I
bought this Corvette from Alva Spriggs, brother of the
original owner, John. He and his buddy Keith White pur-
chased identical white 'Vettes after getting out of the serv-
ice. John had the lower half of his painted red.
Eight months later, the guys were driving back from a race in Keith's car
when an accident resulted in their deaths. That car was demolished, and
John's "Red Bottom 'Vette" passed to Alva.
I met Alva one day; we started talking about our mutual love for cars.
He showed me his brother's Corvette. It wasn't for sale at the time, but I
contacted him a few years later and he agreed to sell it. That was in 2004.
The car had 68,000 miles on it. Since I just take it to car shows and a lit-
tle putt around occasionally, I've only put on another 2,000.
Everything about this Corvette is 100 percent original except for a few
modifications to the engine done for racing. It was a family heirloom to Alva
and he comes over often to visit it. I even let him drive it occasionally.
— Michael Chatfield
S A L I N A S , C A R E N T H U S I A S T
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C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 5
JEFF DICKINSON
1954 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
Photo: Kelli Uldall
CARS WE LOVE
