But Burroughs knew that 150 victories in anything, anywhere was a stunning accomplishment that placed the car among the marque’s all-time elite. If the car turned out to be an authentic 1967 L88, it would be a monumental find. Burroughs and Krughoff arrived at the Kansas racing shop in July 1978, amazed at Gottlob’s creative use of limited space. Parts hung from the ceiling. An engine block and oil pan sat on a concrete floor strewn with hard-to-find auto parts. The walls were lined with shelves stocked with untold boxes containing everything from 1960’s era experimental Chevy engine components to modern suspension pieces. This was not a garage. It was a museum. “The very first thing I saw when I entered Cliff’s shop was an engine sitting by itself on the floor,” Burroughs said. “To this day I remember where it was sitting. It was this big, orange 427. I looked at the engine stamping pad and saw the code for the L88. The stampings looked beautiful. I could tell it hadn’t been re-stamped. I could tell that the engine hadn’t been repainted. There was original factory paint on it and original valve covers. It had seen some signs of wear, but the engine block was spectacular.” Gottlob then showed him the car itself. “About fifty feet from where I was standing I could see this race car up on jack stands,” Burroughs recalled. “It was pretty tacky looking, but in twenty-five seconds I knew this had to be real.” This was an amazing find – the sort of discovery that every Corvette lover dreams about. Only twenty of these machines were ever built. Many of them were stored away as investments and never saw any street duty. Even fewer of them were actively campaigned as racers. Burroughs was interested. “I asked Cliff if he had any paperwork. He said, ‘Oh, sure! I’ve got everything.’ Typically, when you ask people for paperwork, their idea of documentation is an ad out of a magazine, so you’re naturally skeptical. I said, ‘Well, Cliff, what do you have?’” “Oh, I’ve got the window sticker.” “How did you get it off the window?” “I didn’t. It was in the glove box. It was a factory delivery. They didn’t put it in the window.” “You mean it doesn’t have any glue on it?” 56 “Oh, no!” When Gottlob produced the window sticker, Burroughs was shocked to see that it was as crisp as “a brand new one-dollar bill. And this was in 1978, before people were making fake window stickers. Within three seconds of looking at it, I knew there was no doubt.” Burroughs asked, “Do you have anything else?” “Oh, yes. I got the invoice, the dealer paperwork, got stuff from the factory.” The car’s paper trail was impeccable. Gottlob had saved the original order form, all original receipts, the dealer receipt, Chevy’s Vehicle Delivery Inspection and Adjustment Report, the owner’s manual and reams of paperwork from 1967. He even kept the Kansas state tax form. But since it had been stripped for racing, the carpet, kick panels, console and much more were missing. Even though the car was undoubtedly genuine, the absence of this material was a strike against its condition and history. Burroughs asked, “What happened to all this stuff?” “I took all that out.” “So where is it?” “It’s in the closet at my mom and dad’s house. It’s been there since August of ‘67.” Not only had every piece of the original interior been saved intact, but it was carefully wrapped in plastic and had never suffered any significant exposure to ultraviolet light, human touch, or wear. Burroughs asked for the brake calipers. They were sitting on a shelf in the corner of the shop. The original distributor wasn’t on the engine, Burroughs noted. Minutes later Gottlob produced it from the bottom of an old cardboard box. Gottlob’s magic act continued for a day and a half and one original part after another was found in the racing shop. This was almost too good to be true. The provenance, track record and completeness of the car were beyond special. Burroughs pulled his partner aside and said, “This is definitely an important automobile. We need to take this seriously.” The parties agreed on a price and the deal was done.
