Ken Roper came to the General Motors Corvette Assembly Plant this week to watch his cars being built. He got a big surprise when the workers let him drive both cars off the production line. I didnt even dream that they would let me drive them off the line, said Roper of Kennesaw, Ga.Roper and his wife, Karen, are the proud new owners of the second and third 50th Anniversary Corvettes that rolled off the assembly line Friday. Karen Roper will be driving a white convertible, the second one off the line, and hell take the wheel of a maroon ragtop, the third one wheeled off. Roper participated in the National Corvette Museum Vehicle Identification Number auction earlier this year. The auction raised money for the museum by selling the rights to certain VINs.Roper and his wife each put in bids for VINs because Roper wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday in the 50th Anniversary Corvette. He has owned used Corvettes in the past, but these are the first new ones he has owned. The C-5 is his favorite generation of the Corvette. Theres never been anything as nice as these, Roper said. Mike Sienkiewicz, general manager of Hillcrest Chevrolet in Salem, Mass., bought the first one off the line, a maroon convertible. He also won his VIN in the museums auction. I cant wait to see it, Sienkiewicz said from his office in Salem. He plans to pick up his seventh Corvette here in July. Sienkiewicz said he promised himself years ago that he would buy a 50th anniversary Corvette. I figured if I had a chance to get one of the first, I would, he said. Sienkiewicz is planning to bring his Corvette back home for the 50th anniversary party, which will go through Bowling Green on the way to a national event in Nashville about a year from now. Fifty years of the Corvette is a great milestone, plant manager Wil Cooksey said. He said there arent a lot of other American institutions that have been around as long as the Corvette. The workers on the line love working on the Corvette, Cooksey said. We do indeed fulfill dreams, Cooksey said. People dream about owning a Corvette. Roger Hagan, a utility repairman, fixes things on the Corvettes at the last minute. Im the last man on the line, Hagan said. The line workers are dedicated to making a great product, Hagan said, and several inspectors check the cars before they get to him. Everybody tries to do their best, he said. Thats what it takes. When the first 2003 model Corvette neared the end of the line, several workers, along with members of the media and some guests, gathered to watch it finish its production journey. You dont find this excitement anywhere else with a product coming off the line, Cooksey said.