Daily News/Clinton Lewis

Surely it was a marriage made in Corvette heaven, was the description by a visitor Saturday to the National Corvette Museums Millennium Celebration. Roger Tacke and Denise Austin of Forney, Texas, near Dallas, glowed in the celestial atmosphere as they vowed to love each other forever in a ceremony in the museums skydome. The couple stood in front of the 2001 bowling green-colored Corvette that will become theirs Tuesday. This was a good venue for us, Tacke said after the ceremony. The museum is a wonderful place. The duo have been a couple since 1992, but really fell in love in 1988 one of those first sight stories, newlywed Denise Tacke said. We were planning to get married (here) regardless of the car, Roger Tacke said, explaining that they had originally ordered a 2000 model to be delivered to Texas but there was a complication. Later they ordered the 2001 and worked it out so they could pick it up while they were here. Judy Yanko, the museums delivery program manager, said Denise Tacke had told her she wanted to wait to pick up the car, so the focus would be on the wedding Saturday and they could fully enjoy the museums delivery process on Tuesday. Thats when theyll turn in the rental car the bride said the couple wanted to make sure the roads between here and there are smooth enough for their brand new baby. Then theyll drive the 2001 with her garter belt hanging on the rearview mirror home to meet its older sister, a donnybrook green 1970 Corvette with the 454 engine. Denise Tacke said she has mostly just admired from afar the powerful Roadster, but that wont be the case with the new one. Im going to drive it, she said. Admiring is what 13-year-old Evan Dobson will have to settle for until his dad decides its safe for him to drive one which may not happen until after hes 16.Its a little too dangerous to let a 16-year-old behind the wheel of something with so much power … , John Dobson said. It just takes a couple of seconds and youre well over any speed limit. The duo came from their hometown Springfield, Ohio, along with other members of the West Central Corvette Club, and were perusing one of several rows of what John Dobson says are appropriately called Americas sports car. Its true. We have Ferraris and Porsches that come here and we can be proud to put our Corvettes right up against them, he said. Theyre a great distraction from everyday work pressures, theyre the ultimate for driving enjoyment and theyre an important American institution. John Dobson said that he couldnt afford a Corvette when he was growing up, nor did he know anyone who had one. He has since made up for lost time purchasing a total of 30 in the last 13 years, having as many as 17 at one time and finally narrowing it to four favorites: a 1987 red Callaway coupe, a 1990 red ZR1, a 1999 black convertible, and a 1967 convertible with a one-of-a-kind color combination, called linndale blue, exterior, a red interior and a white top. It was ordered by a federal judge that wanted a red, white and blue car, Dobson said, adding that the judge had connections high in the company that allowed him to get the exceptions made. I first became interested in old Corvettes because I like antiques and cars, he said. But the older ones tended to require more maintenance time than he had to give, so hes kept mostly the newer models. His son said his favorites are the older ones, the C2 generation that ran from 1963 to 1967, and the ones from the current generation of C5s that started with the 1997 model year, but he likes them all. His favorite part of the event is seeing all the cars together. Everywhere you look theres a Corvette, Evan said. His dads favorite part: Spending time with other people that have the same obsession thats what it is. Its not a hobby; its an addiction.