It seems that everyone has heard the story of the old Corvette stored in a barn for years because the owner thought Vettes were a good investment. In fact, there was a county song a couple of years ago from David Ball called "Riding with Private Malone" that talks about the mother that lost her son in Vietnam and so she kept his 66 Vette in a barn.

Corvette Fever keeps the barn car dream alive with an article documenting the find of 5 rare Corvettes that were stored for over 20 years. The Corvettes were in an old service station and barn in Brooks, California. All the cars were hauled up here from Southern California 20-plus years ago to be tucked away as investments by a fellow who's now in his eighties.

The Corvettes included a 56, two '63 split-window coupes, and two '67 coupes. The blue '56 was a hot rod. The red '63 was a numbers-matching 75K-mile car with a 250hp engine, Powerglide, power steering, power brakes, and windows. The green '63 was a numbers-matching 300hp/327, with an add on fuel-injection unit. The silver '67 was a 51K-mile, original-paint, numbers-matching, 327/300hp four-speed car. The yellow '67 was a 327/300hp numbers-matching automatic with 48K miles, A/C, and power steering.

When the family decided to sell them, Charlie Lillard was there within the hour. He was able to reach an agreement with the owners to buy them all, including the parts they had accumulated over the years. All the cars have now found new homes. Four of the five Corvettes ended up going to Musclecars Northwest in Renton, Washington. I have to say that the adventure of finally buying the Corvettes was well worth the effort.