Kimberly V. Althage – June 16, 2022
Daniela and Russell are both avid car enthusiasts. One of the cars they have is a 58 Plymouth Fury and she just loves that car. It’s a land yacht. She always wanted to have something fun, and they often cruise around and visit Gateway’s Houston Showroom frequently because they live in the area.
Daniela would on occasion give Russell some ideas of what she would like as her fun car. He listened and paid attention to her meandering thoughts. First, she wanted a little Mercedes, then she changed course and told him she really liked Corvettes. They looked at a few Vettes but she didn’t like their color, she wanted red. This is when Russell started his mission to find his wife a red Corvette.
Recently Russell had to travel to Denver for work. His client was not far from Gateway’s Denver showroom, so he thought he might as well stop and look. As he sat on the tarmac in the plane before liftoff, he called Scott, the Sales Consultant at the Denver showroom to let him know he would be arriving later in the day.
“Super nice guy, Scott,” Russell reflected.
Russell walked in the door a little jet lagged and before he could recall his name, Scott saw him and immediately said, “You’re the guy from Texas, right?” Russell said he was and Scott invited him to sit and discuss what he wanted to find.
Russell said, “But don’t you have somebody?”
Scott immediately responded, “No – you flew in, let’s talk.”
They walked the whole showroom floor together. Russell looked at the Vettes in the showroom. There he saw a white one, but it didn’t strike him. Then he saw two side by side – one black and the other red. The black one had already found a new home.
However, the red Vette had not yet been entered into the system. As Scott described, “We haven’t done pictures, we haven’t done squat, we’ve only had it for two days.”
Russell told him to “fire it up.” It started right up, and Scott went through everything. It looked good and sounded great. After a little discussion Russell decided to proceed. “Let’s do it, let’s do the deal,” he told Scott.
Russell left to visit his client in the area. He completed all the Gateway paperwork while he was on the airplane on his way back home to Texas. The Corvette was transported directly to his house just a week and a day later.
Daniela’s parents were also assisting in the search for a red Corvette, yet she had no idea any of this was happening. Russell messaged her father to let him know he found something. Her dad asked for a picture, then he told Russell he could not find it anywhere on Gateway’s website. Russell told him not to worry about it because he had already bought the car.
“You did WHAT?!”
Russell reassured, yes, it is already bought and paid for and supposed to be on the transport on Monday. Upon which his father-in-law asked Russell if Daniela knew. “She has absolutely NO clue,” he told him.
Now Russell is feverishly on the phone that night. Daniela looks at him confused and asks, “What are you doing, you’re not supposed to be working!”
Russell tries to play it off, telling her he was looking for stuff for the house. He had several windows open on his laptop for when she would lean over and nose in to see what he was doing. He wasn’t quick enough one time, because she asked him if he was looking at cars.
“No, no, no baby,” he told her. “I’m looking at rugs for the house.”
He had Amazon, Gateway Classic Cars, and a vehicle transporter all open at the same time. He would flip from one tab to the next in attempt to hide what he was truly doing. Daniela still had no idea.
The following Thursday, Russell shortened his work day so he could meet the transporter. This puzzled Daniela and she asked him why he was home so early. He told her his day had wrapped up and he thought he would just head home.
Russell changed clothes and went to Daniela’s home office where she was working to inform her, he just got a call. Russell told her the delivery van was lost. Which was true, for they took a left when should have turned right. Russell asked her to help drive down the street and give him a hand loading the rug he bought into the back of their truck.
“What kind of rug did you buy?” she asked him. Russell describes Daniela as five foot nothing, and too petite to be of any real assistance. Once they get to the box truck trailer, she is even more puzzled, asking “What kind of rug needs a trailer like that?”
Russell again plays it off, telling her he doesn’t know but that perhaps they had a lot of deliveries. Doubling down he tells her “Amazon is a little different these days.”
This is when the transporter gets out of the truck and greets them. He was in on the surprise thankfully. The transporter turned to Daniela and told her, “I think you want to see” as he opened the side of the trailer unveiling a cherry red Corvette.
“What the heck is that?” she exclaimed. It certainly wasn’t a rug.
“Wait a minute,” then she looked at Russell and asked him, “Did you do this?!” Then she asked if anyone else knew.
Russell confessed her dad did and was about to explode from keeping the secret. This is when it begins to settle in her mind that all this was real. Standing in the middle of the street in her house slippers, Daniela exclaiming with such excitement that the neighbors came out to see what was happening.
The whole neighborhood was excited for her. As the crowd settled, Russell asked her if she wanted to drive his truck back to the house and he would take it to their home. Without batting an eye, she tells him, “NO – no, no, no, you’re not touching it,” she asserted.
Russell completed the transporter’s paperwork. Before he was even finished, Daniela was already hot footing her Vette. She drove around the neighborhood in twenty minutes.
Daniela returns home and immediately changes declaring, “We are going to dinner!”
Russell teases, asking if they were taking the Corvette. “You’re damn right we are!” she countered.
They head to one of their favorite spots, a little Italian place around the corner from their neighborhood. The other regulars and those who work there all know them, so when she pulled up the owner walked out of the restaurant. “Daniela, what is this?” he inquired.
Daniela declared, “It’s mine and no one is allowed to touch it.”
The restaurant owner then asked when she planned to get matching shoes and nail polish. That’s when Daniela showed him her manicure from earlier in the day that already matched her new car’s color perfectly. She had NO clue, but somehow had just the perfect color pairing.
Russell explains he often finds her visiting her baby in the garage at night. She will just sit in the driver’s seat thinking about her next drive. She told him, “I can’t wait to go for more cruises when it cools off some more.”
Daniela’s parents are making a trip to their house for Father’s Day this weekend. Her dad asked if he could drive it. No surprise, Daniela told him, “Absolutely not.”
Russell confessed he doesn’t even know where she’s hidden the keys. He asked if he could move the car so to easily get something he needed out of the garage. Daniela denied his request, telling him she would do so because he cannot touch it.
The Corvette was in truth a wedding gift. Russell told her when they got engaged, he would get her a car. He just could never find one that was right. Until now.
Russel continued, “This car we bought is phenomenal. It is a get-in-and-go and that is exactly what I was looking for, nothing that was worrisome. Daniela knows what she likes, but outside of her appreciation of the cars themselves or their history, she doesn’t know much more. She would not know how to repair, or what might need to be fixed if repairs were needed. That is why it had to be completely turnkey ready, and it was.”
Russell went on to explain how Gateway was the easiest and most delightful experience he has ever had. “I cannot say enough nice things about Scott and Marcus,” he continued. He said this was the second vehicle he has purchased from us. The other was a 1978 Chevrolet K10 4×4 he purchased in 2018.
Russell explained how amazing his Gateway Classic Cars experiences have been. “Everything was straight up, very honest and forthcoming.” He continued, “I ask a million questions, and if they didn’t know they found out. They are bar none and spent the time and attention exceeding any expectations I had each time.”
Are you looking to begin your own collection, or add to the classics you have? Gateway Classic Cars sells and consigns hundreds of vehicles each month. Or do you have a classic car for sale with a story to tell? We’d love to hear about it, please email us at news@gatewayclassiccars.com.
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