The Got It Back Corvette

Okay, admit it…. Even if you are not a self proclaimed automobile nut, you still get those pangs of envy and your taste buds salivate every so slightly when you see a beautifully restored antique car driving down the highway on a sunny summer afternoon. Am I right? Who doesn’t love the look of an old Mustang or a candy apple red 1960-something Corvette? Whether you’ve come out of the “car lover’s closet” or not is another story.

I married a car nut. He was raised by a car nut. My husband Dave and his dad have an innate ability to name every car they’ve ever seen - the year, the make, the model - as well as other details about the car, as easily as I brush my teeth. We fondly refer to it as the “compartment of useless knowledge.” It’s a fascinating part of the family gene pool.

A neighbor friend of ours, Gary Engber, is much the same way. His life hobby is cars. He’ll tell you proudly of the 1967 Red Mustang Convertible that he’s owned for 25 years or the 1933 Ford Victoria that he’s had in his possession since 1953. It was the first car he ever owned. Then there is the 1940 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet that’s been around for a quarter of a century and the ’67 Camaro, a family member for just as long. His 1934 Speedster currently sits in the shop waiting to be transformed into a timeless beauty once again, but perhaps the car with the deepest connection is the one he went to the most trouble to get, his 1954 ivory and red Corvette.

At first glance, the license plate is intriguing – GOTITBK – it says. Got it back from where? The story is quite interesting.

Gary and his wife Mary purchased the Corvette on their honeymoon in California in 1963 for $650. Living in St. Cloud, MN at the time and needing to return to college for the winter quarter, they purchased the car and set out to drive home via the famed Route 66. Gary remembers little things about the drive like “the breaking of the day, the sun over the mountains and the glow from the dash. It was quite cold outside,” he recalls. They loved that car. It was a good trip.

A year and a half later, with a child on the way and the responsibility of owning a house, the Corvette had to be sacrificed. “We always thought about the car even though we lost track of it over the years,” says Gary. Then something interesting happened. In the early 1970s, Gary and Mary’s nephew, a teenage snowmobiling enthusiast in Minnesota, came upon an old, somewhat abandoned looking barn out in a field. He peered inside to see what might be living in the old barn and saw what he thought to be an old Corvette.

Knowing of his uncle’s passion for cars, he called Gary and told him about his find. A short time later, the two returned to the old barn, kicking and shoveling snow away from the front door in order to peek inside. It was a miserably cold day and they were wading in waist deep snow. After forcing the door open, Gary saw the Corvette. He said to his nephew, “Not only is it an OLD Corvette, it’s MY old Corvette!”

And the negotiations began.

The Corvette’s owner was an eccentric old chap, once known for painting the town gas station’s gas tank hot pink, just to make people smile. This gentleman had purchased the car from the man who bought the car from Gary years before and seemingly had no intention of using it, so it sat in the barn and became a happily inhabited bird’s nest. From the early/mid 1970s through 1990, Gary and the owner had regular conversations about Gary buying the car back from him but the owner never seemed interested although he did once state, “If I ever do decide to sell it to anyone, I’ll sell it to you.”

In 1990, now living in California, Gary and Mary were home in Minnesota once again visiting family and tracked down the car owner at Tom Thumb’s - the local small town coffee shop. Gary told him, “I’m only in town for a day or so. This is the time…either sell it to me now or let’s quit talking about it.” And so, after 15 years of negotiations, just like that, the owner sold Gary the car. The Corvette, now trapped inside the barn by a tree that had grown in front of the door, was removed with the help of a chainsaw, a tractor, a trailer, chains, good friends and a video camera to record the momentous occasion.

In 2002, Gary and Mary’s daughter Heather and her husband took the same pearl ivory Corvette with red interior that her parents had driven on their honeymoon, and drove it through the Green Hills section of Nashville en-route to their own wedding reception. With her wedding veil blowing in the wind and admirers looking on, the old automobile was once again in her glory, carrying two passengers into the future.

What an incredible thing for a daughter and her new husband to sit behind the wheel, decades later, of the same automobile that her parents drove on their honeymoon. For those life-long car enthusiasts who’ve experience the passion and excitement of seeing a pristine classic car pass them on the road or have shared a special moment with a dad or brother while looking inside a restored beauty at an auto show, it’s easy to grasp why the old car from the barn is such a unique find and special friend.

Even though it might have taken years to “get her back,” it seems the shiny ivory pearl has finally found the family that was meant to have her all along.