Rare Corvette Collection Unearthed in NYC Underground Garage
Imagine wandering into an underground garage in New York City and finding an incredible collection of vintage Corvettes. That’s what happened when 36 classic Vettes were discovered after sitting in a garage, collecting dust for more than a quarter of a century.
These weren’t just your average, run-of-the-mill corvettes (if there is such an animal). No, some of these cars were very rare gems and are worth a pretty penny. What may be even more interesting, though, is the backstory of these fabulous cars.
It was 1989 and the music channel VH1 ran a Corvette giveaway.
In an effort to boost ratings and increase profit, the contest was the brainchild of Jim Cahill, a freelance TV producer. After all, it was his job to raise VH1’s national profile. So, he decided to give away one corvette for each decade they had been in production, from 1953 through 1989. In case you’re counting, that’s 36 cars.
Hopefuls had to call in at $2 a pop (AT&T gave the network $1.49 of that money back). On the first day, more than 190,000 called in and by the time it was all said and done, 1.3 million was raised for the ailing network.
Cahill took to the road to find the corvette collection. All told, he spent $610,000. To put that into perspective, today that figure would be around $1.1 million. The most notable car in the collection is a 1953 Corvette. There were only 300 of those cars built.
The good news is, the thick layer of dust that has steeled over the cars actually helped to preserve them.
The Corvette collection was won by a carpenter from Long Island named Dennis Amodeo. Problem was, Amodeo didn’t have anywhere to put 36 cars. So for the bargain price of $250,000 cash and $250,000 in Max’s artwork (plus a deal that awarded him a percentage of the proceeds if the cars were sold again) he turned around and sold it to Peter Max, a German graphic artist who had designs on using the cars in his artworks.
But it never happened.
The cars sat in the garage, collecting dust for more than two decades. They never became the art that Max imagined.
Fast forward to May 2005 when a writer for the New York Magazine stumbled upon the collection and wrote a column about it. A member of Digital Corvettes went to check them out and then posted photos.
Next thing you know the internet was abuzz with activity. Seems everyone wanted to save these beautiful cars. People were offering to park them for free just so they wouldn’t rot away. But Max wasn’t having any of it.
He quietly moved them to an undisclosed location.
But the guys at Digital Corvettes were not having that. They poked around until they found the hiding place. And the buzz started up again. Max now plans to purchase 14 more cars and paint them then send them to auction.
That hasn’t happened either. They are still sitting, waiting.
Whether you want to purchase a collector car or one that’s brand new, Woodside Credit can make it happen. With our easy terms and low payments, you can have the car you want in no time. Give us a call or visit our site and find out how we can help you.