of those categories. This year, representing the enthusiast, is Dr. Mike McCagh, or Maryland Mike as the likes to be called. For decades he has been there helping other enthusiasts to preserve the originality of their Corvettes, while also inspiring the next generation to appreciate these amazing cars themselves.

This is his story.

Mike was the oldest of nine children, and the first of his siblings to buy his own car–a 1949 Chevy coupe. Although Mike has an appreciation for originality now, at 16 years old he also wanted to go faster than the 216 Blue Flame straight-six would go. This prompted him to get out the tools and put a big Oldsmobile engine in it, thus beginning a lifelong love for wrenching on cars. That Chevy is still in his family today, owned now by his daughter, Casey.

The more that he worked on his car, the more intrigued he became with how automobiles were designed and engineered. Fueled by this curiosity, Mike found ways to make his Chevy the fastest car in Cumberland, Maryland. In the early 1960s, his car was the one to beat. His reign ended however, when a 1957 Corvette showed up to race. “I just loved the look of the taillights on that Corvette,” Mike recalls. “Although I hated to see them in front of me. None-the-less that’s the way it went that night.”

That 1957 Corvette not only won the race, but it won Mike over too, starting a life-long love of America’s sports car. In 1970 he would buy his first Corvette, and you guessed it, it was a white, 1957 fuelie, that he still owns today.

While he always worked on cars, Mike still managed to focus on medical school, his internship, and residency. By then he had also started a family, so when free time came along, his idea of a family outing would be to go to NCRS meets with his wife and kids in tow.

“Cars have always been a mainstay in our family,” says his daughter Chrissy. “Life usually revolved around Corvette events. Vacations were always planned to incorporate as many Corvette functions as possible. We always drove to the National NCRS Convention wherever it was being held.”

Throughout it all, Mike’s children began to share his love for the automobile, learning an appreciation for the classic cars, especially those that came from Chevrolet. “I have always preferred the bow tie to the blue oval,” Mike chuckles.

When Mike got started with Corvette it was in the days when Corvette clubs were the best source for finding parts and advice to keep those cars going. “When the NCRS was founded in 1974, that was something I knew I had to be a part of. I joined as soon as I heard about them. It was pretty soon after they got started as my membership number is #14.”

The objective of the NCRS, for those who don’t know, is help Corvette owners to restore and preserve their cars to a point of “factory originality.” They release articles and judging manuals to help owners get their cars to be exactly the way they were when they rolled off the assembly line. The NCRS also conducts meets around the country where certified judges examine cars looking for any areas that need attention. Corvettes that meet their highest standards are given the NCRS Top Flight Award. Earning that award is not easy, requiring meticulous attention to every single detail of the car.

After that award is earned that car is then eligible to earn the Duntov Mark of Excellence Award. It is only given to cars that pass additional rigorous on-road evaluations. These awards are highly coveted in the Corvette community to the point where some of the world’s most prestigious collectors, like Rick Hendrick (NASCAR team owner, and Corvette Hall of Fame inductee) has had his restoration team take their cars to get judged. Vintage Corvettes that roll over the auction block always get special attention when they have NCRS certification.

Mike’s passion for Corvette and experience as a restorer would eventually lead to him becoming the President of the NCRS where he served for three years. He remained on the NCRS Board for a few years after that, but by his own admission he is happier working under the hood of a car than dealing with all that goes along with running a national organization. “I’d much rather focus on judging and helping to write the judging manuals,” Mike confesses. “The garage is where I’m most at home.”

One thing he was especially glad to be a part of during his presidency was the Judging Recognition Program. Formulated by Dennis Clarke, this program encouraged NCRS members to become judges themselves. By expanding the field, they were able to increase the number of judges around the country, making it easier for car owners to get their cars judged. “It’s been really successful. Prior to Dennis’ concept it was tough finding enough people to judge cars.”

While he has helped countless people through his articles and manuals to restore their cars, he is humble about induction into the Corvette Hall of Fame.

“I’m honored, but I’m not sure if I deserve to be among Zora Duntov and Dick Thompson and Jim Perkins and the others up there who have made history. I’m a private guy who doesn’t look for recognition like some people do. If I can provide a tip to someone else that helps them to get more enjoyment out of their car, I’m happy with that. My wife is excited about the Hall of Fame though,” he laughs, “so I’ll do it.”

