Ever make the mistake of tuning in to one of those 'storage unit' reality TV shows?
You know the ones. A team of 'storage unit aficionados' (actors) tour the auction circuit for storage units. Often filmed in America, these experts often inexplicably buy units full of hidden and forgotten gems. Unassuming cabinets come full of mint condition Nazi paraphernalia or baseball cards or shrunken heads dipped in 24 carat gold or some other bollocks.
I'm not generally a fan of these shows (suprise!), but I do enjoy when they stumble upon car stuff. And imagine touring abandoned units and stumbling upon a near new Corvette.
For someone in the US, this was reportedly a reality (we'll get back to that 'reportedly' bit later).
A black 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 (that's the fast fast one) was recently listed for sale on eBay, selling on Saturday Aotearoa time for US$57,500 (NZ$77,600).
"We bought this car in a storage unit purchase," reports the seller.
"The car has been abandoned! We have checked the vin and it is not a stolen vehicle. It doesn’t come with any paperwork. We have a Automotive shop and were planing to do a Title abandonment but if we do that the price of the car will go significantly higher."
The act of finding a Corvette abandoned is interesting enough, but it gets more intriguing. The car was coated in a thick layer of dust and a bit of frontal damage — as showcased by the find photos. Weirder still were the miles on the clock; just 720 original miles. That's 1159 kilometers — barely delivery miles.
It cleaned up well enough, as above, and then went to auction to sell for the aforementioned price. But the story doesn't end there.
Since the car sold, the trader that bought it has already given the seller a negative feedback — the sale clearly not going through. "Cannot show they have any right to the Z06? Cannot show it is lien free? Scam!!!" is what their feedback reads.
As a buyer, those are probably the most important things to consider here. It's an abandoned sports car with no mileage — the buyer has every right to ensure that it's not stolen property.
So, for the barely-driven Corvette it appears to be a case of back to square one. It's a shame that such a car has been relegated to such a cruddy existence.
Hopefully it finds its way into some more appreciative hands soon.
