Chevy Muscle

[Gordon]

True story ... pix to prove it, link at end of story

G-Man

Huge muscle car stash found!

(Pic's at bottom)

Larry Fisette had no idea whether he was buying King Tut's tomb or Al

Capone's vault when he agreed to buy 21 trailers said to be full of Corvettes and

Chevrolet muscle cars and parts. Luckily, all of the rumors he had heard

whispered around his northeast Wisconsin home turned out to be more true than he

ever dreamed.

So far, Fisette, a De Pere, Wisconsin, restorer and automotive repair shop

proprietor, has opened 17 of the 21 sealed trailers one-by-one and found a

Yenko Camaro with 45,000 miles; a pair of low-mileage 1970 LS-6 Chevelles; a

1972 Camaro Z/28; two 1957 Corvettes, one a fuel-injected car, the other a

dual-four-barrel-equipped example; and several other Chevrolet performance cars.

Filling in the space around the cars like water around pebbles is an inventory

of NOS and used performance parts that would make a Nickey Chevrolet parts

manager jealous, and Fisette is not done cracking trailers open. He's also

confident there's more muscle hidden in the trailers.

How the trailers came to be full of new Corvette side exhaust systems,

factory Corvette race parts, and highly desirable engines and parts is as

interesting as the man who filled them.

Donald Schlag's passion for Chevrolet performance cars, even when they were

new, gave him the foresight to realize that someday, others would have just

as much interest in them. So while he was working at his father's John Deere

dealership, Green Bay Implement, Schlag began buying the parts from the local

Chevrolet dealer's parts counter in the 1960s and stored them at the John

Deere dealership. He also made annual trips to California, pulling a trailer

behind an RV for a month at a time in order to retrieve more parts for his

stash. When his father died and the dealership was liquidated in the early 1970s,

he tucked the parts and cars in semi trailers.

But when the very people who Schlag was saving parts for betrayed him by

stealing a part, Schlag stopped sharing his collection. He even went so far as

to completely seal the trailers off once they were full. By butting the

trailers up against each other, not even he could go back in them. Schlag also

stopped driving the cars he collected after one of his Corvettes was keyed in a

parking lot. From that point on, he swapped the engines and slipped the cars

into the trailers, never to be gazed upon again.

Many local car collectors believe the reason why Schlag pulled the engines

from his cars and installed a different engine before he put them away was to

thwart thieves, since the cars wouldn't be numbers-matching. Even rare parts,

like a first-generation race Corvette gas tank, was separated from its two

filler neck pieces and its parts spread between three trailers. Another theory

to explain why Schlag swapped and separated engines was because he predicted

the engines would be worth more than the cars, so he pulled the hot engine

from most of the cars and put a slightly less desirable engine in its place.

Despite his unfortunate interaction with some of his fellow hobbyists,

Schlag remained friendly. When scouring car shows and swap meets around Chicago,

Milwaukee, and Green Bay for more parts in his rusty El Camino, he could be

found engaged in a conversation in which he would even mention if he had a part

or a car.

"He'd talk about what he had, but he didn't brag and he didn't sell

anything," said Fisette, who met Schlag before his June, 2005, death on two

occasions. Through these brief interactions, people began to piece together what he

had hiding.

And while no one knew exactly what Schlag had, Schlag knew what they had in

their garage. By being the local expert on fuel injection units and offering

other mechanical services, Schlag became acquainted with cars in the area,

which also helped him feed his collection.

"There was a rumor that Don would remove your big-block and install a

small-block [as a gas-saving measure during the second fuel crisis]," Fisette said.

This would explain why about half of the engines Fisette has uncovered are

big-block Chevrolet engines.

Upon learning that Schlag passed away, Fisette took a chance on acquiring

the collection and contacted Schlag's family.

"I called her [schlag's sister's] number, told her my name, and said I'd buy

everything and told her I had the capability to buy and disperse it all,"

Fisette said. After checking with other hobbyists, Schlag's family decided that

Fisette was the right person to buy the collection.

"We were so lucky to find Larry," said Joanne Stepien, Don Schlag's sister.

"I received several phone calls [from people interested in buying the

collection], so I took their names and numbers. I had about five different people to

choose from." Stepien then researched the reputations of each party, and

Fisette was the only person to come back with stellar credentials.

Once the deal was sealed, Fisette was ready to break down the doors of the

trailers to see what he bought, and the first trailer he opened didn't let him

down.

"I hadn't seen inside any of the trailers. I did it all on Donny's

reputation," Fisette said. "The first trailer I opened had two [1970 Chevelle] LS-6s

in it," he said. "It was absolutely total amazement." The Chevelles were

parked bumper-to-bumper in the trailer, and the first he gazed upon was a gold

four-speed, bench-seat car that Fisette soon realized was the LS-6 Chevelle his

neighbor bought new. Fisette even remembers the day the neighbor brought it

home from the dealership and showed it to him. Regardless of his memory of the

car, Fisette prefers the Chevelle parked in front of the gold, four-speed

car: a blue Chevelle with bucket seats and an automatic transmission, which he

considers more driveable.

Unearthing the Yenko Camaro shortly thereafter was obviously an exciting

experience for Fisette, but it was opening a trailer full of factory performance

engines that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"The most exciting moment was when I opened up a trailer and saw shiny

engines up one side and down the other, and then two stacked shelves of them,"

Fisette recalled. More than 150 high-performance engines have been found, in

addition to 14 nice, low-mileage cars, but the bulk of trailers contain parts.

