Golden53
Member
Noland has amassed an incredible amount of Corvette information over the last 40 years. As many of you know, Noland had unique access to GM records and photographs. He also had a great number of people sending him information and pictures regarding their cars. From what I can tell, Noland saved just about every piece of paper he touched regarding Corvettes.
Two years ago I approached Noland about building a website based on his collection of Corvette related materials. Noland readily agreed, as he has dedicated his entire adult life to learning about Corvettes and then sharing that information with others. Noland requested only one thing in return – he simply asked me to encourage people to join the NCRS and the Solid Axle Corvette Club.
Scanning everything in Noland’s collection would be impossible, but I did scan everything that seemed worthwhile to owners of 1953 thru 1967 Corvettes. Over 20 months I scanned roughly 20,000 photos, 5000 documents (about 30,000 pages), 3500 letters and surveys containing VIN related identifying information, and 3500 GM diagrams (most of which were 24in x 36in).
The collection is simply breathtaking when examined in its entirety. And almost all of the material is free of copyright protection.
The more I scanned, the more I realized that Noland had invested a great deal of time, effort and money in building his collection. I personally do not believe that Noland's financial rewards have been commensurate with his investment. And I started to realize that time constraints would prevent me from publishing his entire collection on the web in the near future.
So I approached Noland about the idea of selling digital copies of his collection (with confidential information redacted of course). This would allow many more people to access and study Noland's collection. This would also allow the Corvette hobby to thank Noland for his efforts at a time when Noland is well into retirement. Noland liked the idea of selling digital copies, and encouraged me to pursue the idea. My deal with Noland is pretty simple – he gets all the proceeds. Please take a look at the website for more information on this topic if you are interested.
The first iteration of the Noland’s website is at www.earlycorvettes.net
The website is pretty basic at this point, but after working on this project for two years I wanted to get the ball rolling.
Just to give you a taste....
Thanks,
Russ Uzes
Two years ago I approached Noland about building a website based on his collection of Corvette related materials. Noland readily agreed, as he has dedicated his entire adult life to learning about Corvettes and then sharing that information with others. Noland requested only one thing in return – he simply asked me to encourage people to join the NCRS and the Solid Axle Corvette Club.
Scanning everything in Noland’s collection would be impossible, but I did scan everything that seemed worthwhile to owners of 1953 thru 1967 Corvettes. Over 20 months I scanned roughly 20,000 photos, 5000 documents (about 30,000 pages), 3500 letters and surveys containing VIN related identifying information, and 3500 GM diagrams (most of which were 24in x 36in).
The collection is simply breathtaking when examined in its entirety. And almost all of the material is free of copyright protection.
The more I scanned, the more I realized that Noland had invested a great deal of time, effort and money in building his collection. I personally do not believe that Noland's financial rewards have been commensurate with his investment. And I started to realize that time constraints would prevent me from publishing his entire collection on the web in the near future.
So I approached Noland about the idea of selling digital copies of his collection (with confidential information redacted of course). This would allow many more people to access and study Noland's collection. This would also allow the Corvette hobby to thank Noland for his efforts at a time when Noland is well into retirement. Noland liked the idea of selling digital copies, and encouraged me to pursue the idea. My deal with Noland is pretty simple – he gets all the proceeds. Please take a look at the website for more information on this topic if you are interested.
The first iteration of the Noland’s website is at www.earlycorvettes.net
The website is pretty basic at this point, but after working on this project for two years I wanted to get the ball rolling.
Just to give you a taste....
Thanks,
Russ Uzes
4LT GS Roadster
