{"id":62667,"date":"2026-07-06T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=62667"},"modified":"2026-06-16T23:50:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T03:50:53","slug":"remembering-alex-kowalski-at-the-national-corvette-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/06\/remembering-alex-kowalski-at-the-national-corvette-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Alex Kowalski at the National Corvette Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our loyal reader and thoughtful commenter Alex Kowalski died of cancer two years ago (see Rest in Peace, Alex Kowalski<\/a>). A few of us got together on some memorial tiles at the National Corvette Museum. One of Alex’s skills was dealer-level car maintenance and he rebuilt the engine on a 1968 C3 Corvette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stopped into the Cathedral of Corvette in August 2025 to pay our respects to Alex and to the engineering behind the machine that he loved enough to rebuild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit started with a Nissan Altima identifying as a Corvette:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The memorial for Alex is just inside the entrance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a crazy story about a Corvette that rose from its tomb:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same year\/generation Corvette that Alex had, driven by Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell<\/a> (passed away just a few days after our museum visit, on August 7, 2025 at age 97):<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Some relevant advice from the Corvette Club of Tennessee: “Life is Short: Keep the Pedal to the Metal”. I wish that Alex’s life had been longer, but am glad that we have the memories at the museum and here on this server.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our loyal reader and thoughtful commenter Alex Kowalski died of cancer two years ago (see Rest in Peace, Alex Kowalski). 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