One thing about living in Florida: There is no shortage of high-quality things to do with your car. Yesterday was the annual Winefest at the Phillippi State Park in Sarasota and the group I belong to, the Sarasota Cafe Racers, was out in force. It was the debut show for Project Homewrecker, Super Chevy's '72 LT-1 Corvette that we rebuilt with help from Mid America Motorworks a couple of years ago. We had Corvettes of every generation and the '68 Camaro that's next to me, as well as older classics from Buick, Cadillac, Ferrari and Bentley.

It felt good to be finally piling up the miles in the Vette. Most of the mechanical gremlins have been exorcised, naturally to be replaced by a couple of new ones we need to address. But the Vintage Air system kept me cool, the 383 under the hood purred like a kitten and I got about a half-dozen thumbs up and nods on the way there. Gas mileage was nothing to write home about, but with an average speed of about 75 there and 80 on the way home, I guess I can't complain.