Which Chapter of the NCRS was the first ever formed is a subject of some debate but we believe it was the Florida Chapter! With the help of documentation preserved by the first president of the Florida Chapter and another member’s complete collection of the NCRS Corvette Restorer and Vette Vues magazines, We have been able to document our beginnings. NCRS member #76, Bill Locke has also contributed information about the formation of the South Florida Corvette Club which became the first NCRS chapter formed.
In the fall of 1976, a group of Corvette owners in South Florida formed a local club and adopted the name, South Florida Corvette Club, which included Bill Locke, Al Jennings Charlie Williams, Jim Davenport, John Clayton, and Jay McKay
As documented in Volume 41, No. 1 of the Corvette Restorer, 40th Anniversary edition, paragraph 3, by April 19, 1977, NCRS exceeded 2000 active members nationally: something needed to be done and apparently it happened quite soon.
In the fall, 1977 edition of the Corvette Restorer, editor John Amgwert announced on page 1:
“First NCRS Chapter is formed. The NCRS Directors are happy to announce the forming of a pilot chapter, tentatively named the South Florida Chapter NCRS. There are already 32 members in the chapter and the Board will be working with them closely in the ensuing months to develop a chapter policy and charter as well as encouraging the formation of other chapters.”
Shortly thereafter, the NCRS Florida Chapter Charter and Bylaws were written and the chapter was incorporated with the State of Florida. The Florida Charter and Bylaws served as the blueprint for many chapters that would be formed in the years that followed.