[GALLERY] Bloomington Gold Migrates South for their Winter Kissimmee Meet

Photo Credits: Steve Burns

The Bloomington Gold Corvette show has been a June staple for over 50 years. In recent years they’ve added smaller regional meets in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas, Texas, and Kissimmee, Florida. If you can’t make it to Illinois in the summer, they’ll bring the show to you!

The Kissimmee, Florida event was born a few years ago as a means to connect with the myriad of Corvette owners in the southeast and Sunshine State. Held each year at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Kissimmee, the event hosts 25-30 cars for Survivor, Gold, and Benchmark judging. It’s diet version of the Granddaddy of Corvette shows when the weather up north is less than ideal.

Judging takes place over a 2-day window and the show concludes with a Corvette Day meetup at the nearby Mecum Kissimmee auction. There, attendees can drink up the world’s largest collector car auction with its 4,600 cars featuring nearly 500 Corvettes.

This year we made the southward trek from our snow-covered Detroit Bureau headquarters to check out Bloomington Kissimmee and enjoy temps above the freezing mark.

A total of 34 cars were presented for judging this year representing the Mount Rushmore of our hobby. What the January meet lacks in size, it makes up with quality of the cars. Notable cars shown included a rare 1971 ZR1 coupe, a Corvette Bronze 1968 L88 coupe, a 1972 LT1 convertible with air conditioning, and a uniquely optioned black 350hp 1969 side pipe coupe. The earlier generations checked in with split window coupes, 1967 big blocks, and multiple C1 fuelies. C4’s and C5’s joined in the fun as well. Exactly what you’d expect to find a Bloomington Gold show.

The setup in Kissimmee is unique. The cars are judged in groups in front of the hotel. As one car finishes up it moves out and another emerges to take its place. That creates a nice opportunity to see and hear the cars in motion instead just sitting in place.

We spent some time at the show on the bright and sunny Thursday. While we did catch some great cars, we know we missed several others given the rotational schedule. Still, we had a great time catching up with friends both old and new at a nice laid-back event. If you’re in Florida in early January, we suggest making a stop at Bloomington Gold Kissimmee. Here’s a look at some of the great Corvettes in attendance this year.

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Photos by Steve Burns

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