Erik thought his Corvette Z06 sounded too civilized and installed an Akrapovic

Before that happens, however, many cars will pass in review in Erik’s life. In the 48 consecutive years he has owned about thirty of them and is slowly but steadily climbing the ladder. “I bought cars at a young age and made some improvements to them and then resold them for a modest profit. This way I always collected some extra finances for the next purchase.”

Step by step towards an increasingly faster car

How did Erik start? “My first car was also the least spectacular: an Opel Corsa TR. Do you remember that one? It was the counterpart of the Volkswagen Derby, the two-door sedan version of the first Corsa model, straight forward, no nonsense. He always did it, but as a young boy with a driver’s license, he was of course much too slow and, above all, much too level-headed. After buying a few Kadetts E and some Astras I ended up with the Suzuki Swift, the SA 310. It met my needs for a smoother ride. It weighed only 600 kilos and had a furious engine under the hood. I enjoyed that a lot, but I was still thinking about a successor.”

Had a Mitsubishi 3000 GT

A sharp bend upwards is visible in the slowly rising line. Erik decides to go for a Mitsubishi 3000 GT. “The 3000 GT VR4 had all the features that a car should have: enormous power, four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering, very Japanese technology in an unusual form. Really something for me. Unfortunately, it also had a weak Getrag six-speed gearbox, the Achilles heel of this model. I couldn’t get the box repaired or get another one, so it had to go. A Peugeot 406 took its place.”

That was a bit back to square one. “Just for a moment,” the government official smiles. “With a Subaru Impreza GTT I was back on track. That was also a car after my own heart, again four-wheel drive and a turbo, but also weak brakes, something these cars are known for. They are also sensitive to rust.”

MX-5, 911 and then a Corvette C5

Don’t think that the Corvette has now faded into the background in Erik’s mind. “I drove my daily kilometers with the Mazda MX-5 that I had since purchased, followed by a Porsche 911 SC Targa. I realized that with that 911 I was close to purchasing a Corvette. A wonderful car, the 911, but the Corvette kept nagging in my head. And now there is a Corvette literally around the corner, a red C5. Although it had some minor leaks in the engine, it was good enough for me. I enjoyed that for about a year and a half. A wonderful car and fast enough. I thought …”

On to Wezep: Corvette paradise in the Netherlands

However, Erik belongs to the category for whom it is never finished. Then he is ‘lucky’ that the Corvette Pope André Boer is in our country. A few years ago, a whole museum was built in Wezep, Gelderland, where they are all displayed, from the first from 1953 to the most recent. You will find almost all types in the intervening seventy years there. In Corvette land, Boer is the expert. It should therefore come as no surprise that Erik came across a Z06 in Machine Silver with Ebony/Red interior in Wezep, his dream Corvette. “The Z06 is my favorite. It has a seven-liter V8 that delivers 530 hp without a compressor or turbo. In addition, it puts a torque of 700 newton meters on the rear wheels and has a six-speed gearbox and a very heavy clutch instead of the usual automatic transmission. Really something for men like me, haha. Because the Z06 engine is known for incorrectly drilled valves and quickly wearing rocker arm bearings, we immediately had a ‘wiggle test’ carried out. The test showed that everything was fine. The Z06 ran and runs like a charm. Boer was willing to trade in my Corvette, so the sale was completed.”

Audible V8

Erik’s Z06 is virtually original and he plans to keep it that way. Still, the car wasn’t loud enough for him. “The standard exhaust makes a nice sound, but too civilized for me,” he says. We take it easy on the road with the Chevrolet, on the one hand to give the engine time to warm up – the oil temperature is 17 degrees below room temperature – and on the other hand because we have to take the many speed bumps at a walking pace. The Z06 is so close to the road that it remains under the radar, just like a stealth aircraft. Figuratively then. However, every threshold is accompanied by a loud scraping sound from that poor front spoiler. Erik continues his explanation: “I want a car with an audible V8, so when the opportunity arose to purchase an exhaust from Akrapovic for a relatively low price, I didn’t think twice. This dark sound that is so present sounds like music to my ears.”

Cyclists can hear him coming clearly.

AMG on the horizon

Is this Corvette a keeper? “He ticks all the boxes that I find important in a car,” says Erik. “It is extremely fast, stunningly beautiful, agile, exclusive and has that beautiful naturally aspirated V8. However, another car is looming on the horizon, something with AMG,” he admits. Until then, Erik drives at least an hour every week to keep the Corvette agile. “Because standing still means going backwards.”