Father-son duo will slim down the fleet to a more managable, and drivable, size

We trekked down to Fort Worth, Texas to tour the Andrews Collection before the bulk of it goes under the auctioneer’s hammer, expecting to see cars. And we did, but not until after Paul Andrews showed us his incredible assemblage of automated music machines. Fittingly for a man who made his fortune in the electronics industry, he operated all of these towering, early 20th-century player organs remotely, and gleefully, via iPad.

We quickly discovered that Paul and his son Chris are knowledgeable about what they collect (whether cars or vintage organs), passionate about obtaining the best and—most importantly—eager to actually use what they’ve got. That can be tough when you’ve got 90 or so cars spanning all eras kept ready-to-run in an enviable showplace/working garage.

The Andrews Collection has been [...]

Dr. Dick Thompson-the legendary ‘Flying Dentist’-won the 1961 SCCA B-Production National Championships with this 1961 Chevrolet Corvette. This Corvette has been in the winner’s circle numerous times while driven by famous racers including Don Yenko and Ben Moore.

During the 1961 season, the Corvette was raced at the 12 Hours of Sebring where Delmo Johnson and Dave Morgan placed first in the Grand Touring 3000 class. Their vehicle was the number 4. Bud Gates and Harry Heuer in the #83 car placed 2nd. Don Yenko and Ben Moore placed third in their #1 car.

This 1961 Corvette was originally ordered by Yenko Chevrolet for Grady Davis, executive vice president of Gulf Oil. It came standard with a 315 horsepower, fuel-injected engine, Borg-Warner four-speed transmission, Posi-traction rear axle and heavy-duty brake, steering and suspension. A Chevrolet Engineering ‘Sebring Package’ was fitted to the race car that included a 37-gallon fiberglass fuel tank, hood louvers, headlamp covers [...]

lan B. Shepard (center) with GM Styling President William L. Mitchell (left) and Chevrolet General Manager Edward N. Cole (right) with Shepard’s 1962 Corvette.

Shortly after returning from his historic flight to space in 1961, Alan Shepard got a surprise gift from General Motors — a dazzling white 1962 Chevrolet Corvette.

The gift would spark a budding relationship between NASA astronauts and the automaker, and experts say the association helped to define the Corvette as the iconic American sports car.

“In the 1960s, astronauts were the American heroes that every child idolized and every adult respected,” Corvette historian Jerry Burton told GM in a 2011 interview. “That so many of them drove Corvettes really helped establish the Corvette as America’s sports car.”

But the astronauts might not have settled on the Corvette had it not been for Florida Chevrolet dealer Jim Rathmann, who also won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960.

According to General Motors, Rathmann [...]

As Larry Fisette told it, “I couldn’t believe it was in there. That it had been sitting there all that time.” The story is, a couple bought the Vette in Chicago in 1964 and drove it home to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Then, the husband began the restoration project. So, the ’54 Corvette roadster had been parked and torn apart until 2014, over 50 years. “He had jacked the body off the frame and pulled out the motor,” Larry recalled.

Fisette believes life is sometimes more about luck than skill. He’s already known in the hobby as the man who found 21 trailers full of Chevrolet muscle cars and parts. He calls this find luck, too.

One day a man and his wife walked into Larry’s business, De Pere Auto Center in De Pere, Wisconsin, to look for Chevrolet parts from these 21 trailers. The wife then revealed, “We have a ’54 Corvette, as well.” Fisette [...]