Ever since Corvette No. 1 first met Corvette No. 2 on the road, their drivers saluted each other with waves. Today, unfortunately, this grand and glorious tradition is wavering.

     There's one item of standard equipment that comes as a pleasant surprise to every new Corvette owner. It's the instant wave of recognition he receives when he meets one of his ilk on the road. The first time it happens, he is taken by surprise. He immediately thinks: (1) He has been mistaken for Sterling Moss; (2) His lights are on; or (3) He has just been given the bird.

     Soon, however, the new Vette owner anticipates, indeed even relishes, en- countering other Vettes as he drives. During this period, he experiments with his waves, running the gamut from the gaping "yoo hoo" to the ultra-cool "two- finger flip." He perfects his timing, making sure he affects neither the too- eager, too-early wave, nor the jaded "oh brother" too-late variety. Determined not to be one upped, he even develops a defense mechanism for non-wavers, usually settling on the "Wave? My hand was just on the way to scratch my head" approach. (This is especially useful when you're not driving your Vette, but you forget, and like a dummy, wave anyway.)

     Indeed, one of the most perplexing problems facing a would-be waver is what to do when driving next to a fellow Vette owner. Passing him going in opposite directions is one thing. Greetings are exchanged, and that's that. But what happens when you pull up next to a guy at a light, wave, nod, smile and then pull up next to him at the next light, a block later? Wave again? Nod bash- fully? Grin self-consciously? Ignore him? Or take the chicken's way out and turn down the next side street? If you're expecting an answer, you won't find it here. Sad to say, some questions don't have any.

     Girl-type Corvette drivers also have a unique problem: to wave or not to wave. The miss or misses who borrows her man's Corvette for the first time is immediately faced with this quandary. Should she wave first and look overly friendly, or ignore the wave and look like a snob? Most ladies who drive their own Vettes, prefer to suffer the latter rather than take the chance of being misread. For this reason, all girls are excused for occasionally failing to return a well-meaning wave. So are new owners who are still learning the ropes.

     There is no excuse, however, for the guy who refuses to return a wave, not out of ignorance, but of arrogance or apathy. While this type of behavior is the exception to the rule, it seems that a few owners of newer models refuse to recognize anything older than theirs, while some others simply won't wave, period. Boo on them. These ding-a-lings don't seem to realize that they are helping to squash a tradition that had its beginnings back when most of us were still driving Tootsie-Toys.

     And besides, in this era of mechanized anonymity, we need to save all the human relationships we can.

     What to do about the problem of non-wavers? Well, in the movie "The Hustler," Fast Eddie had his hands broken for not playing by the rules. But, maybe this is going just a bit too far. Maybe the solution is to cure these guys with kindness.

     So, take a look at these examples, and pick a wave you like. Then, the next time you pass a fellow "Vette-eran", make sure you use it. And the next time. And the next. Who knows? If you don't succeed in getting some of these hard-noses to wave back, at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you've started a lot of them thinking. And that alone is worth a wave. ; )