The missing Briggs Cunningham Chevrolet Corvette that competed at the 1960 Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race has been located in Florida. The #1 Corvette will be on display for the first time in over 50 years at the Corvettes at Carlisle 2012 event, scheduled for August 24-26 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The car will first be unveiled to a limited audience Thursday night, August 23rd at 7 p.m. just off grounds and will then be on stage all weekend long where enthusiasts and event attendees can revel in this piece of automotive history.
Discovered in the St. Petersburg area of Florida, the #1 Cunningham Corvette was the last of the three Cunningham cars to be located. How the car was found, however, is a unique story. Though the search was on for many years, the trail always turned cold. Finally, in June of 2012 the heat was on as the car owner actually researched its VIN number online, which led him to the BriggsCunningham.com website. At that point, site representative Larry Berman called and then emailed Lance Miller, a friend of his and owner of the 1960 #3 Cunningham Corvette, to inform him of the lead. From there, conversations took place with the owner of the #1 car and many of the details from that call fit aspects that had been researched prior. Through multiple phone calls, many questions and even a site visit by the car’s current owner, buyer and seller became friendly and within a month, the sale was complete.
Since Sunday July 22, 2012 when the initial payment request, the car has traveled from Florida to the Northeast where it will reside for the foreseeable future. Not only will it be on display at Carlisle in “as found” condition, it will also go through a restoration process that may take upwards of two years. Throughout restoration, it’s expected that the car will annually return to Carlisle so that enthusiasts can track its progress. Further, Miller hopes that he can work with Loren Lundberg, owner of #4 Camoradi Corvette and Bruce Meyer, owner of the #2 Corvette (See #2 Le Mans Corvette Profile) as well as the new owner of the #1 racer for a reunion of the three Cunningham cars. If that feat were to be accomplished, it would be the first time since approximately 1960 that all four racing Corvettes were together in the same place at the same time.
For more information, visit Corvettes at Carlisle.
[Source: Carlisle Events]
Finally,Congrats Guys for finding it.Go Corvette!Go Corvette Racing!