Follow That Corvette… To the Annual Funfest

IF YOU HAPPEN to be driving through central Illinois sometime during Sept. 17-20 and see lines of Corvettes cruising the roadways, don’t think you’re having a sports car hallucination or that you need new glasses…what you’ll be witnessing is participants in the annual Corvette Funfest that takes place this time of year in the town of Effingham.

The event, this year dubbed “Corvette Country,” is hosted by Corvette and VW parts and accessories supplier Mid America Motorworks and centered at its corporate campus.

Things start with a Thursday Fun Run to downtown Effingham and a gathering at the town square. During the following days, Vettes can head on over to Mid America’s Install Dome and be fitted for new exhaust, superchargers, intakes and custom interiors. The Fun Dome, meanwhile, will feature Corvette lifestyle items from books and apparel to furniture, jewelry and accessories, while industry experts will be spotlighted at Seminar Village to share tips, technical information and memories of their Corvette experiences.

Funfest always includes special guests and this year’s VIPs in attendance will include George Barris, King of the Kustomizers, and Linda Vaughn, who you no doubt will recognize as both the First Lady of Motorsports and Miss Hurst Golden Shifter.

Barris, whose customizing work has been seen in numerous TV shows and movies including “The Munsters” and “The Beverly Hillbillies,” and who has customized vehicles for numerous celebrities over the decades, will lead seminars and present a Kustom Award each day to people who make their Corvettes “truly one-of-a-kind.”

Linda Vaughn began her working life as a dental technician but grew tired of that endeavor and entered a beauty contest. She became Miss Atlanta Raceway and visited several races before moving on to become Miss Pure Firebird. When a merger between Pure Oil and Union Oil left her without a job, Linda took a chance on a magazine ad and beat out some 200 entries to become Miss Hurst Golden Shifter. Many drag racing fans from the 1960s will recall the times they saw Linda in her golden swimsuit or jumpsuit perched on a platform installed over the trunk of a car, a huge replica of a Hurst shifter towering beside her. Linda, who this year was named a Pioneer of Racing by the Living Legends of Auto Racing in Florida, will present seminars and share her perspective on the world of drag racing. Both Linda and Barris will be signing autographs at the event.

Saturday evening is always set aside as a time for vintage entertainment at the Funfest Amphitheater, and this year’s headliner is David Marks, one of the six original Beach Boys, who will be appearing with the Surf City Allstars. (Members of the Allstars have played and sang with the Beach Boys and the Jan & Dean Band.) Marks took part in the first Beach Boys recordings in 1961 and was with the band when they went on their first tour in 1962. He performed on their first four albums and appeared in album cover artwork, including the photo for the “Surfer Girl” album. (If you check out the album cover on the Internet, Marks is second from the left, helping band members Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson and Mike Love as they tote a big surfboard along the shoreline of Paradise Cove near Malibu.) He also reunited with the Beach Boys in 2012 for their 50th Anniversary Tour.

For more on Corvette Funfest, visit corvettefunfest.com.