You can scan the globe to find them, but no two Corvettes are exactly the same. Folks the world over take pride in their Vettes in their own way, and have a different approach with each and every one of these American sports cars no matter their generation.

Photo credit: IAA

The former owner of this particular Corvette, a 1959 roadster, clearly was not a fan of the stock style seen in those first-generation models. Whitewall tires, analog V8s, non-plastic dashboards–all the hallmarks of times gone by, never to come back in any major way, but still there if we need them.

Found through a search in Insurance Auto Auctions (IAA), the Corvette in question sports a staggered hood scoop arrangement, denoting what’s called a cross ram manifold. Time was, these manifolds were used for increasing intake runner length without increasing height, lending the car more power and torque down low, at the cost of possible heat soak and accelerated engine wear and tear.

Certain Mopar muscle cars could be ordered from the factory with such a configuration, as could the 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28 (just look for the suffix DZ302 in the VIN). The one seen here has clearly been added after the fact, and no doubt helped push the Vette past its limits one unfortunate day.

The back half of the car is where we get a good look at what went wrong. Gone is the deck lid and much of the rear end, revealing a lone relocated Optima Red Top battery and little else. We’re tempted to think that this was a result of a parachute deployment gone awry, but what about you? Tell us how you imagine this wreckage happened in a comment below.