An Important Message from Adam, Founder of Vette Registry
Forum: Vette Registry News and Information
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Eagleville, PA - USA
Joined: 11/1/2001
Posts: 28368
Vette(s): Used to own a 1979 Corvette now owned by JB79
Friends,
Twenty-five years ago this month, on November 1st, 2001, I launched a little website called the C3 Vette Registry. What started as a weekend project for one generation of Corvettes grew into C3VR, then C6VR and C4VR, and finally the Vette Registry we have today. (If you've never read how it all began, the full story is here.)
Along the way, so much of what's here got built because one of you asked for it. Which is why this is a hard post to write.
It's time to pack it up
After a lot of thought, I've decided that Vette Registry will wind down over the next year.
There's no single reason, but a big one is that the internet isn't what it was in 2001. Back then, if you wanted to talk Corvettes, you found a forum, and the forums were where everything happened. People asked questions, shared their projects, argued about original vs. modified, and helped total strangers get their cars running again. That's what made this site great. Not the tools or the features, but the conversations.
Today most of that conversation has moved to Facebook groups, YouTube, and whatever app is popular this week. Forum activity here, and on forums all over the web, has dropped to almost nothing. I've watched it happen for a few years now.
And it's not just the internet that has changed. My life has changed too.
Twenty-five years is a long time. When I started this site, I didn't have kids. Now I have two, one in grad school and one in high school. Through all of those years, raising a family included, I kept Vette Registry running, mostly on my own (with a lot of help from a couple of people I'll thank below). I did it because it was fun, and because the people here made it worth every minute.
But I'm 25 years older now, with a little less energy than I had back then, and my priorities are different. With the forums as quiet as they've become, the time I'd spend keeping the site going is time I'd rather spend with my family. And it's more time than most people might think, because running Vette Registry is a lot more than posting in the forums.
Vette Registry isn't a Facebook group or an off-the-shelf forum that someone else maintains. Nearly every part of it is custom-built, and keeping it running, secure, and fresh is a large job that goes on quietly in the background. In a typical month, that includes things like:
- Keeping the server up to date with software and security patches, and making sure everything is backed up
- Renewing the site's security certificates and domain names
- Keeping the site's code modern, mobile-friendly, and secure (the forums, Registry, VIN Decoder, and everything else here are homegrown)
- Gold and Lifetime membership administration
- Updating the Corvette stats and production data with each new model year
- Answering site emails and support requests
- Approving new members, classified ads, and event listings, and keeping the spammers and bots out
Most of that is invisible when it's working, which is exactly how it should be. For a long time I loved doing all of it. Somewhere along the way, though, it slowly shifted from something I looked forward to into something I had to keep up with, and it takes a real commitment of time, effort, and mental energy. That's nobody's fault. It's just what happens after a quarter century. But this community deserves someone who's excited to work on it, and I'd rather be honest about that than let the site suffer for it.
So I'd rather close this chapter on a high note, with a proper send-off, than let the site quietly fade away.
What I'll remember most
It's the people.
Over 25 years, this site turned strangers into friends. Members who met here in a forum thread ended up driving hundreds of miles to meet in person, and kept coming back year after year. I've lost count of the friendships that started with a question about a carburetor or a paint code.
And the Gatherings! Our annual member Gatherings, plus all the regional and local get-togethers, cruises, and car shows over the years, are some of the best memories of my life. The drives, the parking lots full of Vettes, the dinners that went way too late, the inside jokes, the breakdowns where three people showed up with tools before you even asked. That's what Vette Registry really was, and none of that goes away when the website does.
The 2027 Gathering is ON, and it's our farewell Gathering
This is the big one. The 2027 Gathering on Route 66, being planned by our own Marshall (manget1), is still happening, and now it means even more. It will be the final Vette Registry Gathering, our chance to get together one last time as a club and celebrate 25 years in person.
- When: September 2027, with a target start of Tuesday morning, September 21, 2027 (dates are being finalized)
- Where: Historic Route 66, starting just outside Chicago near Joliet, IL, and heading southwest through Illinois and Missouri toward Tulsa, OK
- How: Join us for any or all of the days. Come for one leg or drive the whole thing.
If you've ever thought "maybe next year" about coming to a Gathering, this is the year. There won't be another one. Whether you've been to a dozen Gatherings or have never met any of us in person, I would truly love to see you there.
Marshall has done a ton of work on this already. Read his latest update and post your questions here:
2027 Gathering on Route 66: August 2026 Update
2027 Gathering on Route 66: August 2026 Update
What happens next
- The site stays fully up and running through November 2027. Forums, the Registry, the VIN Decoder, events, everything. Nothing changes day to day.
- The 2027 Member Calendar is still happening! You sent in over 90 photo submissions, so there's no way I'm skipping it. I'm hoping to have it finished and ready to order before Thanksgiving week, and I'll post here as soon as it is.
- Paid memberships are no longer sold or renewed. If you have a current Standard or Gold membership, you keep all of your benefits until it runs out, and every annual membership will have run its course by the time the site closes, so nobody loses time they paid for. New members join free.
- After that, I'd like the site to live on as a read-only archive. Twenty-five years of forum posts, tech tips, and registry history are worth keeping. If I can find a way to host it for free, it will stay online as a reference for anyone who needs it, hopefully for a very long time.
To our Lifetime members
I want to speak directly to our Lifetime members, because I know some of you are wondering what this means for you.
I'll be honest: when I started offering Lifetime memberships, I never imagined a day when Vette Registry wouldn't be here. So I completely understand if this news is disappointing, especially if you became a Lifetime member in the last few years. I don't take that lightly.
