[VIDEO] Collection of Serial No. 35 Corvettes to be Offered at Mecum Indianapolis

We told you a few days ago about the one-of-a-kind collection with an example of every Indy pace car produced that has been gathered by Keith Busse.

That assemblage will be up for auction at the Mecum Auction in Indianapolis May 15-20.

But did you know Busse also has another one-of-a-kind collection of Corvettes and related memorabilia that can never be replicated?

Known as the Serial #35 Corvette Collection, it’ll also be auctioned off during the same event.

The seeds for this collection were actually sown back in 1987 when Busse became one of a select group of roughly 200 individuals who own a 1953 Corvette, the first year of production.

Busse’s white over red ’53 carries the serial #35.

When Chevrolet announced a 50th anniversary edition would be produced in 2003, Busse likewise hoped to buy serial #35. Unfortunately, he learned that the first 40 of the 2003 models were slated to be pilot cars or demonstrators that would not be sold to the public. As a consolation prize of sorts, though, Chevy offered Busse serial #1035 – in white over red.

Busse appreciated the gesture from Chevy, but he still had his eye set on serial #35 from 2003 and found out that it was built as a 50th Anniversary Le Mans Pace Car and had been shipped to western France for race duty. After the race, Busse began searching the world and was finally able to buy #35 from a dealership in Europe, then had it imported to the U.S. to give him the lowest serial-number matching pair of ‘53s and ‘03s in existence.

Busse wasn’t done yet, though.

During a fundraiser for the National Corvette Museum, he was able to buy a commemorative brick – #35 naturally – from the original Corvette factory in Flint, Michigan.

Adding to the collection is a limited-edition 1953 pedal car built by Pedal Car USA and licensed by GM. These little cars carried serial numbers on a dash plaque, and he was able to track down #35.

Perhaps the most unusual piece of Busse’s #35 puzzle, though, is the original Corvette trademark patent filing from the U.S. government, which he was able to purchase when the government was digitizing its records to save space.

Mecum expects this unique collection to fetch between $500,000 and $750,000. Here is Keith Busse talking about the unique Serial No. 35 Corvette collection and how it was assembled:

Source:
mecum.com

Related:
1967 Corvette Awarded to Super Bowl MVP QB Bart Starr to be Offered at Mecum Indy
[VIDEO] Keith Busse Offering Entire Corvette Pace Car Collection at Mecum Indy
The Richard Cohen Collection of Five C2 Corvette Big Tanks is Headed to Mecum Indy
Mecum to Feature a 1967 L88 Corvette Coupe at Indy Auction