Mike’s hope is that when people see him in the Hall of Fame with the other inductees, he will inspire people to get the most out of their cars. This something Mike has always believed in sharing, starting with his own children.

“All four of our kids are car enthusiasts,” he says proudly. “When they turned about 15, I took them to the barn and told them to pick out a car to restore with me. I helped them strip the paint, sand, prime, and even put motors in them. All four of those kids built their own first cars with me, and all four of them still have their cars to this day. By encouraging them to construct their first cars, they had a special appreciation for them. This worked out for me as I knew they wouldn’t abuse them or get in trouble with them. They took good care of those cars and always have.”

Chrissy can attest to that. “I remember my dad and I working on that 1950 Chevy convertible. It had been in a garage for 10 years and needed to be taken apart and put back together again. I drove it to high school every day when it was done. This would be the beginning of a tradition in our family. Marcy drove a 1947 Chevy through her High School years and my brother Mike has a 55 Chevy extended cab dually 4wd pickup that he built with my father. My sister Casey took my dad’s first car–the 1949 he drove as a kid. It’s a great car with one very special modification. It has the taillights of a 1957 Corvette.”

Mike is now focused on his grandkids and sees the love for cars already starting in one of them. “She is already into speed, running her little four-wheeler around the farm like it’s the Indy 500.”

Looking back on his life he can’t imagine what it would have been like without Corvette. At one point he owned 32 of them. He’s since whittled down the collection to only six Corvettes, but at the moment he is looking at a 1965 fuel injected coupe. “I have enjoyed restoring them, driving them, and sharing what I have learned about them,” he reflects. “It’s gratifying to know that the work I’ve done will help others after me to have the same kind of enjoyment that I’ve had with Corvette.”

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September 20, 1948 –

Just for a moment, imagine your life without the National Corvette Museum. What if there was never a Bash event for you to go to or an Anniversary event to be a part of? What if there was no Corvette Caravan, no Museum in Motion events, no Corvette Museum Deliveries and no eNews from us in your in box once a week? What if there was no track, no library and archives or exhibit space to connect our history to the next generation of enthusiasts? What friends did you meet here that you might not have ever known? What memories would you have never made? What would you be reading now, instead of this?

You’ve just imagined a world without Wendell K. Strode.

Wendell would object to being singled out and rightly give credit to the “the good Lord” and the team around him. In truth this was an effort that required a motivated team, dedicated volunteers and the generous support of members. However, it also needed a leader who could motivate the team and inspire dedication in others, while giving members a cause that they felt good about supporting.

So how does a man who isn’t really a car guy; and who never even dreamed of owning a Corvette someday become inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame?

Wendell was the 12th of 13 children, all born at home. His father was a Baptist minister and a tenant farmer until he was able to get an FHA loan to buy his first farm. “With nine boys and four girls,” Wendell chuckles, “he had a pretty good labor supply.”

Wendell learned the value of teamwork and saw firsthand the way it could turn a neglected farm into something of value again. This was a lesson that would be important for the life that was ahead of him.

When he was only four years old, his mother passed, and his sister Hellen took on the responsibilities of caring for the family. She was only 13 years old at the time. Wendell still refers to her as his sister/mother. She taught him about the value of leadership in the midst of great adversity.

After graduating from High School, Wendell went to Western Kentucky University to study agriculture, but he struggled with the demands of being a college student. “I don’t think I was ready for it. I never studied in high school because there wasn’t time for it. We had our work to do on the farm after school. Sometimes we didn’t even get to milk the cows until after dark.” Wendell withdrew from WKU to reevaluate his life, and to help care for a brother who had a brain tumor. Later, he decided to pursue his dream of being a sports broadcaster. Growing up he wasn’t able to compete in sports as the chores on the farm got in the way of that, but he loved sports none-the-less, and wanted to be a part of it somehow.

He found a vocational school that taught broadcasting and enrolled there. That’s where he met Jan, the woman who he would one day marry. She was studying to become a dental assistant. They began dating and talking about a future together.

