Over the years, 24 Hours of Le Mans is a race where the behind-the-scenes engineering can be every bit as thrilling as the drama found in the actual race itself. The 1960 edition is one such example, with the Briggs Cunningham team competing with a trio of Corvettes — albeit entered in a way to avoid a General Motors ban on racing. Two of the three Corvettes returned to Le Mans for the 50th anniversary of the race; one, however, was considered missing at the time.
In the years since then, its whereabouts were determined; the Corvette was sold at auction over the weekend. RM Sotheby’s conducted the auction on Saturday in Amelia Island, Florida; the winning bid for the Corvette was $685,000.
A report by Jerry Garrett at The New York Times explores how this long-missing car was found and restored — and the saga is equal parts Ford v Ferrari and Forrest Fenn.
Garrett writes that the Corvette was sold, post-Le Mans, to an amateur racer, “who inexplicably commissioned a crude reshaping of the Corvette’s fiberglass body into something resembling a 1950-ish Zagato Gran Turismo. A 1970s-era V8, believed to be from a Pontiac, was also installed.”
The Corvette was eventually tracked down by the team of Lance Miller, owner of the other two Corvettes from the 1960 team, and auto restorer Kevin Mackay. A series of conflicting legal claims to the car led to this weekend’s auction. Will this segue into the Corvette taking its place in history, or is an already-winding path about to take another few turns? The eventual book, movie or podcast about this car’s history promises to be fascinating.
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