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Battle over ownership of final Cunningham Corvette headed to court

George Kennedy — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:28:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Government/Legal, Chevrolet, Racing

Remember that recently-discovered Briggs Cunningham Corvette? The last of three to be found that raced at the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans? Well, as is customary in matters such as these, a tense legal battle has broiled, with many players to follow, so lets just get into it...

Here's how the story goes: After more than 50 years in hiding, the rare Le Mans racer surfaced in the garage of Pamela Carr, widow of Florida Judge Richard Carr. Richard's son, Rick, had known of the car for years, but only recently checked the VIN, which led him to reach out to Cunningham historian Larry Berman. Through Berman, the Carr family was put in touch with Lance Miller. Lance is the son of the late Chip Miller, founder of Carlisle Events, and Corvette's at Carlisle.

Chip Miller, along with Corvette restorer Kevin Mackay, had gone to great lengths to find the Cunningham Corvetteshaving hired a private investigator in the 1990s to locate the cars. Mackay found and restored Corvette No. 3, which was given to Miller. Their efforts were chronicled in the 2000 documentary The Quest. It was Miller's dying wish that if the last Cunningham 'Vette were ever found (No. 2 is owned by noted collector Bruce Meyer), it would end up in Mackay's hands. If found, the car could be worth over $1 million.

On July 23 of this year, Chip's son Lance purchased the No. 1 car from the Carr family for just $75,000 and three days later, sold it to Mackay. Though it a appeared that the journey had come to an end, trouble had just begun for Mackay.

For the rest of the story, scroll down.

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Battle over ownership of final Cunningham Corvette headed to court originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final missing Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette discovered

Jeff Sabatini — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:03:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Coupe, Performance, Auctions, Chevrolet

You would think that by 2012 - some four decades after the car collecting hobby hit maturity - there would be no important and unaccounted-for cars left to be found. But you would be wrong.

Carlisle Events has announced that the No. 1 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette from 1960 was recently found in a warehouse in Florida, where it had been sitting neglected since the mid-1970s. The car will be on display at this month's Corvettes at Carlisle, with the full backstory on the car, including the identity of its new owner, to be revealed on August 24.

The Corvette was one of three such cars racing legend Cunningham entered at Le Mans in 1960 as privateer efforts during General Motors' self-imposed ban on racing. While the other two Chevrolet racers have been discovered and restored, the No. 1 Corvette has been missing since shortly after the race when it was sold off as a street car. When the two-door appears at Carlisle it will be shown in unrestored, "as found" condition.

The No. 1 Corvette might not have been discovered if it were not for the car's owner researching the VIN on the BriggsCunningham.com website. That led the website owner to contact Carlisle co-founder Chip Miller, owner of the No. 3 car, who apparently brokered the deal with the Vette's new owner. Plans do call for restoration of the car and a possible reunion with its teammates.

Scroll down to read the full press release.

Continue reading Final missing Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette discovered

Final missing Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette discovered originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First 2011 Corvette honors 50th anniversary of marque's first Le Mans win

Zach Bowman — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, GM

It's been 50 years since Chevrolet first took a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvette. General Motors has decided to mark the occasion by swaddling the very first 2011 Chevrolet Corvette in the same livery worn by the champion. The car wears blue stripes and other decals as homage to the company's racing history, but it also packs a few performance tricks from the Chevrolet playbook at the same time. The special-edition 2011 Corvette boasts both the Z06 and CFZ packages, which means there's 505 horsepower on tap courtesy of a 7.0-liter aluminum V8.

That CFZ package also throws in tricks like those fancy wheels and unique side-view mirrors, along with a healthy dose of carbon fiber bodywork. If you want it, GM has a smoking deal for you. The company is offering the car for a $300,000 tax-deductible charity donation plus what it cost the company to produce the vehicle. How much is that? According to the good folk over at Corvette Blogger, the price tag should be around $85,000.

Sure enough, the car is sexy as can be, but we can buy a lot of metal for nearly $400,000 - deductible or not. For that kind of cash, we easily could snap up a whole garage full of ZR1s and enough tires to keep them all fat and happy.

Corvette Blogger has a killer spread of photos of the car, though, and we don't mind spending some time drooling. Hop on over to the site to see a few good shots of the 1960 beating up on the competition at Le Mans, too.

[Source: Corvette Blogger]

First 2011 Corvette honors 50th anniversary of marque's first Le Mans win originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 05 May 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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