While the cars don't come with a warning label, the owners do offer a verbal disclaimer.

"I'd be happy to give you a ride, but I gotta tell ya, most people that sit in them end up buying one," Tom Reeder says as he offers a ride in his 2003 fire engine red Chevy Corvette Z06 (one of three 'vettes he owns) with the performance driving package, black leather on the inside and a guarantee from Chevy that it can hit 170 mph.

Five minutes later, Reeder is driving in the low-90s on Interstate 25, offering a little bit of what got him into his first Corvette in 1964. Ninety-five miles per hour, less than 2,000 rpms, and an open road.

Not a cloud in the sky, a cop on the highway or a worry in the world.

Across town, Steve and Cheryl Wallace get ready to go home from their jobs at Sutherlands and go to look at another Corvette. It would be their third - though they have only their 2001 millennium yellow convertible in the garage now.

"Some people dream of $200,000 Ferrari's or BMW's, this has always been what we wanted," Steve says. "You always tell yourself that someday I'm going to have one of those. Now I've got one."

"It is the great American car," Cheryl contributes.

The great American car will be featured this Labor Day weekend in Casper, as the Central Wyoming Corvette Roundup comes to town, Sept. 3-5. Reeder said in addition to trying to bring the Corvettes to town, the CWCC also wanted to help the community by bringing an event to Casper over Labor Day weekend, a time when the town typically packs up and heads to Alcova.

Organizers of the event were aiming for 60 Corvettes the first year. As of Thursday, Reeder said 64 cars had already made reservations for the event.

The event, which is the regional event for the Rocky Mountain area, is sanctioned through the National Council of Corvette Clubs. In previous years the Rocky Mountain Region car shows have been in Las Vegas, Denver, Longmont, Colo., and Douglas. Reeder said the governors of the NCCC clubs voted for the event to be in Casper for a two-year stint, a compliment considering the event is generally awarded on a one-year basis.

"This is a big event for a club of our size to put together," Steve Wallace said. "But the National Council of Corvette Clubs has been a lot of help. They have brought in teams from other chapters that have done this before to help us set up events."

Saturday, Sept. 4, will feature a car show at Fort Caspar and a Poker Run for the contestants.

Sunday will see an autocross course set up at the Events Center parking lot. The autocross course is a miniature road racing course, however due to insurance.reasons the cars will be limited to 70 miles per hour, but Reeder said hairpin curves and s-curves will be featured on the course. It is a scaled-down course, as Reeder said if the road course were full-sized the cars could easily hit 140 miles per hour.

Funkhana will start around 1 p.m. and feature a team of one driver and one navigator. The teams will have to work their way to certain areas and perform tasks at different stations. Reeder said in one instance drivers may be blindfolded, forcing navigators to get the drivers around the course.

Despite investing up to $50,000 on a car, Reeder said the Corvette owners have little issue with driving them in autocross or Funkhana events such as these.

"Corvette owners believe those cars were made to drive," Reeder said. "It you have a show car, people might not be apt to put something out like that, but 95 percent bought them to drive."

Reeder also points out the Central Wyoming Corvette Club meets the second Thursday of each month at the Parkway Plaza, starting at 7 p.m. Any 'vette owner - or perspective owner - is welcome and the meetings are held in the Gourmet Room in the Plaza. Dues to join the CWCC are $50 per year for the first year and $40 each year afterwards.

Reporter Tom Lacock can be reached at (307) 266-0558 or at thomas.lacock@casperstartribune.net.