1961 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

WHEN THE CALL CAME, IT WAS almost unbelievable. The quarter-million-mile Corvette that we were literally days away from photographing for a Driveable Dream-style feature — the one that had recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with the same enthusiast owner — had caught fire. The factory-applied finishes that had been so carefully preserved through the years were irreparably damaged. This was a stunning blow for its devoted caretaker, but he vowed to bring back his phoenix, true to its roots, and better than ever.

We knew this Corvette’s backstory, since its owner, Burton Hall, had shared with the Hemmings Nation a much-admired photo essay that ran on the [www.hmn.com/1961vette]. That piece revolved around the Summer 2017 rally he’d arranged for his car-enthusiast friends that commemorated that anniversary, and honored their common love of cool classic rides. The Chevrolet, which the then-college-student purchased in July 1967 for $1,300 — the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $9,970 today — had