ON THE MOVE 2022 BLOOMINGTON GOLD CORVETTE SPOTLIGHT MATT AVERY Matt is the Executive Producer and host of the On the Move podcast. He was a repair technician for both BMW and Mercedes- Benz before acquiring a B.S. Degree in Film and moving into automotive journalism. He wrote for the TV show MotorWeek, was the senior video producer for the Cars.com editorial team and served on the Board of Directors for the Midwest Automotive Media Association. Matt’s latest book “COPO” is the authoritative guide to Chevy’s ultimate muscle cars. In 2020, Matt was recognized and awarded by SEMA as a rising young star within the automotive industry, making the coveted “35 Under 35 List.” Dave Hadley, lifelong resident of Lafayette, Indiana, knows he was spoiled in high school. “After getting my license, my parents gave me their 1972 Corvette,” he said with a chuckle. The young Hadley went on to make a ton of good memories cruising to classes before letting the car go, and even in its absence, he never forgot about it. Decades later, in 2017, Hadley started hankering to relive those early ‘Vette days. A fruitless search for the original soon led him to consider any suitable 1972 candidate. Thanks to a business vendor, he was turned on to a prospect in Cincinnati, Ohio, and after seeing some detailed pictures of the car, Hadley bought it from Dave and Molly Cammerer, proudly becoming the car’s third owner. “From the images, it looked to be a decent restoration, but I had no idea of the actual condition or the story behind it,” Hadley said. He soon came to find that the Pewter Silver coupe was actually unrestored and bought new by one spunky enthusiast. Her name was Dee Taylor, and she signed for the car just 8 days before her 21st birthday. Sadly, the buy was prompted by a less-than-joyous occasion. Word had come in that her husband, who, like her, deeply loved cars, had been killed in Vietnam while in the line of duty. With that stinging reminder of just how short life can be, she headed to a local dealer to secure the dream car that she and her late husband had talked about someday purchasing together. In true gearhead fashion, the car didn’t stay stock for very long, with lead-foot Taylor adding a set of Cragars (though saving the original set of wheels as well). Smitten with the performance but less than thrilled with the room for cargo, she sold the car in 1974, finding that with a growing young daughter, the sportster wasn’t the best for grocery runs. 62 // MECUM.COM
