Hundreds of auto enthusiasts visited one of New Canaan’s best established local businesses Tuesday for a milestone unveiling of a new specialty car.
Car enthusiasts admire the 2020 Corvette Stingray during an unveiling at Karl Chevrolet’s Elm Street showroom on Nov. 26, 2019. Credit: Michael Dinan
Supported by New Canaan businesses and designed to support local charities, the all-day unveiling at Karl Chevrolet of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray marked the first time that people could see the American sports car in Connecticut.
“Everybody has been waiting for a mid-engine Corvette, including myself, and here it is,” Gary Trombly of East Granby said as dozens of people sat in and took photographs of an orange Stingray in Karl Chevy’s Elm Street showroom.
Trombly traveled nearly two hours to attend.
“Beautiful car,” he said. “It’s gorgeous. Well set up. The interior is a lot better than past ‘Vettes, which were all plastic. There is a lot of nice soft features inside. The seating is unbelievable. It’s comfortable as hell. You become part of the car.”
Karl Chevy President Leo Karl III said he was expecting some 500 to have come through the day to see the Stingray.
Car enthusiasts sit in the 2020 Corvette Stingray during an unveiling at Karl Chevrolet’s Elm Street showroom on Nov. 26, 2019. Credit: Michael Dinan
“Our team has had a lot of fun preparing for this, so it’s not your normal Tuesday in New Canaan,” he said. “And it’s been great that we have had a lot of folks come to New Canaan for the very first time. So through our email contact with them leading up to the event, we have tried to promote other businesses in town and we will do that after the event as well, because we have the Holiday Stroll coming up, we have the Explore New Canaan website that went live, I’ve had a lot of local support from local businesses. We’ve had food donated from Joe’s Pizza, from Gates. We are trying to raise some money, take the generosity of people’s spirit this Thanksgiving week and see if we can raise money for three of our local charities—Filling in the Blanks, the local Food Bank and Toys for Tots U.S. Marine Corps.”
People also can text ‘06840 Corvette’ to 44321 to arrive at a New Canaan Community Foundation link so that the giving is tax-deductible, Karl said. (Tuesday’s event runs through 7 p.m. and refreshments are available.)
Doug Zumbach, founder of the hugely popular Caffeine & Carburetors car show in New Canaan that started outside his eponymous coffee shop on Pine Street, helped get the word out about the Stingray unveiling with the C&C email distribution list.
“The new Corvette is right up there with the newest Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and most technologies in speed, acceleration, braking,” Zumbach said. “So it’s a milestone for the Chevrolet Corporation.”
Asked about the interest in specialty cars in the area, Zumbach said, “I think Fairfield and Westchester County have always been a major part of the collectible hobby, simply because of the affluence of the area, the rarity of the some o the cars that are locally known that are traded among people here. We have fantastic restoration shops in this area, which just helps the hobby along.”
On this day of Thanksgiving, I want to give a special shout-out of THANKS to the many local businesses who added to our incredibly successful 2020 Corvette C8 pre-launch event this past Tuesday. For all of us who call New Canaan home, we know our town is a special place (#liveNewCanaan). But what residents might not know, is that local businesses share a true sense of camaraderie when it comes to cheering on each other – for we all realize that a vibrant downtown business district benefits all businesses.
Thanks to Tucker Murphy and Laura Budd at the NC Chamber for helping us spread the word and promote the event. In particular, Joe’s Pizza and Gates Restaurant generously donated food for our event. Zumbach’s Coffee, CT Sandwich and Tony’s Deli also provided food and drink. Franco’s Wine Merchants, Elm Restaurant, Morganthal Fredricks Eyewear, and New Canaan Hand Wash & Detail all contributed door prizes. Weed & Dureyea and Severed Ties Antiques, among others, also collaborated. And we received support from the New Canaan Recreation Department and New Canaan Highway Department as well.
This event drew almost 600 people to downtown New Canaan on a Tuesday – a significant percentage of whom had never been to New Canaan. It was a great #NCPRIDE day for our downtown business community.
THANK YOU to all for the teamwork – it is greatly appreciated.