Robert Tomczak of Wauconda, Illinois, was possibly the first person to buy a Corvette Challenge car as an investment. "I actually bought my 1989 Challenge car before the last race of the season at St. Petersburg. I knew the race would be hard on equipment so I withdrew the car from the race." A few years later he also bought a 1988 Challenge car. Being the first to invest in a Challenge car, Tomczak was also a pioneer in other ways. "When I took my ’89 Challenge car to Bloomington Gold for certification, the judges were in a panic." The Challenge cars are factory-built racecars, so his car met the definition of "factory original" that Gold certification is all about, but there was no judging criterion for these cars. Tomczak assisted in creating a judging criteria and has worked as a Bloomington Gold judge. High profile Corvette collectors like Chip Miller of Corvettes @ Carlisle and Mike Yager of Mid America Designs have collected these cars for almost a decade, with Roger Judski owning the 1988 champion car and Chip Miller owning the 1989 champ.

Inside the Challenge
     What did it take to join the Corvette Challenge? In 1989, ordering a Corvette with Merchandising Code B9P produced a basic car with Z-51 suspension and MM4 manual transmission for $33,043.00. The car was then shipped from Bowling Green to Protofab in Wixom, Michigan at a cost of $475.00. An additional $15,000 paid for installation of the roll cage, racing seat, safety harness, Desert Drivelines low-restriction exhaust, PBR brake pads and special ducting, a fire system, Corvette Challenge emblems, telemetry equipment and the entry fee into the Corvette Challenge.

Corvette B9P:	$ 33,043.00
Shipping to Protofab:	$ 475.00
Challenge Package:	$ 15,000.00
Total:	$ 48,518.00