A History of Corvettes of Bakersfield

By Marilyn Owen

Not too many COB members know the history of how our club came to be. Associated Corvettes formed in November1967 with 10 charter member cars. In one year it grew to 25 cars. My husband, Freddie, was President & I was Secretary for the first 3 years. We joined Western States Corvette Council (WSCC) and Incorporated in 1968 and I also became WSCC Secretary from 1969 to 1971. We hosted a huge All Corvette Event in 1969 for the Council here in Bakersfield.

We learned from the Council how to put on autocrosses at Famoso Raceway and Concours auto shows as well as show & shines. This gave us revenue so we could publish a newsletter, have poker runs and rallies, volleyball parties, camping trips, and parties with Cor-vettes of Fresno. We traveled to meet other WSCC member clubs for events and still found time to sponsor fund raisers for BARC, here, locally.

We had a great bunch of people and they were all instrumental in our success. I believe it was 1973 when Associated Corvettes dis-banded and our members became Corvettes of Bakersfield. As can happen in any organization, there were some that valued the travel, partying with other clubs, newsletters, fundraising and then there were others that thought the money should be for parties at Hart Park so Associated Corvettes abandoned their corporation and morphed into Corvettes of Bakersfield with the members that wanted more local activities and less stress. I have to thank Greg Cline and Greg Marling for their initial efforts to see that the club continued on and with the help of many others that came afterward over the years a solid basis was established again. Today we have the best and biggest club I could ever have imagined and I’m so proud to have been a part of this grand journey with my Corvette Family.

COB Logos Over the Years