Susan Frissell

Attending Bloomington Gold for the first time this year I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, driving onto the golf course at Pheasant Run in St. Charles, IL, the site of all those Corvettes in one place was breathtaking. Red, yellow, white, black, blue…you name it, they were there. Some were parked in the shade with their owners seated close by, enjoying a beautiful June day.

A little history: Beginning in 1973, Bloomington Gold is the longest running national Corvette event and is noted for its Corvette auctions, swap meets, Certification SURVIVOR, educational seminars and special museum-type displays. Vendors come from all over, offering both parts and gear. Looking for a Corvette t-shirt? This is the place; whether it be airbrushed or embroidered, it’s here. As are official Corvette shirts, collars and leashes for your faithful companion.

The “Granddaddy” of Corvette shows, Bloomington Gold kicked off in Bloomington, IL as the Bloomington Corvette Coral.  A one-day show on a two-acre section of the McLean County Fairgrounds, Bloomington Gold was started by a group of Corvette enthusiasts to display their cars and swap extra parts. Fifteen hundred people were in attendance and 112 Corvettes were shown in the concurs show. Vendors numbered 19, selling parts and products and paying only $3 a space! Spectators paid just a $1 to get in.

What started out modestly has grown to a 4-day event.  In 1974, the event ran two days and in 1975, added an all-Corvette auction and gymkhana event. Attendance tripled in ’74 and 82 vendor spaces were sold at $5 each. Corvettes numbered 684 (1,200 in 1975) and judging was added for restored, original, custom and semi-custom.

Before 1978, judging at Bloomington was based on car vs. car competition, with class winners and best in show winners. David Burroughs changed that in ’78 by adding the Gold Certification standards of authenticity. Rather than being judged against one another, Corvettes were judged on each car’s level of accuracy compared to the day it came off the assembly line. To earn that award, a Corvette must be within 95-100 percent of the way it was from its inception.

In 1984 the show officially became the Bloomington Gold Corvettes USA with the addition of three new events-the Special Collection, the Restoration Workshops and the Silver Salute. The Special Collection is a showcase for the rare and most significant Corvettes ever gathered in one place. The Restoration Workshops have become one of the event’s most popular offerings. In its first year, the workshops had 10 instructors offering eight classes and 175 students attended. Today there are over 20 classes covering restoration, buying, history, mechanical repairs, etc.

The Silver Salute has become a favorite event at Bloomington Gold to display the 25-year-old Corvette.  It has now evolved into the GoldYear and represents all colors and equipment offerings made in a particular year.

Premiering in 1984 was the Road Tour (GoldTour) event. A short “road trip,” the GoldTour is competing this year for the longest Corvette Caravan in Bloomington Gold’s history, over two-thousand. Burroughs added the Survivor event in 1990, a judging for unrestored Corvettes.  “Worn In, But Not Worn Out” became the theme as those Corvettes under twenty years old are judged in four categories for their originality.

Marking its twentieth birthday in 1992, Bloomington Gold moved to Springfield in 1993 having outgrown the original fairgrounds. The Show & Sell area was renamed GoldMine and the Glass Pack event was added for Corvette clubs. The Bloomington Gold Hall of Fame was added in 1997, inducting thirty-three Corvettes from past Special Collections to the Hall of Fame.

The Mecum family took new ownership of the Bloomington Gold in 1998 as the event returned to Bloomington where the 1998 Special Collections featured the Corvette L88s, an exhibit of rare and valuable 1967-1969 Corvettes.  In 1999, a tribute was made to Zora Arkus-Duntov and the performance Corvettes he created. On the event’s 30th anniversary in 2002, Bloomington Gold moved to the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL where it also celebrated the Corvette’s 50th anniversary in 2003. The New GoldField debuted in 2004 introducing the Corvette’s heritage. Redesigned in 2007, it became the GoldSchool with a new approach to Corvette education.

In 2013, the show moves back downstate to Champaign, IL where it will celebrate 40 years.