Month: August 2012

The public reveal of the #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvette racer Friday afternoon at the Corvettes at Carlisle show in Carlisle, PA. was canceled due to security concerns. A statement from Lance Miller was read to the crowd who gathered at the grandstand to witness the unveiling of the former Le Mans Corvette, which had just been found after being lost for 50 years.

Here is the statement from Lance Miller, co-owner of Carlisle events:

“We had hoped to present the 1960 No. 1 Le Mans Corvette to you today. As you probably know, after I purchased the car in Florida and brought it to Pennsylvania, we held an event last night to reveal it. As you also know, I have sold the car to a third party, who wishes to remain anonymous at this time. Unfortunately, for security reasons, the car has had to be moved to an undisclosed location. While I am disappointed, as I am sure you are, it was important to respect the buyer’s wishes in this matter. I have confidence that the car will be well cared for, and we hope to have it back here in Carlisle at a future show looking better than ever.”

The former Corvette racer was shown to a group of Corvette enthusiasts at a private event the day before. At that event, we learned that Miller purchased the Corvette from Richard Carr and then sold it two days later to an undisclosed buyer who wishes to remain anonymous.

Many in the assembled crowd at the show’s grandstands weren’t happy with the last minute cancelation including one gentleman we talked to who said the reveal was one of the primary reasons for attending the show in the first place.

The Corvette is scheduled to undergo restoration at Kevin Mackay’s Corvette Repair show in Valley Stream, NY.

The Briggs Cunningham Corvette was discovered in a St. Peterburg, Florida warehouse where it had been stored since the 1970′s. A google search of the VIN by Richard Carr’s brother identified it as one of the three 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvettes which were campaigned at the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans. In that race, the #1 Corvette went off course after a light rain made the track slipperly and it rolled over and caught on fire.

Following the race, the Corvettes were sent back to the states where they were converted back to street use and sold.

At some point in its history, the #1 Corvette was turned into a drag car and it was rebodied with a custom 1957 fiberglass kit which dramatically changed the look of the vehicle, but many of the custom mechanical changes made by the Briggs Cunningham racing team were still in place.

Related:
[PICS] The #1 1960 Briggs Cunningham Le Mans Corvette Revealed at Corvettes at Carlisle
[PICS] The 1960 Le Mans Winning Corvette at the Concours d’Elegance of America
No. 1 Briggs Cunningham 1960 Le Mans Corvette Racer Found
The Quest Documentary is Now Available on DVD

 

Last month, one of the lingering automotive mysteries surrounding Corvette’s first campaign at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was solved. Of course we’re talking about the finding of the Briggs Cunningham 1960 #1 Le Mans Corvette racer which has been lost for 50 years. On Thursday evening with a crowd of Corvette illuminaries and enthusiasts, the former race car was revealed.

The unveiling took place at Lance Miller’s boyhood home, which borders the Carlisle fairgrounds. Lance was joined with Corvette restorer Kevin Mackay, Briggs Cunningham historian Lawrence Berman and Rick Carr, whose family owned the #1 Le Mans race car.

Lance took to the microphone and after introducing those with him, preceeded to tell the story how he received a phone call while at Bloomington Gold saying the #1 Briggs Cunningham may have been found. Lance talked about he and the car’s owner Rick Carr got to know each other which culminated in the Lance’s purchase of the car.

Kevin Mackay, the restoration specialist who returned the #3 Briggs Cunningham Corvette to its former Le Mans racing glory, flew down to St. Petersburg, FL to inspect the car and immediately found several characterists that led him to confirm the Corvette’s authenticity.

The major factor that allowed the Corvette to be found was the VIN. Lance’s father Chip Miller had discovered the VIN’s of all three Briggs Cunningham Corvettes on an official Le Mans document and was using them in his Quest to find the #3 Corvette. Lawrence Berman, who runs the Briggs Cunningham website told the story of how he honored Chip’s wish to keep the VIN a secret until he passed away from Amyloidosis in 2004. It was then that Berman published the VIN on his website, where it went unnoticed for eight years.

Rick Carr talked about his father, whom he called the original “American Picker” and how the Corvette was found in a salvage yard in Brooskville, Florida in the 1970s. Following his father’s death last year, Rick’s brother was going through the St. Petersburg warehouse and pulled the VIN from the former drag racer. When a google search result showed that it was one of the 3 Briggs Cunnigham cars, they sent a message to Lawrence Berman who then called Lance Miller with the news that the #1 Corvette had been found.

But this story isn’t yet complete. Lance surprised the crowd by saying that he owned the former racer for approximately two days before selling the Corvette to an unnamed party who wished to remain anonymous. Kevin Mackay’s Corvette Repair shop in New York will be doing the restoration and hopefully we’ll see another unveiling of the Corvette in the near future.

Here’s our gallery of photos from the reveal of the #1 Briggs Cunnigham Le Mans Corvette Racer:

Related:
[PICS] The 1960 Le Mans Winning Corvette at the Concours d’Elegance of America
No. 1 Briggs Cunningham 1960 Le Mans Corvette Racer Found
The Quest Documentary is Now Available on DVD