Quick Stats: Gregg Allman rock singer/songwriter
Daily Drivers: 2005 Corvette (Gregg's rating: 9.7 on a scale of 1 to 10)
2008 Ford Shelby GT500 (Rating: 9), 2007 Chevy Tahoe LT (Rating: 7)
Favorite road trip: Savannah to Jacksonville
Car he learned to drive in: 1959 Oldsmobile 98
First car bought: 1934 Chevy 5-window coupe
Southern rock legend Gregg Allman loves loud all-American muscle and has been loyal to Corvette since the Allman Brothers Band made their mark in rock and roll in the early 1970s.
"I've always been a Vette man, the first one I had was a '72 454," Allman says. "I loved it and I made the mistake of letting somebody else drive it and they blew it up."
He said his second wife drove it for 80 miles in second gear. "She got loaded and tried to drive to Alabama in it in second gear and it was automatic," he laughs. "This is a big block, I mean big engine. Halfway there it starts smoking and her and her girlfriend get out and are wacked out on whatever. They get the right distance and all that gas - kaboom! Everything was destroyed on it, except the driver's seat."
There is an easy way about Allman, who takes his time telling a story, with a laidback, vibe that is not unlike his music. Still a Southern gentleman, he replies with "yes, ma'am," is very candid and chuckles between every other sentence. He talks about his various sweet rides over the years in a sort of stream-of-consciousness guitar riff way, not unlike the kind of jamming his band is known for.
Allman now cruises around in a 2005 C6 Corvette, which is his favorite Vette ever, giving it a 9.7 rating on a scale of 10. "It's only got 8,978 miles, there's not a rattle in it. I take as good a care of my cars as I do my guitars. I have quite a guitar collection and I collect knives, coins and motorcycles also. I'm just a little collector," Allman laughs. "I love to go furniture shopping. I hate to go buy a T-shirt but I love to shop for furniture, antiques and things, just things. My house is real full of stuff."
Allman bought a C6 Stage 3 Performance kit from West Coast Corvettes, which includes long tube coated headers, intake and exhaust and custom tuning and he added a Billet aluminum grille and side fender spears.
"I put a lot of stuff on it, it has coated tuned headers and a Corsa exhaust - and it sounds so bitchin'," Allman says with pride. "This was the finest one I've ever had. Really, one of the finest automobiles I've ever, ever had."
And Allman knows his Vettes - he's owned seven. The worst was his 1981 Vette. "It had an electronic clutch, it was automatic, the tach would just bounce all the way through town," he says. "I just didn't like it. I had an '87 beige with a chocolate brown interior and L98 engine. It was pretty nice. I loved that car. That was the first four-speed that I had. It had the little squeegee thing in it for you to go in reverse, kind of the old 396 Chevelles had - the shifter."
But then the worst thing happened to this car lover -- in the late 1980s Allman lost his license. "I got to drinking pretty heavy," he explains. "I did not get behind the wheel or sling my leg over a motorcycle for three years."
To celebrate being able to drive again, when he got his license back, Allman bought himself a gift in 1993. "It was a really nice green, metallic, kind of a kelly green with a beige top convertible Corvette," he says exuberantly. "That was a very good car. The first one I ever had with a phone in it. I probably should have waited a year because the '94s were real nice."
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