End of an Era: Enthusiast, Collector, & Entrepreneur Retiring & Closing Roger’s Corvette Center

As a native of Orlando, Florida, this announcement from Roger Judski hit close to home for me, as occasionally popping into his beautiful, spacious showroom over the decades was a favorite treat of mine. Over time, Roger’s Corvette Center became a staple of the Central Florida area, filled not only with a gaggle of Corvettes for sale but also Roger’s personal collection of coveted and rare Corvettes (more on those later!). [Author’s Note: This article is FREE and not behind a paywall. If/when any pop-ups occur, please click to make them disappear and continue enjoying the article. One requires two steps–first, the arrow on the left, then the x on the top right.]

My ritual was simple. After a quick scan of the Corvettes outside, I would enter that side glass door to enter the gates of Corvette heaven–the aforementioned spacious showroom packed with every generation possible, with Roger’s collection tucked in the back corner. After a quick wave to Roger, who was traditionally perched at his corner desk, I’d typically wander around in a daze with eye candy overload. My favorite part of every visit was the brief chit-chat with Roger before I went on my way. No matter what time of the day or the year, Roger was always gracious enough to engage in some Corvette talk.

Back before you could just jump on the internet and go to a website like BaT, Roger had a knack for finding low-mileage gems. And by knack, I mean the tenacious skill to work that phone with his vast network of enthusiasts and brokers–there were no fancy social media connections and Facebook pages back then.

Roger’s gracious and inviting nature and love for our Corvette was exemplified when he offered to let this green newly-hired journalist do an impromptu interview and behind-the-scenes look at his one-of-one Corvette Challenge Series C4 race car–I have that feature linked below.

While the stars never aligned for me to buy one of my 20 Corvettes from Roger, he always treated me on my showroom visits as if my next Corvette could be from him. And, as I transitioned in 2005 to become a licensed used-car dealer myself, I began to appreciate how he treated any guest at his car lot. He never acted like you were an interruption, even if you were just strolling through to admire the Corvettes and chitchat for a couple of minutes.