122 Corvettes form American flags to kick off Woodward Dream Cruise
The “Corvettes on Woodward” event celebrates the classic American car as Metro Detroit is set up for the 2025 Dream Cruise.
- The couple owns 12 Corvettes, including the rare 2009 GT1 Championship Coupe.
- Charley Robertson runs the Corvette Racing fan page on Facebook with 62,000 followers.
Charlie Robertson remembers exactly where she was when she fell in love with the Corvette.
She was standing outside a forest science building at Texas A&M University in the mid-1970s. She was on her way to class when a loud noise caught her ear. She closed her eyes to listen.
“The engine noise thrilled me,” Robertson told Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today Network. “But because we’re in the forestry industry we had no choice but to buy trucks and use them in our business.”
However, the seeds were planted. In 1988, Robertson’s husband, Jim Robertson, purchased a 1974 Corvette Coupe from a neighbor who had a car under a tarp in her backyard. The cockroaches were then poured out when he opened the door.
“But it’s going to be done,” Jim Robertson said.
He did most of the restoration work, but they took the car to a local paint shop and finished the job. After the vehicle was finished and the couple returned home on the streets of a small town in Florida, they watched their heads chase the car down the street.
“When we got home, I looked to the gym and said, ‘This is now my Carley Robertson said.
The two were the first to jump into Corvette culture, joining the local club, Circle City Corvette, and in 1998 became a member of the National Corvette Museum, taking part in every race within the driving distance of their home. Decades of these efforts are why Robertson is one of the 2025 enrollments of the Corvette Hall of Fame in the enthusiast category.
“Their generosity and dedication have transformed thousands of audiences into brands of mission and lifelong champions of champions,” the museum said in a statement. Founded in 1998, the Corvette Hall of Fame has since 1981 at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, across the street where General Motors assembled all of the Corvettes, honoring 92 inductees since being awarded 92 inductees.
Love and car
Robertsons, both retired Foresters, met at work at a paper company.
“We had the same boss,” Jim Robertson said. “One day I called my office and she answered the phone in place of my secretary, and I invited her to a John Denver concert.”
Since then, the two have been together and spend most of their free time on mutual hobbies.
After repairing the first Corvette, he determined that she was driving every day to reduce the investment value of the vehicle, so they sold it. As soon as the car drove down the driveway, Charlie Robertson looked at each other and said, “We made a serious mistake.”
Their next 1990 Corvette was discovered in Atlanta, about four and a half hours away from where they live in the Florida Panhandle.
“They kept us there all day. Upon getting home, I started to feel a terrible headache and pulled to the side of the road. Jim said, ‘Why don’t you drive a Corvette, and do I take a Firebird?” Charlie Robertson said, “I’m going to say it. “I knew I’d found my car forever.”
Since then, the couple has owned 12 Corvettes. Now they own three – the 2009 GT1 Championship Coupe with manual transmission, the 2018 C7 Grand Sport, the 2022 C8 STINGRAY -, one 2019 Chevrolet Silverado SLT.
The life of a lover
Keeping everything up to date with the Corvette will keep couples busy retired. Charlie Robertson is collaborating on Facebook’s Corvette Racing fan page with 62,000 followers. Jim Robertson explains that he tends to take the backseat in his wife’s efforts and is often a man who drives himself to events, but she insists they are a team.
“Without Jim, there wouldn’t be Charlie,” she said.
As for how Corvette maintains its legacy, Charley Robertson said it’s crucial to show up to fans and enthusiasts. When decision makers attending the event heard from real customers about the engine’s performance and coloring options to return to Detroit, she said it would have the best results.
One of the main attractions to the Robertsons’ Corvette is the community itself, with Charlie Robertson warning new owners against buying new owners in the hopes of staying under the radar.
“Young buyers feel the Corvette as a status symbol compared to their entry point into the community and full social circles. If a young buyer starts to engage with the community, they’ll say, ‘Oh, grace, this is so much fun.’ It meets new people through the car,” she said. “Leaving people in the community means they want them to stay in the Corvette.”
The bonds between those communities run deep. Greg Pretman, the group’s Corvette owner and home builder, drove for two hours after Hurricane Michael landed and damaged his property in 2018.
Luckily, Robertson’s Corvette was undamaged, but the couple lost strength and water for several days. One tree fell, branches slashing through the roof and stopped just above the bed.
Daytona’s Rolex 24, Mobile 1 12 Hours Sebring, or the petite Raman, when not attending, or watching from home on one of Charlie’s many monitors, two museums and two run auctions supporting local charities. Charlie Robertson also runs a gift shop at their church.
The couple also cultivated a deep relationship with automaker leaders, including Harlan Charles, former product marketing manager at Corvette, who attended the lead ceremony on August 29th.
Despite their reputation, the Robertsons described the Hall of Fame as “humble.”
“There’s nothing special about Jim and me. We don’t see ourselves as a celebrity,” said Charlie Robertson. “We happened to embrace our hobbies, our family and gave us everything we could and we are lucky to be recognized.”
Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Contact her at jcharniga@freepress.com.