And lots of them.

Since finding the trailers, Fisette has organized the parts in a warehouse

to best determine what he has. While looking down the line of engines, Fisette

smiled at a complete engine for a 1969 Camaro Z/28 engine and asked, "Isn't

that pretty? It's a DZ-302 that's complete down to the breather!" The Camaro

302-cid engine is one of approximately six such engines he's found, and he's

hopeful that it and many of the other engines will land back in the cars they

originally came from, right down to the cast-iron COPO 427-cid engine block

he's found.

"I think it's going to give people a chance to make their cars correct," he

said. One hobbyist has already contacted Fisette to ask if he has the

original engine to his Nova, which was sold to Schlag many years ago following an

engine transplant. Although Fisette plans to sell all of the parts in one lot,

he said he would try to reunite the Nova owner with his car's original

engine.

For Fisette, the hunt was more fun than the catch, and he wants to share

that experience with fellow car collectors. Pointing to a 1958 Corvette radio,

he said, "Imagine how happy this is going to make somebody."

A happy man himself, Fisette is thoroughly enjoying the challenge presented

to him. "I've done nothing but empty trailers since September," Fisette said

while surrounded by all the parts he's organized in his warehouse. "I walk in

here and feel like Scrooge McDuck. I can remember as a kid thinking, 'I'd

kill for a four-speed.' Now look how many I have got!"

Finding such parts continues to be a treasure hunt in itself. Each time he

opens a trailer, Fisette doesn't know if he'll find it filled cars or SS

wheels hanging from the ceiling, engines lining the walls, and 55-gallon drums

filled with performance heads and crankshafts. And even when he finds a trailer

loaded with cars, he's never sure if he'll find another stash of

fuel-injection units or Corvette knock-off wheels in the cars' trunks as he has on

several occasions.

Regardless of his few interactions with Schlag, Fisette feels he's come to

understand the man, and if he's right, there are more surprises great cars and

parts waiting to be found. One of those potential surprises may be another

Yenko car. Fisette has found a rust-free front clip for a Nova in one trailer,

a hubcap center specific to a Yenko Nova in another trailer, and he's heard

that Schlag owned a Yenko Nova with a damaged front clip. Combined with the

fact he has a title and keys to a Nova, Fisette is confident he'll soon

uncover another muscle car icon from the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, dealership.

"I've really got to know him through this puzzle," Fisette said.

Pictures here: (open link, then there is another link "trailers were

opened" and "organized and categorized" you have to see it!

http://www.depereautocenter.com/parts.html

[ridr4lif]

All i have to say is WOW. Ive read the whole story, seen all the pics and i still dont wanna believe it. Its amazing!!! If Larry can sell off all those cars and parts (or whichever ones he feels like selling) he can stop working for a few years!!! 21 trailers full of Chevy Performance parts.

Can you imagine how much money one could make if they found 21 trailers worth of original 02's and parts!?!?!?!??!

[Harv]

WOW! Not a muscle car fan... but... WOW! what a find! Any Idea how much was payed?

John

[skipsfcr]

But you NEVER get to SEE the treasure! That's too cool. There is definitely a fortune there in cars and parts. The American muscle car has really matured in value since that stuff was stashed. Thanks for posting that one Gordon!

[robspeed]

All i have to say is WOW. Ive read the whole story, seen all the pics and i still dont wanna believe it. Its amazing!!! If Larry can sell off all those cars and parts (or whichever ones he feels like selling) he can stop working for a few years!!! 21 trailers full of Chevy Performance parts.

Can you imagine how much money one could make if they found 21 trailers worth of original 02's and parts!?!?!?!??!

the yenko alone is worth ~$100K+++++++ (ive lost track ) it would take a *few* 02s to equal its value alone! yet of course you could fit more 02s in the trailers

[jgerry2002]

I hope these parts end up back with the correct cars. Hopefully someone else won't just buy the lot and stash it away again.

Very cool.

Its fun watching the old trans-am cars at Lime Rock Vintage Festival every fall.

[ridr4lif]

I hope these parts end up back with the correct cars. Hopefully someone else won't just buy the lot and stash it away again.

Very cool.

Its fun watching the old trans-am cars at Lime Rock Vintage Festival every fall.

I hope the parts get put back in the respective cars as well.

ANd Lime Rocks Vintage Festival is AWESOME!!! Even my fiance was impressed when we went 2 years ago. I missed this past years tho

There's always next year!!

[Berns]

Do you guys think those red and gold stacks in the picture would fit on my 02

[Jaycen_PNW2002]

http://www.classiccyclespares.com/

[BarryA]

be matched with their correct engines from the rest of the stash), he's probably sitting on an easy half-million dollars just from the cars he's found so far.

It would be very cool if an inventory listing of engines and other numbered components could be posted, offering first right of refusal to any folks who can prove they have cars to which the engines or other parts belong.

Haven't seen any indication of what was paid for the entire lot, but it's probably not too much of a stretch to guess that Frisette could make a very respectable living for years from selling individual pieces. He's certainly in the right place at the right time, with the value and collectability of muscle cars riding a swell of popularity that's probably still a few years from peaking.

[roadhog0]

Must the spam always dig up old threads....