Here's what I can tell you:
- Your Lifetime benefits stay fully in place right up to the site's very last day. Nothing gets scaled back before then.
- Your place in Vette Registry history isn't going anywhere. If I'm able to keep the site online as an archive, the Lifetime Members list stays with it, as a permanent thank-you to the people who made this site possible.
Some of you have been Lifetime members for 15 or 20 years, and some for a much shorter time. Either way, your support is a big part of why this site lasted 25 years, and why it gets to end on our own terms with a real farewell instead of just disappearing one day. If you have questions or want to talk about it, please send me a private message. I'd much rather hear from you directly.
A couple of things you may want to do before then
- Swap contact info with your Vette Registry friends. Private messages and member profiles won't be around forever. If there are people here you want to stay in touch with, trade phone numbers or email addresses while you can.
- Save anything that matters to you. Photos you've uploaded, your Registry entries, build threads, that one perfect answer someone gave you years ago. Grab copies for yourself.
- Post! Share a favorite memory, a photo from a past Gathering, or just say hi. Let's make this last year a busy one.
Thank you
To those of you who have been here since the beginning, back when it was just C3VR and my homemade forum software: thank you for sticking with me through every redesign, every outage, and every "new and improved" feature. You built this place.
Special thanks
Two people deserve a thank-you all their own: Jim (Norsky), a member since January 2002, and Joel (Adams' Apple), a member since November 2003. They joined almost at the very beginning, and for more than two decades they've helped me moderate and run this site, mostly behind the scenes where nobody sees it. Keeping the peace in the forums, cleaning up spam, helping members with problems, and covering for me when life got busy. Vette Registry would not have lasted 25 years without them. Jim and Joel, I will be forever grateful.
And a big thank-you to the members at the top of our all-time Top Posters list. Thousands of posts each, thousands of questions answered, and years of keeping the conversation going (ranked by posts per day):
- Adams' Apple (Joel): 22,786 posts
- corvette440hp (Larry): 8,205 posts
- Norsky (Jim): 7,882 posts
- dwright (Dave): 6,854 posts
- lukesvette (Paul): 6,813 posts
- Dejablu (Larry): 6,870 posts
- kstyer (Ken): 6,424 posts
- ebo (Alan): 4,430 posts
- tuxblacray: 5,388 posts
- Jaws79 (Barry): 4,240 posts
The full list is worth a look. It's a who's who of the people who made this place what it is.
To our Lifetime and Gold members: your support literally kept the lights on for all these years. I can't thank you enough.
To everyone who joined more recently: thank you for finding us, for jumping in, and for keeping the conversation going. I'm glad you're here for the final lap.
And to every member who answered a question, posted a photo, registered their car, organized an event, or showed up at a Gathering: you made Vette Registry what it was. Starting this site 25 years ago is one of the best decisions I ever made, and that's because of all of you.
Let's make this last year a good one, and I hope to see you on Route 66.
Adam Wartell
Founder, Vette Registry
Founder, Vette Registry
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P
Thank you for your willingness to provide a space where gear heads and enthusiast could get together and have a heartfelt exchange.
I know the time it takes to run a website, for the user its click. click, click, for the webmaster its hours upon hours.
Again thank you!
Rev Dr Kent aka Preacher
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c
Thanks for doing this all this time!!!
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S
Thank you very much, Adam, for your years of appreciated service in the Corvette community! You should be proud. I hope your next chapter is a great one.
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b
Adam, I haven’t been active since I sold both my Vettes in 2012, but I occasionally stopped by to see what was new. I believe I was one of the first people to join in Nov of 2001. Regardless, thank you for creating Vette Registry and keeping it alive and well for 25 years.
You are right, the internet has changed over these last 2 decades. It is unfortunate that the site will no longer be active, but it’s great you are going to keep it online.
That very first Gathering was a blast. If I can find any pictures from #1 Gathering, I’ll come back and add them to this reply.
Again, THANK YOU, and enjoy yourself, knowing that you provided a great service, a place where strangers became friends, and all the Corvettes at Carlisle get togethers.
Lifetime Member #55
'77 Orange L48 SOLD
'00 Black FRC SOLD 
(click to see a larger version)
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J
Free Member
Send PMJoined: 5/9/2026
Posts: 3
Vette(s): 1993 Ruby Red 50th anniversary convertible,
2004 magnetic Red convertible,
2012 Cyber gray corvette grand sport.
2004 magnetic Red convertible,
2012 Cyber gray corvette grand sport.
I want to personally thank you!. Its time consuming I'm sure, just as leading any group can be a daunting task. I appreciate it for having the chance to be a small part. Good luck to you in future! J.T.
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m
Lifetime Member
Send PMEquinunk, PA - USA
Joined: 10/31/2007
Posts: 2652
Vette(s): 1972 conv, 4-speed, 350, 200hp, numbers match, rally wheels, war bonnett yellow w/white top. good condition, nice driver.
Hello, And what a let down! It's been a Beutiful and Wonderful Ride. As far as I'm concerned, there ain't a better group of people who band together to help each other. I have received a multitude of advice, met and built friendships that will last till I'm cold and horizontal. THANKS to all who have helped me. I just today looked at a contact list from Williamsburg. I trust if a bunch of Friends decide to get together sometime in the future, I'll be available. God Bless each friendship made. May the Son always shine on you and shadows fall behind. Friendship lasts forever, the car made them possible, but they deteriorate. Hope to see ya on the road. Manchestershark -n- Sharkette.
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