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Incredible Corvette Found Buried In a Garage!

Back in early 2016, I heard about a Corvette find that someone was busy digging out of a garage. At the time there really wasn’t much information about it. Given the lack of photos or information, I put it on the back burner and then forgot about it. Well, I was recently digging through the CorvetteForum and came across the story again. After almost a year more information was revealed and it turned out to be an incredible find! The original post from user Pvirg and simply stated that they had purchased a 1971 Corvette that had been parked in a garage since 1972. He was trying to figure out the paint code, but the thread quickly escalated when he mentioned that the car was a special deal with GM and was built for just one purpose…

If a statement like that doesn’t make you curious, I don’t know what will. What could this special deal have been and what could be so special about this Corvette? Well, as the discussion developed we soon found out that the car has just 24 miles on the odometer. The fact that it has already been repainted and has parts from either a ’68 or ’69 led to some serious skepticism, but in the process of explaining the mileage, the owner starts to offer more details about its past. And this is when things really started to get interesting!

It turns out, Pvirg was good friends with the previous owner and has known the car for over 20 years. His friend actually worked for GM developing racing engines back in the day. The car was apparently built for racing from day one and features some very cool equipment! Pvirg uploaded a photo of one of the heads and the numbers tell us that it’s from a 1969 L88 427! It might not prove much, but you don’t typically find one of these heads just lying around.

As he posted more information, it quickly becomes evident that this Corvette really was a race car. It was repainted from yellow to red and blue with white stars – the perfect color combo for a ’70s American drag racer! By page four of the thread, he started to post some incredible photos, including this one of it taking off at the dragstrip. Clearly, this wasn’t your normal Corvette. It was a beast!

His friend appears to have been a bit of a hoarder and piled all kinds of junk around on even on the car. Getting it out had to be a major undertaking, but I bet it was amazing to see it out in the light after being stashed away for all those years.

He eventually posted this amazing shot! His friend had a special trailer built so he could tow the car behind a street going 1971 LT1. How awesome would it have been to see this pair roll into town? Apparently, the tow car was also buried in the garage. Pvirg couldn’t afford to buy both right then, but is working on a deal so they can be kept together!

Because of his connections at GM, Pvirg’s friend was able to get all kinds of special performance bits, including a spare ZL1 block. Pvirg was able to get some of the parts as well and plans on selling off anything he doesn’t need to get the General running.

While Pvirg wasn’t particularly forthcoming at first, he eventually posted more photos of the car and it really is awesome! Their last post was on March 8th and included a recent snapshot of it out of the garage. They have been slowly cleaning it and doing more research. We will be keeping an eye on this thread, as I’m sure it will only get more interesting as they get this old racer up and running. The thread is over 25 pages, but is a good read so be sure to check it out here on CorvetteForum.

Comments

  1. Avatar Rock On

    My interest really perked up at spare ZL1 block!!!

    Like 1
  2. Avatar Blindmarc

    What a find!

    Like 0
  3. Avatar jake

    Wow!!!!

    Like 0
  4. Avatar sir mike

    Great retirement account……6 figures plus…

    Like 0
  5. Avatar 86 Vette Convertible

    Whoa! That’s some ‘find’.

    Like 1
  6. Avatar lawrence

    wish I had friends……

    Like 1
  7. Avatar Wayne

    Don’t worry Lawrence, I’m sure you’ll find a friend soon.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Rob

    Awesome find. A C/MP corvette. Big block and all. Back then, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for factory production race cars in NHRA. High winding motors and 4 speeds.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Morley Member

    But with all that awesome oral history, it still got dumped into a pile and left to rot. Thank goodness it is plastic. Morley

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Tom Member

    Again, I shake my head…..I just can’t understand how cars, in general, much less this car, get buried in a garage full of crap ……..just can’t get my mind around it. More money than brains????

    Like 0
    • Avatar Craig

      RE: Tom, Morley,, Life and poor planning get in the way. It is pretty common, hence the increasing numbers of cars like this. It is sad.

      Like 0
  11. Avatar Scott H. Member

    In the thread he describes the ZL1 as “a cool block that doesn’t rust”….classic comment.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Craig

      the main caps look pretty rusty to me,

      Like 0
  12. Avatar Wrong Way

    Awesome find!

    Like 0
  13. Avatar leiniedude Member

    Great story at the forum. Thanks for the tip.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar erikj

    Life and shit happens and the love of a neat car is had to let go. This vette was lucky to have been loved and stored inside. I have had a lot of cool stuff like this and had life kick me. For the love of the cars, I let a lot go. At least I have my 71 fc7 340 duster with me and luckily been covered for the 15 years I’ve had it. Close to running!!! Hope I can finish it but it wont be left to rot like so many others.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar erikj

    I think this vette is very rare and needs to be documented as to what is was orig.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Alan (Michigan)

    Dayum!

    What a find.

    Like 1
  17. Avatar Doug Towsley

    while it would be nice if it had been stored in a climate controlled garage and guarded by Dobermans and CCTV not everybody can manage that. Eccentric and crazy people are the ones who keep old stuff like this hidden away. Read some of the stories about Jungle Jim Lieberman (And Jungle Pam!). Many others who were never as famous but just as crazy.
    If we were ALL sensible we would have scrapped wasteful and pointless vehicles like this and all drive EV minivans or Priuses or better yet sell those 4 wheel contraptions and take public transit and ride bicycles.
    ************************************************************
    My uncle has a country place
    That no one knows about
    He says it used to be a farm
    Before the Motor Law
    And now on Sundays I elude the eyes
    And hop the turbine freight
    To far outside the wire where my
    White-haired uncle waits

    Jump to the ground as the turbo slows
    To cross the borderline
    Run like the wind as excitement shivers
    Up and down my spine
    But down in his barn
    My uncle preserved for me
    An old machine
    For fifty-odd years
    To keep it as new
    Has been his dearest dream

    I strip away the old debris
    That hides a shining car
    A brilliant Red Barchetta
    From a better vanished time
    We’ll fire up the willing engine
    Responding with a roar
    Tires spitting gravel
    I commit my weekly crime

    Wind
    In my hair
    Shifting and drifting
    Mechanical music
    Adrenaline surge

    Well-oiled leather
    Hot metal and oil
    The scented country air

    Sunlight on chrome
    The blur of the landscape
    Every nerve aware

    Suddenly ahead of me
    Across the mountainside
    A gleaming alloy air-car
    Shoots towards me two lanes wide
    Oh, I spin around with shrieking tires
    To run the deadly race
    Go screaming through the valley
    As another joins the chase

    Ride like the wind
    Straining the limits
    Of machine and man
    Laughing out loud with fear and hope
    I’ve got a desperate plan

    At the one-lane bridge
    I leave the giants stranded
    At the riverside
    Race back to the farm
    To dream with my uncle
    At the fireside

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Blindmarc

    My favorite RUSH song……

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Milford Renfrow

    The car was called the General. The driver was Doyle Patton, Hense the name “The General”. I owned a speed shop in Elizabethtown in the early 70’s and I built a 1961 Corvette for a pretty well known racer John Baines. The first time we took Baines’ Corvette to the track we wound up running The General in the finals. This was at the Camblesville Drag Strip.

    Like 5
    • Avatar Zachary

      holy cow, thats cool

      Like 0

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