1974 red Corvette a big part of family tradition

Three generations of Noffsingers are linked to sports car and its memories.

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Jeff Noffsinger’s 1974 red Corvette might have nearly 200,000 miles on it, but the memories it holds can’t be measured by a speedometer.

On the July 4 weekend in 1974, 9-year-old Jeff and his father, Raulf Noffsinger, drove the Corvette from Charleston, W.Va. to Albuquerque, N.M. It was the first big trip for the Corvette, which had just been purchased a few months earlier on Valentine’s Day.

“Having your dad get a Corvette and then taking a trip with him across the country was a big deal,” Jeff said.

The cross-county trip was such a big deal to Jeff, that when Raulf recently decided to pass down the Corvette to him, he knew he wanted to take the same trip with his son, Jared.

“It was an opportunity to recreate the same thing,” Jeff said.

Raulf met Jeff and Jared in Denver, who then drove the Corvette back home to West Chester Twp.

Jeff and Jared took three days driving the Corvette home, stopping at museums and college visits for Jared, who is 15.

“It was three days of us just hanging out together,” Jeff said. “And that’s tough in today’s day and age.”

Jeff said his goal is to eventually pass down the car to Jared, who has already taken his first lesson driving the stick shift.

Keeping the Corvette, and possibly even future cars, in the family is important to the Noffsingers.

“It was slightly hard to hand it over,” Raulf said. “But it was the right thing to do. Plus, I bought myself a ’09 Corvette.”

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