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The "priceless" 1960 Corvette was a three-time National Corvette Show winner crafted at Dave's Collision and Car Repair in Bellaire.

(Courtesy Photo | Dave Fischbach)

BELLAIRE, MI - A group of car enthusiasts who built a custom 1960 Corvette are devastated after their award-winning vehicle was stolen and burned in Detroit last month.

The "priceless" vehicle was a three-time National Corvette Show winner crafted at Dave's Collision and Car Repair in Bellaire.

Owner Dave Fischbach, a self-proclaimed car nut who been showing classic cars for more than 40 years, said the loss of the vehicle has been hard to take.

"Right now, I've lost my desire to show cars; mine or anyone else's," Fischbach said more than a week after the Corvette went missing in Southgate. "This has broken my spirit and passion for doing it.

Ninety percent of the work that Fischbach and his team do at his small business in Northern Michigan is collision and repair work, but they began working on the Corvette in 2012 and started showing it in 2013.

The cherry red, completely modernized Corvette featured a custom paint job, 480-horse LS3 engine, automatic transmission and digital gauges.

The car was a source of pride for the staff, Fischbach said. Especially because it was their first time dabbling into total car customization.

"Car guys, they all get it," he said. "All the guys who have done cars, even those that buy their cars. But the people who build something from the ground up. They just understand the time and effort, the bloody knuckles and the sore backs. It's not like losing a child, I'd never compare it to that, but for a car guy, it's pretty darn close."

The vehicle was stolen sometime on Feb. 21 or Feb. 22 while Fischbach was preparing to attend Detroit's Autorama for the first time.

Sometime in the night, the Corvette, a one-of-a-kind trailer that once belonged to auto racer Tony Stewart and a 2000 Jeep Wrangler, were all taken from the parking lot of the Southgate Holiday Inn where Fischbach was staying.

A few days later, photos surfaced of the burnt Corvette, which had apparently been cut into three pieces. The destroyed trailer was discovered abandoned.

"They must have taken it somewhere and stripped it for parts," Fischbach said.

The Southgate Police Department is currently investigating the case, which Fischbach said he greatly appreciates. The department did not immediately return calls for comment.

He added that it's impossible to put a price on the Corvette, especially because of all the awards it had won. He hopes that the social media exposure and press coverage the crime has attracted will help bring the culprits to justice.