'VETTE EVENT SHOW LURES FANS OF AMERICAN CLASSIC.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - Car buffs turned out Sunday not to admire any German precision or Italian extravagance, but to bask in the beauty of what is perhaps the cornerstone of American hot rods, the Corvette.

The eighth annual All Corvette Car Show, held at Courtesy Chevrolet on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, attracted more than 3,000 visitors, some for the vacation raffle and Hula-Hoop contest, but most for the 95 Corvettes on display.

``Look at the grin on my face when the show's over and the top comes down,'' said Tony Ruzicka of Ventura about his 1965 Corvette roadster. ``It makes me feel like I'm 15 again.''

Such sentimentality was evident in the owners but also in some of the visitors who have fond Corvette memories of their own.

David Duncan, 17, stood silent before a 1969 Stingray, its body gleaming a sunlit fire-engine red.

``This is one of my favorites,'' said the Simi Valley resident. ``I like the engine, I like the body style. My dad owned a Corvette, and ever since then I've loved them. I just have to save up a little bit.''

Sponsored in part by local businesses and car-part manufacturers, the event's proceeds - from car entry fees, raffle tickets and a silent auction - all go to local Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs, as they have since the first show.

``It started as a very casual, small show,'' said Bob Gehricke, vice president of the Red Line Corvettes club and a judge at Sunday's show. ``Eight or nine years ago there used to be lots of Corvette shows, but they've dwindled down.

``This one has just gotten better and better.'' He said he hoped this year's event would best last year's fund-raising total of $3,000.

Simi Valley resident Mitch Hedrick fingered some invisible dust from his Nassau blue 1966 Corvette roadster while he recalled his first meeting with the car that he's owned for three years.

``I was reading the classifieds, and it got my heart beating. You get kind of feverish, you know,'' joked the aircraft mechanic. ``I couldn't afford it in high school. It took me 50 years to get it.''

The Corvette craze, however, was not limited to men only.

Ruzicka's girlfriend, Gloria Shapiro, said she loves everything about the car and never tires of passengers from other cars asking questions at red lights.

``There's nothing like it. And the loudness of it. You don't have side exhaust for nothing,'' she said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Like a Space Age manta ray, a 1957 Corvette convertible graces the All Corvette Car Show held Sunday in Thousand Oaks.

(2 -- color) Christine Lozada competes in the Hula-Hoop competition held at Sunday's Corvette car show at Courtesy Chevrolet.

Lilly Barrett/Special to the Daily News