martinfan5 Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) As the title says http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/crazy-story-36-neglected-abandoned-corvettes-saved-nyc-parking-garages-legendary-peter-max-collection-restored/ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/automobiles/a-set-of-vettes-off-to-rehab.html?_r=0# Back in 1989, I was nine years old and happened to see a television commercial on the VH-1 music video channel for a crazy contest they were running. The gist of it was pretty simple. You dialed a 1-900 number, got billed a couple bucks and threw your name in the big mix to try and win some cars. Not just “some cars” I should clarify but 36 Corvettes, one from each model year that existed to that point in time. Not really understanding the logistics of this, I hounded and hounded my parents to call the number and enter us into the contest. Needless to say, they never did but back then more and a million people actually picked up the phone and entered. A carpenter from Long Island, New York won the whole shooting match. Believe it or not, this is actually the part where the story gets interesting. The carpenter never got so far as even planning to get the cars home before he was contacted by the famous pop artist Peter Max. Max offered to buy the entire collection of cars with designs on creating some sort of pop culture art piece with them. He got all the cars back to New York City and barely got anything going with regard to said art project. After losing storage, he scrambled and was helped by someone who essentially spread the cars around through parking garages in the city and there they sat for 20+ years. The cars quickly became legendary within the Corvette enthusiast realm and people were pretty cheesed off to see some of these really nice cars just sitting and being covered in grime, dirt, and whatever other horrendousness that NYC could dole out. The good news is that the collection is now back together and in the hands of a guy who is having all the cars brought back up to snuff. Eventually they will be auctioned but at least they’re being fixed up and saved. There’s an ultra rare 1953 in there among a bunch of desirable others but then there are a bunch of wheezy 1970s models, early 1980s stuff that’s not worth much of anything, etc as well. We have no idea what the guy paid, but there are certainly a few diamonds among the fool’s gold here. The NY Times recently covered the story and has an amazing gallery of photos to go with the words and details. Hit the link below to get the skinny on this story of automotive survival. Edited October 26, 2014 by martinfan5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pim Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Nice rides my dream car is a c3 corvette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkypeanutbutter Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 The '53 is the only one I find interesting there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 The '53 is the only one I find interesting there Got me beat, I find zero of them interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkypeanutbutter Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I find that 53 interesting only because it's an American sports car that looks kinda like a European sports car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharoah Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Uh yes , I'll take the 65 thank you.. I have heard about the Peter Max collection before,but I didn't know the background on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Not interested? why are you on this board ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Not interested? why are you on this board ? Why are any of us here ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maindrian Pace Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I'll take the '63 if it's a splittie and not a roadster. And any 427 midyears. -MJS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ1971 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Not interested? why are you on this board ? Not all of us like 'Vettes. Simple. If we all had the same tastes then McDonalds wouldn't have competitors, right? ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnwildpunk Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Wow I would take all from the 53-70 I wonder if any have 427 or other high h.p. cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 My favs are the '57-'73 Vettes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I'll admit that I'm not a big Corvette fan. I have nothing against them but they just weren't part of my car experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsepower Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) I'll take the '61 and '62, it would be exceptionally nice if they have both tops. Edited October 28, 2014 by horsepower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Johnston Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Honestly the 53 is the only one I DON'T find interesting... As silly as this might sound, I'd even take a mid 70's Corvette as long as it was a 4 speed. I grew up with those cars and still like them. Yeah they aren't really fast, but having owned one I can attest they are fun... So yeah, send one my way. 75 T Top ? Yup. I'd take it. Edited October 28, 2014 by Jeff Johnston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maindrian Pace Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 You need sideburns and lots of white patent leather to rock one of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helix Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Wow, amazing.... ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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