Mystic - Rob Reynolds was a teenager when he bought his first Corvette in 1960.

By '63, he had a wife and a couple of kids. Goodbye 'Vette.

He exchanged the car for a station wagon, albeit "a hot one," he says, relating a tale that might make a Corvette-lover cry.

But the story took a happy turn.

In 1970, Reynolds, a Noank businessman, rejoined the ranks of Corvette owners, scraping together $850 to buy a 1958 model with 65,000 miles on it. His wife had spotted the car, which bore a striking resemblance to his first one.

And Sunday, Reynolds' pride and joy - "my only toy," he calls it - was a standout among the 330 'Vettes on display at the For Corvettes Only club's "Vettes in the Village" fundraiser at Olde Mistick Village, a record-breaking turnout for the 9-year-old event.

For hours, a crowd of mostly baby boomers roamed the shopping center parking lot where the 'Vettes, many with hoods raised, sat ready to purr ... or maybe roar.

"Guys my age are driving Corvettes," Reynolds, 71, said.

They especially love his car, he said, because it's in its original condition, except for the engine. He commuted to and from work in it in the 1970s. Just last year, an online fashion site featured it in an ad shot in Stonington Borough.

A man who declined to give his name eyed the car.

"I like the older Corvettes - because I'm an old guy," he said. "It's a disease. They grow on you."

What is it about the 'Vette, in particular?

"It's the great American sports car," the man said.

Others said the precisely the same thing.

"It's America's sports car and has been since 1953," said Paul Havener of Quaker Hill, president of the For Corvettes Only club. "I was 56 years old when I got my first - a brand new 2003 'torch red' coupe. I'd wanted one all my life."

It cost him $50,000.

Havener, whose club numbers about 30, attributed the Mystic show's growing popularity to its low-key approach. The club makes a point of not judging the upkeep and appearance of the cars on display, as is the case at many vintage car shows.

"Beautiful as they are, they don't have to clean them up to come here," he said.

Olde Mistick Village donates the space, and the $10 entry fee the club charges for each 'Vette on display goes to charity once the club pays for insurance and other expenses.

A few of the entries were for sale, including a 2014 Stingray convertible listed at $58,800. Its original owner had been forced to give it up because of a knee injury. The car had 2,000 miles on it.

What better place to attract a new buyer, said Elaine Kemp, a saleswoman with Corvette Mike, a Plymouth, Mass., dealership.

"I attend these events all over New England," she said. "This is the last hurrah for the season."

Kemp said she tells her customers that when they buy a Corvette they're buying a lifestyle, an attitude, "not just a car."

'Vette owners are all equal, she said, regardless of what year their car was made or how much they paid for it.

"They have such passion, such respect for one another. … You don't get that with Mustangs."

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck