When I made the first upload of the 1959 Corvette Registry website onto the Internet, way back on October 14, 2003, I kicked it off with a mere handful of cars that I'd found details of online. And when I say "handful", we're talking less than 50. I've been an internet junkie since the earliest moment I could get logged onto it, going back to the early 90's.. As a result, I naturally jumped in with both feet, combing every Vette-related site to see just how many cars from '59 were still floating around. My Father and I always laugh about that time because back then, the hope of hitting the "3-digit" mark on '59 Corvettes and their owners seemed like it was going to be a real achievement.

Fellow '59 owner and member of the NCRS, Tom Bryant, was a huge help when he led me to a 'little' thing (using the term VERY loosely) called the NCRS Driveline: a compendium of info on cars and parts for sale, along with a slew of other details. I remember signing up for the magazine and scanning through multiple ads, looking for any ads that referred to anything on '59 Corvettes: cars for sale, info wanted, services wanted, parts for sale, you name it. I'd also bought a slew of older copies in order to find as many cars as I could, since at that particular time I'd basically exhausted every possible online search I could think of. The issues I'd acquired went back to the late 80's- early 90's, and that's when I started to see a recurring ad that I'd never seen before:

Wanted: Owners of 1959 Corvettes, send SASE
for survey form, Robert Cook, Sutton, MA 01590

When I saw it popping up multiple times across issues from different years, it hit me that there might be a completely untapped well of '59 Vette information eluding me- I became determined to find out who this Robert Cook guy was, and if he even existed anymore. There was no doubt that once the data he'd acquired to date was coupled with what was already in the Registry, there was going to be a pretty large database of info on '59 Corvette owners!

If I remember correctly, I first called the phone # listed in the old Drivelines, and the only change that had been made was to the area code- I got an answering machine referencing the Cook residence, so I was immediately optimistic. I left a message with my name and why I was calling, and upon leaving the message was anxious to see how long it would be before I would hear back… The timeframe was in the Fall of 2006- Sadly, a few weeks passed and I didn't receive a response. In hopes that maybe it was now the childrens' home, I sent a follow-up letter to the address listed in the old Driveline ad. I'd hoped that it might be received and processed in the same fashion as whatever else had gone to that PO Box prior- but unfortunately, I never received a reply to the letter. I feared the worst possible explanation, as to why no communication had returned to me: maybe Mr. Cook was no longer among us. I wasn't so much disappointed personally that I hadn't heard back- my disappointment was that all of this man's hard work, a man whom I'd never met but shared a personal goal of mine, had moved on beyond this life and all of his research lost.

I continued on, updating the '59 Registry Website with other finds that I continued to locate: at shows, referred to me by other Registry members, etc. The site's listings continued to grow, but the rate of acceleration was definitely slowing up a bit- I'd wondered if in my own personal research work, if maybe I'd already located those cars that Mr. Cook had catalogued, and surpassed his original list. Either that or the other conclusion I'd derived, were the only reasons I could think of that I hadn't heard back. Then, suddenly in the Spring of 2007, I received an email from none other than….. Robert Cook! He mentioned that he'd gotten wind of the site, and wanted to know if I might be interested in the information that he'd acquired over the years. I was ecstatic and told him I was very glad he was interested in sharing his finds. He has since forwarded me all of his research from the past 25 years, and I am proud to say that I am already in the process of adding his information into the contents of the 1959 Corvette Registry website. To anyone who reviews this site and its contents, I can't stress how significant Mr. Cook's contribution to this Registry really is. If you have a free moment, please be sure to send an email to Mr. Cook and thank him for his input to both this site and to the hobby overall- he has obviously interacted with many other 1959 Corvette owners out there, and his efforts should be regarded as an incredible feat in preserving the history of the 1959 Corvette. Bob, from all of us fellow Vette enthusiasts:

THANK YOU!!!