Hi! Hi! Welcome to Gma and Gpa Adventures!
And today we're at Mid America Motorworks for the start of the Corvette
Fun Fest 2019! And we're gonna start it off by going to the MY Garage Museum
that's here onsite. And what else is it, Donna? And the gift shop! The gift
shop. Let's go see! All right!
Admission to the museum and retail store is free but
you can make a donation and the proceeds go to st. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
So we're inside. And this part over here is the gift shop. And in this
room are some really unique vehicles. Starting with these small ones. The pedal
cars. Corvette bicycle.
And right down the middle is a row of engines. And all these cars.
I'm gonna start here with a Corvette GTP Number 52. It's one of only seven
produced for General Motors. This was built to compete in the International
Motorsports Series so this was a race vehicle.
And there we've got a mechanic underneath.
That's cool!
There's not much space.
There's the interior. I don't know how long I could ride in a car like that.
And no air conditioning.
Rough conditions in a race, isn't it. Yes. That's pretty neat though. Thank you!
It's a Hendrick Motorsports.
That's the engine for this GTP here. 700-plus horsepower.
There's a phase one prototype LT5 engine from the mid 80's.
Phase Two
prototype LT5 engine.
And this one's still in the crate.
There's a chair commemorating Mike Yager's Hall of Fame induction in 2018 in the
National Corvette Museum.
2005 C6 EX Z06.
And this is the first Z06 ever built at the Bowling Green assembly plant on
February 4th, 2005.
This is a 1999 C5-R Boxcar. Just a few these chassis were made. And they
were meant to be turned into race cars. This is chassis 003, in its
original form.
So you could buy one of these and convert it into a Corvette race car.
This is a 1975 Cosworth twin-cam.
Some axle assemblies.
All kinds of
interesting stuff in here.
A Corvette pinball machine.
Corvette table and chairs.
That's pretitty cool isn't it, Donna!
I bet he had these custom made, what do you think? Could be.
And this this set up is a 1949 Art Deco bar. It was purchased by Mike Yager's
father, Ray.
And they operated the Royal Tavern.
Original door from their bar.
And there's the Corvette Bible that was authored by Mike Yager.
And Mike is a
fan of music and guitars and you'll see several of those on display too.
Here's a 1996 Corvette Grand Sport.
1000 were built: 810 coupes and 190 convertibles.
There's an autographed guitar from Funfest 2015.
This guy looks like he's
having a good time. Except for maybe losing his left hand.
But it's not really lost, it's down there in the glove.
A 1997 C5 Corvette beta build.
This is the 1993/7 CERV - IVb.
It's the official name of the test vehicle that
General Motors Corvette secretly contracted to build as a test car for
the 1997 Corvette.
They developed the CERV-4 in ninety days in early '93.
This is the 1989 ZR-1 prototype.
This is one of the six prototypes that still exists today.
This one's fully restored.
Looks like a guy under there still working on it.
And the cars in the museum can vary. They change them just to have different ones
here on display.
There are a few that are permanent exhibits, but you might see a
different bunch of vehicles every time you come.
There's lots of really cool
Corvette merchandise here.
Mid America Motorworks sells parts for Corvettes and
also air-cooled Volkswagens.
So you'll find all kinds of merchandise in here.
And I like this table that's made out of an engine there. I'd like one of those in my house.
And there's lots of Corvette branded apparel. Leather jackets for men
and women. T-shirts.
And Corvette tables.
The interior of the museum is very cool.
This looks like storefronts.
There's the old Heart Theater which is in town here.
Mike's Miniatures.
Yager Royal Tavern.
And Mike Yager is the founder and owner
of Mid America Motorworks.
Looks like a record shop.
There's a lot of old signs
and memorabilia.
There's some Schwinn Corvette bicycles up there.
And toys.
You're gonna find basically anything to do with Corvettes in here.
This is just a Corvette owners paradise.
What are you finding, Donna? They even sell fanny packs...look.
Because there's lots of ladies that own Corvettes too. Oh yeah.
it's not just a man's world.
I think there's even a seminar here sometime
about women who do own Corvettes and drive Vets.
See, that's marketing to women.
Pink and it's real glittery.
Corvettes are for everybody, right!
Good prices in here really.
And over here there's even some seats that you can buy.
It's a 1963-67 Corvette loveseat.
$3500.
The lights work and everything.
You can even buy Christmas stockings with the Corvette symbol.
That's cool, only $6.99 for a holiday stocking.
Here's some very cool Corvette prints with animals on them. Those are awesome.
These are done by Elizabeth Betsy Yager. Mike Yager's daughter-in-law. Those are really
cool.
And here's a 50th anniversary chair and ottoman set. Corvette. There's the logo.
$1200 for the set.
There's even a set of Champagne glasses.
They say Stingray on them.
There's some Volkswagen merchandise back here.
And a couple of bugs.
This is a modified street racer Herbie the Lovebug,
Number 53.
That is the actual movie car from Herbie Fully Loaded that Lindsay Lohan rode in.
Okay! I don't like Lindsay Lohan though. Right - I like the car.
There's some more
prints by Elizabeth Yager of the VW's.
This is the Corvette weekend, but they
also do an event for VW's.
Did you know that Herbie the Lovebug was 50 years old?
He's even younger than me!
So they probably had this made for the event.
When the Volkswagens were in town.
They're $10 each.
There's a 1977 Super Beetle convertible.
That's a nice little car.
Complete with a suitcase.
And here's an old Herbie coin-operated ride that's
actually for sale. $8,500.
And this is the chassis of a 1949 Volkswagen. That's cool
to get to see it uncovered.
Here's a Volkswagen engine on display.
There's just so much to look at here in the museum and the retail store.
So what did you think Donna? Oh my gosh!
There's like everything in the world in there! Yeah!
There's like hats, and shirts, and there's pins. There's wine glasses and champagne glasses.
You just have to go. Chairs. Everything. And just all the decorations
are cool.
And the cars were amazing that are there on display. He has quite a
collection. Yes.
And just the people that work in there were really nice and
helpful and informative.
So we definitely recommend that you come to Mid America
Motorworks in Effingham, Illinois.
And go to the MY Garage Museum and Retail Store.
This weekend in particular because they have a lot of memorabilia out that maybe
they don't have on other weekends.
But we're going on to the drag strip this
afternoon. Can't wait for that. You can actually sign up to drag race your
Corvette when you're at the Funfest. Thanks for watching!
Bye!