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How do people find cars like this?
By Andrew Wendler and Richard Prince

The long and twisted tale of the so-called VH1 MAX Corvette collection, after sitting for nearly twenty-five years in a series of New York parking garages, has finally come to a close. According to a report in the New York Times, the thirty-six-car collection, which began as a grand prize in a television contest before finding its way into the hands of psychedelic graphic designer Peter Max, was recently purchased by a group of investors with the intent of returning the cars to their pre-infamy status. As it turns out, the tale of how thirty-six Chevrolet Corvettes can go instantaneously from making TV headlines to disappearing in plain sight for a quarter-century isn’t as nefarious as one might suspect. Back in 1988, long before VH1 dumped actual music for reality-based programming, the network figured it could tap into its then baby-boomer demographic and snag some ratings with a mega promotion based on the iconic Corvette. So the network enlisted a producer to gather 36 Vettes, one from each production year from 1953 to 1989 (the 1983 model year was skipped when production was halted to prepare for the launch of the ’84 C4). The giveaway was a call-in affair that required contestants to enter by dialing a 900 number at the cost of $2.00 per call. By the time VH1 had milked this promotion for all it was worth, more than a million people had entered.
In the end, it was Dennis Amodeo, a carpenter from Long Island, who came out on top and flew to California to accept his prize. But before he even hatched a plan to get all the cars back to N.Y., Mr. Max intervened, purchasing the collection from Amodeo for a reported $250,000 in cash, $250,000 in artwork, and a portion of future sales of the Corvettes up to $1 million. Apparently, Max had grand visions of using the Corvettes as an integral part of an art project. Although Max did retrieve the cars to NYC, the art project never came to fruition; paper color-test strips affixed to some of the cars remain the only clue of the artist’s original plans. For the better part of the last twenty-five years the Corvettes remained interned in a series of garages until the Heller and Spindler families finally convinced Max to sell, although they won’t disclose the price.

Now they have possession of the entire collection, restoration work under the watchful eye of Corvette aficionado and occasional concours judge Chris Mazzilli has begun, starting with the 1953 Corvette, which is number 291 of the 300 Corvettes produced in its inaugural year. The remainder of the cars will be either restored or simply reconditioned, as determined on a car-to-car basis. C/D spoke to one of the new owners, Adam Heller, who confirmed that although the plan loosely involves selling the cars at auction within a year or so, the owners are still “open to ideas and not really certain what the endgame is.” When asked if any of the involved parties has interest in keeping a car or two for their own use, Heller said they hadn’t really thought about it.
Interestingly, there’s one non-Corvette in the car collection, a fully customized Volkswagen Beetle clad in Max’s unmistakable patterns and color play. It may have the greatest appeal to the art world. It’s cool, but it’s the Corvettes and their story that are of interest to the car-enthusiast community. Check out our full gallery of the collection, photographed by Richard Prince and provided courtesy of the Heller family.

 

By

. View gallery

Artist Peter Max bought the collection from the winner of the VH1 giveaway, for an art project that never came to fruition.



Peter Max was not a car guy. So when he purchased a collection of 36 Chevrolet Corvettes, one from every year of manufacture up until 1989, he had a very specific plan: He would use this slice of American history as a tool to self-promote his work as an artist, painting the machines in lurid colors while staging them in various oddball scenarios only the most expressive of minds could envision.
Only that never happened. Instead, Max left his collection in a New York City storage lot, which is where they've lived for a quarter of a century, sat gathering inches of dust, moved only when switching from one storage location to another. However, that is all about to change, as the cars are now under new ownership – one that will lovingly restore the 'Vettes and get them back on the road.
The story of how Max acquired the cars began in 1989, when music network VH1 held a contest to award a lucky viewer with a Corvette from every year of the model's existence, from 1953 to 1989. Hemmings reports that VH1 purchased the cars for $610,000, and made its money back by creating a 900 number and charging contestants $2.00 per phone call to enter.
Placing just one call, Dennis Amodeo, a carpenter from Long Island, won the prize. Shortly after receiving his army of Corvettes, Amodeo received a call from Max who had seen the collection at an auto show in 1990. Max stated that he wished to purchase the cars, and at a meet in New York City, the two hashed out a deal that reportedly included $250,000 in cash, $250,000 worth of Max's artwork and an agreement that if Max ever sold the cars, Amodeo would receive a portion of the proceeds, up to $1 million.
While the exterior of the 1963 Vette is coated in grime, the interior has been fairly well preserved by neglect …


Why Max never executed his plan for the Corvette collection remains a bit of a mystery; in 2010, he talked about adding 14 more years of vehicles to bring the tally up to an even 50. Once again, that never happened. Perhaps it was the sheer amount of work that was required after the artist had let the cars sit for so long; some of the cars, like the 1974 and 1984, would cost more to restore than the vehicle's worth, and time was reportedly unkind to most of the 'Vettes in the group – two-thirds of which sport the less-sought-after automatic transmission with 14 of the cars convertibles; none feature the prized big-block V-8.
Still, after Max approached a guy named Peter Heller to locate a new storage garage for his collection, according to the New York Times, Heller decided instead to offer the artist a deal to purchase the 36 Corvettes. Max agreed for an untold sum (it's unknown whether Amodeo will receive a portion of the proceeds, as stated in Max's original deal). Some of the cars, Heller discovered, could be show-ready with relatively basic restoration, and he plans to have even most decrepit vehicles brought back to life.
When complete, the collection will return to the market, hoping to deliver a tidy return on Heller's investment and keep the wheels turning on the once forgotten Corvettes of Peter Max.

 

Video is here:
https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...162558587.html

 

several rare pictures of the collection




The VH1/Peter Max Corvettes



The Peter Max collection as it sat for many years.

 

The VH1/Peter Max Corvettes



VH1 gathered a Corvette from every year of production for the promotion — often just buying whatever it could find.

 

The VH1/Peter Max Corvettes



Artist Peter Max bought the collection from the winner of the VH1 giveaway, for an art project that never came to fruition.

 

The VH1/Peter Max Corvettes



This 1967 Stingray was one of several that Peter Max put strips of paper on to test his ideas for the art project.

 

A 1964 Corvette among the dozens awaiting restoration and sale.

 

The VH1/Peter Max Corvettes



Another shot of the 1964 Vette and the collection.