RACER REBIRTH

AFTER BEING SIDELINED FOR FOUR DECADES, A VINTAGE CHEVY RACE CAR IS RESCUED FROM THE ELEMENTS.

- STEVEN RUPP

The world is full of undiscovered treasures. Some people use metal detectors to dig up lost wonders, and others hunt garage sales for that pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow. Gearheads, however, search the classifieds for their automotive lost treasure. This is that story, but this time around it wasn't the high-tech interwebs, it was a printed ad in a small-time newspaper. Yep, those still exist.

As Todd Evans explained, "I was browsing a little-known local newspaper that serves the High Desert areas of California and the Lake Havasu, Arizona, area on a Sunday evening when I ran across the ad. 'CAR COLLECTION FOR SALE: 1963 Corvette cpe, 4 sp, SCCA race car w/spares? That was it, a small text ad with no pictures in a little newspaper. The ad listed a few other cars, a trailer, and two motorhomes that I didn't even pay attention to. However, it did have a phone number, which, in today's online-advertising world where people refuse to even talk to you unless it is via text or email, was like gold to me. Unfortunately, the ad said not to call after 9 p.m. It was 9:30, but there was no chance I could wait until morning. I would have gone clinically insane."