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General Cody’s Special Delivery: A Vette Fit for a Vet
February 17, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Editor’s note: You might remember Chevy Communications’ Adam Denison, who wrote about Virgil Coffman, the 101-year-old Camaro owner, on Faces of GM. Today, Adam shares a story about another great Corvette customer: Richard Cody.
Richard Cody, former U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff General, just took delivery of his 10th Chevy Corvette, but instead of driving the 2010 Torch Red Grand Sport Convertible off a dealership lot, he recently picked it up at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky.
The idea to watch his car being built came to Cody from GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who suggested it would enrich Cody’s ownership experience. Cody made it a family affair, bringing along his son, Major Clint Cody, just back from Iraq where he was an Army Apache helicopter pilot; and his brother, Bob Cody, a Chevrolet dealer in Montpelier, Vt.
Retired 4-star General Richard Cody @ the Corvette Museum & plant to get his new Corvette, with his son, Major Clint Cody and his brother, Bob Cody, owner of Cody Chevrolet.
Each year, 400-500 Corvette customers get up close and personal with the build process, visiting the plant and museum to soak in the Corvette culture.
“It was more than I expected,” Richard Cody said. “I really came here thinking I would see how the Corvette was made. Certainly the experience of watching Corvettes come down the line, the complexity as well as the orchestration of that assembly line was very, very unique.
“But what really impressed me the most was the American worker, the GM worker in the plant taking great pride every day in putting out what I think is the best sports car in the world.”
The retired general made sure the workers knew how he felt, stopping along the assembly line to greet them and thank them personally for helping bring his car to life before picking up his car at the museum located across Interstate 65 from the plant.
“All of our deliveries are special,” said Gary Cockriel, delivery manager for the museum. “To have the general here and him being a Corvette guy, to us Corvette owners is really special.”
The general said he bought his first Corvette, a 1973 model, when he graduated from West Point.
Click here to learn more about the Corvette Museum Delivery option