It was about that time that the U.S. Army revealed that they had a different plan for Wendell. Two days after graduating he was sworn into the Army and was later deployed to Vietnam where he served in a Combat Infantry Company. He would eventually come home with a Purple Heart and late onset PTSD along with a heart for his fellow veterans, whom he would feel compelled to serve through his entire life.

When he returned home in 1970, he was ready to go to school and resumed his studies at WKU. Now married to Jan and with a baby on the way, he looked for part-time work and found it at a local bank. “I didn’t have experience with banking at the time, but I knew it was a people business, and that appealed to me.”

Wendell did well, to the point where the bank wanted him to work full-time. They agreed to pay for books and tuition if he would become a part time student. It took twice as long to get his degree that way, but he had found a profession that he loved. “The Lord blessed me and after 23 years I took the job as President of a bank.”

Along the way to that position, Wendell learned that Bowling Green was being considered as a possible site for a National Corvette Museum. With the Corvette Assembly Plant already a part of the community, Wendell saw early on how this could turn into something big for the area. He became a part of the Chamber of Commerce Task Force, charged with putting together an incentive package that would make Bowling Green an attractive location. He presented that package at the NCRS Southeast Regional Meet in Florida in January 1990. While there, he saw something that astounded him. The Corvette community was, in fact, one big family. He realized then that they were more than just car nuts, race fans and people who loved Corvettes, this was a family looking to build a home.

With this new mindset, Wendell worked with local officials to pull together the financing package used to fund the construction of the Museum. To bolster the case, he helped to get the land donated for the project, ideally located near the Plant and next to I-65. Work began, and on September 2, 1994 the doors of the National Corvette Museum were opened to the public.

The reception was beyond anything anyone could have ever imagined. The freeway was locked up with Corvettes for miles and people lined up for hours just to get through the front door. The Corvette Store stayed open around the clock to serve everyone who showed up.

Then something equally unexpected happened. Over time the interest in the Museum waned and dropped off to a point where the future was in jeopardy. The people in charge at the time had never run a Museum before and didn’t know how to do it properly. It quickly became apparent that unless someone could come in and fix what was wrong, this gleaming moment in Corvette history would become a sad footnote. The banks actually wrote a foreclosure letter demanding changes, including new leadership at the top.

It turned out that the Corvette Museum didn’t need a “car guy” to survive, it needed a businessman–someone who knew how to run the Museum as a business, while also appreciating that this was a business that belonged to a family. Wendell was offered the position and accepted the challenge. His first day was December 20, 1996.

Turning things around became a much bigger effort than Wendell had envisioned. Just days into the job, he and CFO Christy Thomas were summoned to Detroit to present a budget and business plan that they didn’t even have yet. They worked through New Year’s Day to put together a presentation only to find out that they were not going to get financial help after all. So, Wendell inquired about other means of support from Chevrolet. He was able to secure a Corvette to raffle and get Dale Earnhardt to do a promotional event. They also agreed to allow product into the Corvette store without the markups and royalties. “In all Christy and I submitted 28 suggestions for ways Chevrolet could help us without writing a check, and they approved 22 of them. This was the start we could build on.”

Wendell focused on cultivating a family atmosphere that made guests feel like this was their Museum. Corvette team members made it the place to connect with Corvette fans about new cars, while playfully fending off questions about future product. Over time the loans were paid back, and the Museum grew in membership from 1,631 to over 36,000 strong, with the number of visitors reaching nearly 250,000 a year. In 2009, the Museum doubled in size, allowing for bigger events and facility rentals to make it a resource to the community. In 2014, the NCM Motorsports Park was opened, providing a world-class facility for driving, testing, learning, competing, training and having fun. The NCM Kartplex has been added since, and an off-road course is being developed. That may sound like sales copy from a brochure, but to Wendell Strode, it sounds like a mission accomplished.

“Our goal was to make this the gateway to all things Corvette–a place where Corvette owners felt that same sense of family that I felt when I first went to that NCRS event. We also wanted it to be an institution that GM would be proud to be associated with. The fact that this Museum is here in the first place is a testament to the love and devotion that this car inspires. It’s our duty to take care of it, and I’m proud of our staff, our volunteers and our supporters for helping us get to this point.”

