If the incredulous looks on the faces of the ticket office staff when asked how many tickets they’d sold for the weekend is any indication, the Bloomington Gold Corvette Show is a massive success.

The show, held this past weekend outside the State Farm Center, celebrates the 40th anniversary of Bloomington Gold Corvettes USA. Bloomington Gold, according to their website, stands as the longest running continuous national Corvette event. The show invited members of Bloomington Gold, as well as general Corvette owners to show off their cars.

“Everybody’s got their niche,” Bev Larson, a staffer at one of the information tables, said while directing the masses of people to the various parts of the event. On the southwest side of the State Farm Center stood the pace cars from every Indianapolis 500, including the car that led during this year’s race. Two parking lots of vendors selling everything from Corvette parts to car insurance sandwiched a small food court on the north.

The I-Hotel hosted the Great Hall, a collection of 10 cars and 10 figures who significantly influenced the “Corvette Phenomenon.” This year marked the fourth year of the Great Hall. When the Hall ends at next year’s event, Bloomington Gold will have named 50 people and Corvettes the “gold standard.”

The “gold standard” car for this year’s show was the 1963 Corvette, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and acted as Grand Marshal for the GoldTour, a tour of the Corvettes in attendance. The Bloomington Gold website states that the GoldTour currently holds the Guinness World record for the longest tour of a single type of car with 2,223 Corvettes participating.

A different collection of Corvettes, from 1954 to 2013, were for sale at the Mecum auction which began at noon on Saturday. The cars typically range from $10,000 to $250,000, but according to Mecum employee Julie Querry, it depends entirely on the car. 

“Eleanor, the car Nicolas Cage drove in ‘Gone in 60 Seconds,’ went for $1.3 million,” she said, as her tent filled with patrons looking to register for the auction.

Apart from the auction, judging Corvettes remains a mainstay of the show. According to Bloomington Gold staff members Sandy and Bernie Christian, Corvettes competing in the judging are grouped into six categories, C1 through C6, which designate the class of Corvette. Since the Corvette was introduced in 1953, there have been seven classes, but only six were judged at the Bloomington Gold Show.

“Cars get judged based on how close they are to what they would have looked like leaving the factory,” Sandy Christian said. Four components of each car gets checked: the interior, the exterior, the chassis, and the engine compartment. Cars must also pass a driving test. This year, 115 cars in attendance participated in judging.

Those in attendance ranged from super enthusiasts with bright cars in racing stripes, while others only came to enjoy the beauty of shining metal and smooth, aerodynamic curves. 

“People are crazy about their cars. My favorite is, ‘That’s my Corvette over there,’” said Larson, smiling, and gesturing off into a mass of multi-colored Corvettes. “Because that narrows it down.”

Sarah can be reached at [email protected].