I have heard stories of the Peter Max Collection, but this is the first time I have seen photos of the entire collection of Corvettes all together. According to the guys over at the Hemmings Blog, the artist turned Corvette owner has finally decided to part ways with all 36 cars. It has taken 25 years, but these Vettes may finally see some use. A daring group of individuals were able to get Peter to part ways with the cars and are now in the process of pulling them out of storage, cleaning them, and getting them all running again. The entire story is an incredible one, so if you haven’t heard of this collection, be sure to read the entire story of how it came to be! Special thanks to Jim S for bringing this news to our attention!

I won’t go into great detail about how the collection came to be, you can read the detailed story over at Hemmings, but for those who want the short and quick version, here it is. The collection started in 1990, when VH1 held a giveaway to drum up some much needed publicity. They had the idea to give away one Corvette of every year starting with a 1953 and ending with a 1989. Most of them were base model cars, but some of the early ones are now highly desirable. The giveaway was a massive success and one lucky winner went home with a massive bag of car keys. That winner was a Mr. Dennis Amadeo of Long Island. After accepting his award he was contacted by Peter Max about possibly selling the entire collection and this is where things started to get interesting.

Mr. Max decided to buy the whole collection after seeing it at an auto show, which inspired him to make them into an art project. He claims the morning after the giveaway, he had a dream of the cars driving onto a football field with cheerleaders standing on them with a man standing behind him eating a hot dog with mustard on it. Remember he is known for his psychedelic and abstract art work! He has stated himself that he isn’t much of a car guy, but bought them purely for the art project that he never completed. He was able to make a deal with Amadeo to buy the entire collection and has owned them ever since. Over the years stories about the collection have come out, with the most recent being back in 2010. Each time there has been considerable speculation and attempts to buy them, but nobody had been able to pull it off until now.

It is incredible to see so many Corvettes in a single private collection, but it is sad that they have been allowed to fall into such disrepair. Hopefully the new owners will be able to get all of them ready for the road, or at least the majority! I can only imagine the magnitude of an undertaking like this, so I wish them luck. They hope to sell the entire collection as a package deal, but are looking at selling them individually as an option too. It would be amazing for all 36 cars to remain together, but finding a buyer could be difficult. This is one story I will be keeping an eye on and I will be sure to let you guys know if any new information surfaces! So, did anyone here try their luck at the VH1 Corvette Giveaway back in ’90?