Over the years there were many challenges and even one natural disaster to overcome, but Wendell faced it all with a level head, grounded in faith. Now retired, he is humble and maybe a little uncomfortable about being inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame. “I’m grateful and honored, but this isn’t about something Wendell did,” he says while pointing to himself. “This is about what a family can do when they believe in something enough to work hard for it. I’m just glad that the good Lord helped me to be involved in all of this. It has been a blessing.”

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May 13, 1930 – August 24, 2014

“To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.”

–Maya Angelou

When Anne Cole Pierce first read those words she immediately thought of her own mother, Dollie Cole. “My mother was truly a force of nature,” Anne recalls. “When she was drawn to a cause, she didn’t just help with her checkbook, she got involved, and got her friends involved, too. She gave her all and inspired those around her to do the same. She made things happen.”

While the world at large first came to know Dollie as the wife of Edward N. Cole, President of General Motors, she wasn’t the kind of automobile executive wife to let that be the one thing that defined her. Colorful, beautiful, driven and outspoken, she truly did live life to the fullest, building up a resume of accomplishments that included: accredited test driver and pilot, Senior Editor for a publishing company, author, television host, and she was even a model in print ads for Dr. Pepper. She could work out in the barn all day, and step into the most elite social situation without missing a beat. She was engaging and comfortable with anyone she met regardless of their station in life. She made it a point to make people feel valued whether it be an underprivileged child, the elevator operator, a Hollywood celebrity, top race car drivers, powerful business icons, or even the President of the United States. They all mattered to her, especially those who were defenseless–mainly children and animals. It would be the goal of her life to use her resources, abilities, time and energy to help them rather than looking for ways to be entertained.

This is probably because of her upbringing. She was born Dollie Ann Fechner on May 13, 1930, in Fort Worth, Texas. Her parents divorced when she was just six weeks old, which led to a childhood spent living with various relatives. When it came time to go to college, she focused her studies on providing therapy for people with mental disabilities. “She knew what it was like to be helpless,” Anne remembers. “She was so grateful for what God had given her that she wanted to give back in a very meaningful way.”

She married Ed Cole in 1964 and found in him her perfect match in every way. She once said that intelligence is the most attractive feature that a man could have, and that Ed Cole was the most attractive man she had ever met. Anne remembers their days together fondly. “My dad loved a challenge, and she kept him interested. They both hunted, they were both great shots, she could fly an airplane, she liked driving fast cars, she was interested in automobiles, and she was smart, sharp and interesting. My dad was so smart, and his brain was so fast, that he really needed someone like my mom who was all of that too. They were perfect for each other.”

Dollie would want us to pause here and remind everyone that Ed was the engineer and father of GM’s Small Block V8 engine–the same engine that would find its way into the engine bay of the Corvette. Over 100 million of them have been produced in the many decades since, providing 100 million examples of just how smart Ed Cole really was.

Dollie admired him for his work ethic too. She joked that when they were married they should have been pronounced “man and wife and briefcase.” She often said that he was the guy who turned on the lights at GM. She was proud of him for that too.

During his time as President of GM, Ed had his work cut out for him. The auto industry, and the Chevrolet Corvair in particular, were under attack by consumer groups led by activist Ralph Nader. When things got especially ugly, Dollie got involved in a way that only Dollie could.

“My mother called in to The Phil Donahue Show as it was airing live, as his guest was bad mouthing the auto industry,” Anne recalls. “After figuring out that she really was who she said she was, they put her on live and she gave the guy his money’s worth. How many people would have the guts to call into a live talk show, with no preparation, and still have the poise and presence of mind to take a stand?”

“I have to give my Dad tremendous credit,” Anne laughs. “When he came home that night he just smiled at her and said something like, ‘So how was your day Dollie? I heard you were busy.’ She said it was fine and he replied, ‘That’s not what the PR department said.’”

Donahue was so impressed with Dollie’s boldness, that he moved his show to Detroit for a week and had Dollie on as a guest. He later hosted a debate between Nader and Ed Cole that many feel that Ed won.

“She was very proud and supportive of my dad and she wanted to make him proud of what she accomplished. She didn’t want to embarrass him, but she was who she was. She didn’t believe in being seen but not heard. She spoke often and women’s organizations talking about having a voice, making a difference, getting involved and not being passive. Her way was not the way of corporate America’s wives. To her, silence was not golden. She felt that silence is what happens when one doesn’t care enough to speak out.”

