[1]It’s hard to imagine buying the car of your dreams, only to let it sit in your garage for almost 50 years, driving it maybe a couple of times a year at most. The discipline it must take to not just hop in and take a car like a big-block ‘67 Corvette on every grocery trip or convenience store run is almost unfathomable to us.
But for Donnie McNamara, it was apparently just another day in his life. Hemmings Auto Blog [2] reports that after winning $5,000 at a Las Vegas Casino playing slots in the late sixties, Donnie spent his winnings on a brand new 1967 Chevy Corvette with a 427 cubic-inch big block. Backed with a four-speed manual transmission, Donnie shelled out just over $5,500 for his new Corvette in 1967. When it goes up for sale this spring, Donnie’s ‘Vette could sell for over $800,000.
A retired Marine, Donnie reportedly drove the Corvette for just a single year, racking up 2,966 miles. Once the registration and insurance expired, Donnie let the car sit in his Colorado Springs home, telling interested parties he had sold the Corvette. As much as he surely loved the car, his modest budget meant driving it was a luxury Donnie couldn’t afford.
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And there the Corvette sat until 2011, when Donnie passed away. With no next of kin or family members to pass his estate on to, a couple Donnie had become friendly with his later years inherited his estate. Despite having known Donnie for more than 20 years, the couple never knew about the Corvette, which was found covered under Marine Corp blankets. This untouched, all original Corvette (the passenger’s seat has never been sat in!) has an estimated selling price of between $600,000 and $800,000.
The moral of the story? Be nice to your elderly neighbor. You never know what they might have in their garage.