“i
tookthispictureatthemagic
hour, justbeforesundown. It
kindofsparkles,”saysMichael
Brown,showingmeaphotoof
thenewestadditiontohisfleet,
a2015Z06inthejust-reissued
paintcolorcalled“sharkgray.”
“Seethosefourexhaustpipes
justbelowthecrossedflags?It
hasagrowlandarumblethat
Corvetteguys like.”
Brown,whoownsavideo-
production company inAr-
lington,Texas, is, alongwith
JayLeno,GeorgeClooneyand
PaulMcCartney, a collector ofAmerica’sfirst sports car.
It’s not just about the designor the torque, he explains.
ForBrown, likeapairofLevi’s501s,aCorvettepersonifies
America’syouthful,post-warglorydaysofthe1950s—and
what betterway to relive that freedom thanbehind the
wheelofasuper-fast, classiccar?
Browngrewup, theolderof twoboys,ninemilesnorth
of the Texas border inHugo, Oklahoma (pop. 5,310), a
town named after the Frenchwriter Victor Hugo. The
seatofChoctawCounty,Hugohadonemovie theater, the
Erie, and theCircusDrive-In,namedafter thepopulation
of circus performers who lived there in the off-season.
Brown’s father ran a junkyard and awrecker service. “I
was around cars allmy life,” he says. “I inheritedmy ap-
preciationof cars frommydad—althoughnot theability
toworkon them.”
EveryFriday evening after dinner, he’d gonext door tohis grand-
mother’shouseandwatch
Route66
, the classicblack-and-white series
that starredMartinMilner, andevenmorenotably, a sexy, convertible
1960Corvette. “
Route66
captured the imaginationofageneration, and
theCorvetterepresentedindependence,”hesays.“Therewassomething
special abouthavingacool carback then, and therewasnothingcooler
thanaCorvette.A lotofuscouldn’tafford them then,which iswhyyou
nowseesomanypeople in their60swith theirfirstCorvette.”
InBrown’scase,hedidn’thavetowaitquitethat long.Hisdreamcar,
a1963split-windowStingRaywitha340-horsepowerV8engine,wasa
gift forhis40thbirthday fromhiswife, the
NewYorkTimes
best-selling
author SandraBrown. “She said, ‘Gobuy the thing and get over your
middle-agecrazies.’”
collections
The car that
started it all: Collector
Michael Brown’sfirstCorvette
was a 1963generationC-2
(picturedabove). Inset: Brown
at his “museum” of
Corvettes at hishome in
Arlington, Texas.
CELEBRATED LIVING • SPRING 2015
38