Ed retired from GM in 1974, and tragically died at the age of 67 on May 2, 1977, when his airplane went down in a storm. This left Dollie alone to protect his legacy and care for his children. Dollie wouldn’t let him down.

Dollie and Ed’s youngest son, Nick, agrees. “Mom was always 100% mom too. I remember whenever she got on a mission though, she’d ‘get her Dollie on’ and we knew what was coming. She became ‘General Dollie’ and we’d all snap to attention, but that was okay. She inspired us all to want to help others and taught us the value of working hard and being the best, we could be. It meant something to us to be there to help her make a difference.”

One example of that was her work for the Pegasus School for Boys. This is a school for boys who had been removed from their homes by the state because of parents who may have had drug problems or legal issues of some kind. Dollie got involved and gave land to them and got her friends to donate enough money to build buildings and get a magnet school started. There were 90 boys there, so when she’d go to auctions, she’d buy 90 of everything–90 pairs of shoes, 90 pairs of boots, 90 pairs of jeans, and so on.

Anne remembers how hard Dollie would work too. “When Mom would do charity events, she would do the flower arrangements, and get people to do the invitations. She wouldn’t farm it out if she could do it in a way that could get more of that money going into the charity.”

As if she didn’t have enough going on, Dollie served on several boards, such as PBS, Project HOPE (World Health Organization), The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, National Captioning Institute for the Hearing Impaired, National Academy of Sciences Presidents’ Circle, and the 100 Club of Central Texas, a charitable organization established to support the families of officers killed in the line of duty. She also served on the board of the newly formed National Corvette Museum.

“Mom was a cheerleader for the Corvette,” Nick says proudly. “She knew that car was a big part of my Dad’s legacy, which is one of the reasons that she loved it so much. That’s why she got involved with the Museum. When the Museum was struggling, she had a key role in turning it from what it was to what it is.”

Wendell Strode agrees. “I met Dollie in 1997, just after being hired as the Executive Director of the Museum. This was a critical time for us. The Museum was in default on its loan to the banks, and foreclosure appeared to be imminent. We needed change, and Dollie was the board member for this new era. As her leadership skills became obvious to everyone, she was elected to serve as Chairman of the Board. Her favorite reminder to all of us was to ‘check your egos at the door.’  She was there fighting for what needed to be done.”

“She was a leader in deed as well as word. She attended many shows and club meetings to speak on behalf of the Museum. She hosted fundraiser events at her Ranch to benefit the Museum. And on more than one occasion, Dollie wrote a check to the Museum so that we could be involved in some activity that would make us more visible locally and nationally. Dollie was instrumental in turning the Museum around and helping to lay the foundation for the success we enjoy today.”

Dollie passed away on August 24, 2014, leaving behind her children, William Jefferson McVey, III, Anne Cole Pierce, Esq., Robert Michael Joseph Cole and Edward Nicholas Cole, Jr., as well as a grateful family of Corvette enthusiasts who will always be in her debt.

When asked for a final thought about his mom going into the Hall of Fame, Nick paused.

“She loved being a part of the Museum and being the wife of the President of General Motors—a man who had been part of the Corvette from virtually the beginning. It was important for my mom to promote him and the Corvette, so that history wouldn’t forget. I remember seeing her talk with every Corvette owner at a show. She’d spend all day and all evening long with them. Corvette wasn’t a brand to her though. It was my dad. Being a part of the Museum and the Corvette community was one of her ways of staying connected to him, and she did the best job that she could to represent him. He would expect nothing less from her, and she could do nothing less for him. Having them both together in the Corvette Hall of Fame is fitting, and something we’re all very proud to see.”

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November 4, 1949 –

Mike Yager

Mike Yager bought his first Corvette in 1970 when he was just 20 years old. When he saw there was no Corvette Club in his area, he started one. As the club grew he made the observation that there wasn’t a place where a Corvette fan could purchase Corvette merchandise. To remedy that, he bought whatever he could find that related to Corvette and started making it available at Corvette club events and car shows. When that worked out, he got a $500 loan to start a company that has now grown to become one of the world’s largest suppliers of parts and accessories for Corvettes… Mid America Motorworks.

