They say creating a bucket list can help you tap into the creative part of you that dreams bigger, nurtures your inner child, and makes life more worthwhile. I don’t know about all of that.
What I do know is that visiting Rick Hendrick’s Heritage Center has been on my bucket list for the better part of a decade. As you know, the Hendrick Heritage Center is home to arguably the finest collection of Corvettes in the United States.
While Rick Hendrick has amassed an enviable personal collection of Corvettes, it’s his assortment of ’67s mid-years that causes jaws to drop. But, unfortunately, something has always got in the way of getting this experience checked off my proverbial list.
So recently, when all the stars finally did align, I jumped at the chance to tag along with the Amazing Corvettes Club (ACC) of Atlanta to see the collection.
Planning & Execution
Whenever you’re planning a multiple-date trip like this one to Hendrick’s Heritage Center, the devil is in the details. Fortunately, the talented team at ACC has been designing and running events like this for years, and it shows.
As event planners will often tell you, one of the keys to success is communication. For this experience, the communication was early, often, and accurate.
With so many moving parts, it’s easy to run off the rails. But that wasn’t going to happen with this club.
As we headed off to Charlotte, you knew every “i” was dotted, and every “t” crossed.
Hendrick Heritage Center
The Hendrick Heritage Center is on the sprawling 140-acre Hendrick Motor Sports campus in Concord, North Carolina. This campus is also the headquarters of Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Motor Sport’s NASCAR racing empire.
The visually daunting 58,000 sq ft Heritage Center is an homage to Rick Hendrick’s passion for classic and high-performance cars. At any given time, the Center houses about 200 of the finest and rarest Corvettes you will ever see under one roof.
Several of these pristine Vettes have a 0001 VIN. For those passionate about America’s Sportscar, it’s difficult to put the depth and breadth of this curated collection into words.
From the moment you walk through the doors, you’re left speechless as your brain races to take it all in.
So, It does not surprise us the mid-engine Corvette with VIN 0001 would wind up in Hendrick’s garage, even at an eye-popping $3 million. The proceeds from the sale went to the Detroit Children’s Fund.
The 2020 Corvette will take its place among other noteworthy Corvettes owned by Hendrick, such as the first 1955, 1956, and 1957 off the assembly line. In 1989 the first Corvette ZR1 rolled out of Bowling Green, and yes, it’s here.
The museum also has King Leopold III of Belgium’s two Corvettes: 1967 and 1971, both in silver. Other noteworthy additions include Roy Orbison’s 1967 black Corvette and former Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz’s 1967 white Corvette.
A Stairway To Heaven For Guitar Lovers
The moment you think you can’t be more impressed with the Heritage Collection, the tour guide directs you up the short stairway to Rick’s man cave.
Eerily, the clear floor panels reveal a lit subfloor with autographed guitars from some of the music industry’s biggest stars just under your feet.
A few years ago, Rolling Stone magazine came out with their top 100 guitars of all-time list. Not surprising that all but perhaps one of the top 10 resides here.
Jimmy Hendrick and Jon Bon Jovi’s guitars are stunningly displayed in a mechanized revolving display alongside 165 other notable autographed guitars. Even Charlie Daniel’s fiddle is here.
A while back, Rick Hendrick sold one of his 1967 Corvettes to the rocker, Sammy Hagar. In return, the Red Rocker gave Hendrick the guitar he played in the “I Can’t Drive 55” video.
Autographed commemorative footballs from every Superbowl have found their way here as well. You literally could spend hours looking over the memorabilia and not see everything.
The Speedway Club Experience
Normally, breaking for lunch would be a letdown after spending the morning at the Hendrick Heritage Center. That wasn’t the case here.
The Speedway Club restaurant overlooking the Charlotte Motor Speedway proved to be the perfect venue for a break in the action. In the Charlotte area, this restaurant is widely regarded as the ultimate dining room with a view.
Lunch was delicious, the hospitality gracious, and the view of the track was panoramic.
The facility provided an elegant, yet approachable atmosphere that everyone felt at home in. The towering wall of windows gave unobstructed views out over the NASCAR-approved 1.5-mile quad-oval track.
The 2,000 acres complex also features the state-of-the-art ZMAX Dragway. This NHRA quarter-mile drag racing strip is the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States.
Alongside the drag strip is a clay oval that hosts dirt racing including the World of Outlaws finals among other popular racing events.
Great Experience
If you’ve ever thought about touring the Rick Hendrick Heritage Center, by all means, do it. So many have tried to describe to me the excitement of walking through the museum doors.
Their descriptions pale in comparison to experiencing it for yourself. Photos and videos, unfortunately, don’t convey the palatable gravitas of this exceptional collection.
It was fun to check this highly-anticipated bucket list item off the list, especially with the Amazing Corvettes Club of Atlanta members.
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