After months of searching, a U.S. collector flies to Germany to buy a 1966 Corvette Sting Ray—only to find it disassembled.
After months of hunting for his dream car, American collector Roger finally found it—a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. The only catch? It was sitting in pieces inside a German garage, waiting to be reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle.
Roger first spotted the Corvette online three months ago and couldn’t get it out of his mind. The car had been parked in the same spot for nearly a decade, owned by a man from Kentucky who had never driven it. Initially, Roger missed his chance to buy it when another buyer stepped in. However, when the deal fell through, he wasted no time, withdrew the cash, and flew to Hockenheim to bring the classic sports car home.
The Corvette, powered by a 327-cubic-inch V-8 producing 350 horsepower, was originally stored in a barn that had since been converted into a garage. When Roger arrived, he found the car with its rear axle disassembled, wheels missing, and several components removed. Fortunately, many of the original parts, including the Goodyear tires, were still neatly organized on shelves.
Undeterred, Roger and a Corvette-experienced mechanic carefully pushed the Sting Ray out of the garage and into the sunlight for the first time in nine years. Given Hockenheim’s strict parking regulations, they had to move quickly to load it onto a trailer hitched to Roger’s classic Chevrolet Nomad.
Despite its condition, the Corvette boasts a stunning black leather interior with diamond-pattern stitching, an unusual third taillight modification, and 115,000 miles on the odometer. Roger plans to lower the suspension, remove the extra taillights, and perform a power conversion. Before diving into the restoration, though, he gave the car a much-needed wash and celebrated the long-awaited moment.
With the car safely back in his shop, Roger discovered the missing emblems tucked away in a box inside the car. Though modifications are planned, for now, he’s simply enjoying the fact that the Corvette he obsessed over for months is finally his.