Just as famous as his company is the annual festival that he started to celebrate the people who have made it all happen—his customers. It is an event called Funfest, which brings together thousands of Corvette people each year for a good time that ends with a concert featuring bands like REO Speedwagon and the Beach Boys.

Mike’s love for Corvette doesn’t stop there. He has been a part of numerous clubs and organizations, including the National Corvette Museum where he served as its Chairman of the Board in 2002. He was also behind “Drive Your Corvette to Work Day” and organized an effort to have a commemorative stamp created to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Corvette. While he was at it, he got behind a campaign to honor Corvette’s birthday with a National Day of Recognition.

Through his aftermarket business he has helped thousands of people keep their beautiful Corvettes on the road, but in the end he’s all about making sure people have a good time when they get where they are going.

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November 1936 –

Peter Brock

At just 19 years old, Peter Brock was one of the youngest designers to ever be invited to work at GM Design. When Bill Mitchell, the new VP of the Styling Section for GM, wanted to build a successor to the 1957 Corvette SS concept car, he charged his team of designers to come up with some ideas. Ultimately Brock’s sketch was selected and refined. Working with fellow designers Chuck Pohlmann, Larry Shinoda and Tony Lapine their efforts culminated into the very first Corvette to be called a Sting Ray, the XP87 Corvette Sting Ray Racer. (Yes, it is supposed to be two words.) This racing concept would go on to influence the lines and look of the second-generation Corvette and really, every Corvette since.

As an enthusiast, Brock has done just about everything relating to motorsports. He has designed and raced cars, written books and articles, and even became a photojournalist capturing one of the greatest eras of motor-racing history. He documented the Corvette’s performance history from its earliest days in the mid ‘50s with Briggs Cunningham at Le Mans, through the powerful era when drivers Dave McDonald, Dick Thompson and Bob Bondurant established the Corvette as America’s only true production performance car, all the way to the present C7 generation. In addition to all of that he started Brock Racing Enterprises in the 1960’s and has worked on a number of other marques along the way, but has always had a very special place in his heart for Corvettes.

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July 1, 1927 – October 6, 2009

Affectionately known as “The Lady in Pink,” the late Donna Mae Mims became a true Corvette enthusiast from the first moment she spotted one, a 1957 Corvette, for sale on a dealership lot. At the time she and husband Mike had never heard of the model, but ended up purchasing a brand new one from Don Yenko Chevrolet. An invitation from a fellow motorist to a sports car meeting is what got Mims involved in SCCA, and in 1961 she started racing, winning the B Production national race that same year at Cumberland. While Mims liked her Corvette, she was not fond of the color. Her husband would not let her paint it pink, so she painted ‘Think Pink’ on its side. Her subsequent race cars bore the same name, while Mims sported pink coveralls, a pink crash helmet, and full pink wig behind the wheel. In her championship driving year, she was part of the Yenko/Chevrolet race team that dominated A/Production and B/Production SCCA racing with Corvettes, all while she was driving her little pink H/Production bug-eyed Sprite.

Her dedication to racing was not only recreational, but also professional, serving as Manager of Hi-Performance at Yenko Sports Cars. Her duties included helping other racers specify parts and even find sponsors, and her “company car” was a 1969 L88 Stingray. Mims freelanced as a writer for several car magazines, including Competition Press, Corvette News, SCCA’s Sports Car, and Sports Car Graphic magazines, among others. She participated with an all-female team in the 1972 Brock Yates Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, driving a Cadillac. Adrienne Barbeau’s character in the Cannonball movie was based on Mims.

After retiring from racing in 1974, Mims stayed busy as a worker in Race Control at three Ohio race courses, and remained active in events of the Steel Cities SCCA Region, Corvette Club of Western Pennsylvania, Three Rivers Corvette Club (which she founded), Steeltown Corvette Club, and the Tri-Rivers Car Club Council. Sadly, Mims passed away on October 6, 2009 at the age of 82. Fittingly, her body was displayed in her pink 1979 Corvette during visitation at the funeral home, and a large group of forty plus Corvettes participated in the funeral procession.

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