The question is often asked, "How did Vette Vues begin?"

The year was 1972.  James Prather had moved from California to Atlanta, Georgia.  He was given an old (pre-1930) hand-cranked mimeograph machine and tells, "As a devoted and long time reader of Hemmings Motor News, I thought there should be something similar for Corvette owners.

He sent out letters with his new idea to all the Corvette clubs that were listed in the latest issue of Corvette News (no longer published).  "I remember sitting at the post office one Sunday morning (this was the job he held) in April and wondered if I was doing the right thing, or just wasting $22.00 in postage and all the cost for envelopes and labels."

The response was great and the first issue was published in June of 1972.  The first six issues were published on various mimeograph machines and printed in Mr. Prather's basement.  By December the magazine was sent to a professional printer and began to look more like a magazine than a newsletter.  It began growing with each and every month.  Mr. Prather continued his job at the post office until early 1976 when he finally decided to leave it and run the magazine full time.

The early issues were full of classified ads for Corvettes only.  There were ads for cars, parts, literature and related material in each issue from people across the entire country.  It is interesting to see the prices from the first issue of Vette Vues.   An example is a 1967 convertible for only $3200.  If one only new what these cars would be worth!  Today this classified section still continues.

As the magazine continued to develop, the Corvette hobby began to develop as well.  Commercial companies began to start up as people started to restore their Corvettes.  Along with that began the commercial Corvette advertisers many who still advertise in the magazine.

There was also now a need for how-to and tech articles.  Corvette Racing was of great interest to the enthusiast and Vette Vues began to regularly keep the Corvette owners abreast of Corvette's many heroic achievements on the racetrack.

Clubs were started across the country and would hold events which were and still are covered today. Commercial events began to spring up and were covered; Bloomington Gold, Bob McDorman Corvette Show, Corvette Expo (Knoxville), Chevy/Vettefest, Corvette Chevy Expo (Houston), Pomona, Corvette Carlisle.  Many of these same events now have attendance in the thousands, full of Corvette enthusiasts from across the globe.

Among the Corvette enthusiasts another hobby began, the collecting of Corvette models. There are two columns each month that cover these valuable miniature cars. 

In May 1997 Mr. Prather retired and sold the magazine to its current owners, William and Bonnie Wolf and it was moved to Orange City, Florida.

One of the first changes made, was to publish the magazine on computer versus paste-up and film.  In 2000 the magazine was converted to computer to plate.  The issue is sent to the press on CD and is printed directly from the CD.   

Vette Vues Magazine continues to be a leading advocate of the Corvette market and continues in its passion about the Corvette hobby.

Presently the magazine is 160+ pages each month and features current Corvette events, from club shows, to commercial Corvette events, Corvette Auctions, and many different Corvette race teams.  There are tech articles in each issue including the service bulletins that were sent to the dealerships. There are feature cars, classified ads, and a calendar of events, Corvette collector model cars, Corvette history and profiles of Corvette celebrities.  The hobby has continued to change over the years and Vette Vues has been there right on through.... never having missed a month in its 35 years of publication.

With the August 2007 issue, Vette Vues Magazine celebrated its 35^th anniversary.  Volume 36, Issue 1 made our 421^st issue published.  Vette Vues has a proud history of uninterrupted monthly publication - an unmatched record among Corvette magazines. 

To help mark this historic occasion, in August 2007, Vette Vues Magazine came out with a 480 page Best of Vette Vues 35^th anniversary collector edition.  We hope you'll enjoy it, as we did, as we put it together.

   

Left: Jim Prather (right) and long time friend and 
Associate Editor of Vette Vues Bill Locke (left) at 
Christmas 2006 posing with Jim's Grand Sport replica.

 

 

Left to right: Bonnie Wolf, Bill Wolf, 
Bob McDorman, Alice McDorman. 
September at the Bob McDorman Corvette Classic, 
we picked up our new 2007 Corvette 
(right off the transport truck).  
This was our second Corvette we bought 
new from Bob McDorman.

Left: Our 2001 Corvette.