Jim's History
Auto Masters founder Jim Van Dorn has been quite active in the Corvette community for many years. While the list of accomplishments is quite impressive, Jim uses a phrase coined by a dear departed friend. “Doug Johnson was as Corvette crazy as any of us but he always said it was more about the people than the Corvette. I’d like to think we’ve done these things for the people.”
- Palm Springs Corvette Club President, 1991, ’92, 96.
- ZR-1 Registry Founding Member #21, 1991
- Thunder At Stillwater, a tribute to MerCruiser’s “LT5 Gang” Creator and Organizer. 1993
- National Corvette Museum Grand Opening, Organizer
- The Legend Lives, Creator & Organizer. Commemorating the final production of the ZR-1 Corvette. 1995
- Corvettes Return to LeMans. Team Member, photographer, engine technician. 24Hrs of LeMans, 1995
- Contributing Editor, Corvette Fever Magazine. 1991-2000. 20+ Full feature articles.
- “Winning With Chevrolet” Produced and proposed the presentation given at Chevrolet World Hdqtrs to re-introduce GM into factory supported racing. Resulted in today’s current C5R race program. 1995
- Founder of the Corvette Grand Sport Owner’s Registry. 1996
- C5 Unveiling/NCM Financial Rescue. Created and organized event at the Museum to co-unveil the new C5 Corvette along with the LA and Detroit Auto Shows. Revenues donated to the NCM helped keep the doors open while the new Executive Director re-organized the organization.
- Owner and Founder of Pirate Racing. Inspired and supported by internet enthusiasts, organized an independent professional race team which competed very successfully in Speedvision’s World Challenge GT series. 1998-2001
- Donated the last ZR-1 raced in sanctioned international competition to the NCM. 2003
“It’s not about the car, it’s about the people!” Doug Johnson 1953-2003