The Corvette Hunter. Tyler Greenblatt
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However, he couldn’t even come close to being able to afford one.
He continued to look through the old magazines, admiring the famous L88 race cars that duked it out at Sebring, Daytona, and even Le Mans when it hit him. He had never seen or heard of most of these cars in present times. Of course the Grand Sports were known, as were some of the more famous race cars that had major class wins and continued to be used at showcase events through the years. Cars such as Roger Penske’s ’66 Sunoco Blue coupe that won back-to-back at Sebring and Daytona. But there were other class-winning factory L88s that had much success and were never seen again. So what if they were sitting in a junkyard somewhere with the engine missing? A factory L88 race car is still a factory L88 and could be restored as such just as easily as any other Corvette.
“I realized that there were a lot of those cars out there that had never been found. The official publication of Corvette is Corvette News, and I thought that any car featured on the cover would have to be something important. A lot of them were factory L88s that won championships. I decided to go after all of them.
“Some people started to get jealous. They’d say, ‘How can one guy find all these rare cars?’ You know how? When you don’t have a life, like me; that’s how you find these cars. My whole life I was just obsessed with the history of these cars and finding out where the hell they were. While others were on vacation or at home with their families watching a movie, you know what I was doing? I was looking through a telephone book or at the classified ads in an old magazine. I was studying photos in old books, making connections, and getting phone numbers. That’s what I was doing in my spare time. I’d sleep for six or seven hours, and the rest of the time I’d be hunting, restoring, working, repairing; whatever I had to do. So that’s how I found these cars. Other guys were at home. There’s nothing wrong with that; family is as important as anything, but at the time I wasn’t married, I was living on my own, I was independent, so my whole life was Corvettes. That’s why I got this stuff, because I had the drive and the will and the passion to do it.
“I went down a lot of dead-end streets. Not everything was a pot of gold. A lot of cars turned up stolen, destroyed, or burned to the ground. But that’s the way it is.”
As he started finding some of these long-lost race cars through perseverance and gut-bending willpower, he continued to learn from Ed Mueller about the investment side of the car hobby. He was brought in the loop of other well-known collectors including Chip Miller, founder of Corvettes at Carlisle, who also took Kevin under his wing and groomed him into one of the top Corvette experts in the world. Kevin’s first major Corvette sale in 2000 took three cars out of his garage and put $1 million into his bank account. He could have retired on the interest; instead, he spent all of it on his dream Corvette.
Even as the cost of some restorations at Corvette Repair neared half a million dollars, and the awards continued to pile up more than any other Corvette shop in history, the featured magazine covers exceeded 100, and Kevin Mackay took on celebrity-like status on television and at car events worldwide, he never lost the drive to hunt down long-lost Corvettes.
“I like the challenge, I like the hunt, and I love the history. It’s fun. Life is short; we’re only caretakers of these special cars, but as long as I’ve got my health I’ll keep plugging away. That’s what keeps me happy. I didn’t take my first vacation until I was 50 because I got married when I was 50.”
With hardly any time available to date, how did he meet someone, fall in love, and get married? In ninth grade, Kevin started dating Christina, and the two quickly fell in love. From their first date when Kevin took her fishing to learning how to drive together in driver’s ed, they knew they were meant for each other. When Kevin turned 16, she gave him a seashell engraved with the words: Kevin And Christina, Love You Forever, 7/12/1973. The pair shared two years together, sharing first dates, first handholds, and first kisses.
Kevin was the captain of his Junior High wrestling team and his coach, who was incidentally his and Christina’s driving instructor, told him that he couldn’t have any relationships; it would screw with his head. So Kevin broke up with Christina. She was devastated.
Fast forward 30 years when Kevin received an invitation to his 30th high school reunion and, of course, went online to see who else had signed up to attend. He saw a familiar name: Christina Cantone. He couldn’t believe it. All the memories of his first love came back in a whirlwind rush. He had to contact her before the reunion, so he sent an email with the heading “Your First Love.” He said that he was looking forward to seeing her and he hoped that all was well. She responded, signing her email “Your First Love.” Sixty emails later, Christina called Corvette Repair and Kevin recognized her voice immediately. She asked how many kids Kevin had, to which he responded, “I was never married, I have no children, and I’m not gay.”
“I have no kids, I’m divorced, and I’m not gay either,” she said. After they shared a good laugh, Kevin mentioned that he would be in West Palm Beach, Florida, the following week, near where Christina lived, for the Barrett-Jackson auction. She invited him to stay at her house. She told him that she had been so in love with him when she was a kid and that she had never gotten over him.
He had never gotten over her either. That night, he went into his attic and opened a box containing every love letter she had ever written to him and the old seashell that she had inscribed with a rusty nail in her father’s garage. He flew to West Palm Beach, and Christina was there at the airport waiting for him.
“She had this beautiful tan and looked great,” Kevin remembers. “She had put on makeup and jewelry and a beautiful outfit. She never looked like that in high school! I was used to seeing her in jeans and a T-shirt.”
Christina ran up to him and hugged him and kissed him. They walked over to the baggage claim and Kevin said, “Do me a favor and hold on to this,” as he placed the seashell in her hand. Tears ran down her face. She couldn’t believe that he had saved the seashell from more than 30 years ago. He told her that she was his first love and she had always held a place in his heart. That night they went out for dinner, drinks, and dancing, and Kevin had another special surprise waiting for her at home.
“I’m not done with you just yet,” he told her. He then pulled out a binder containing every love letter she had ever written him, in order by date. A year and a half later, Kevin proposed, they got married, and he went on his first vacation that didn’t involve Corvettes.
It seemed as though Kevin Mackay was getting everything that he could have possibly dreamed of: a successful business, a loving wife, and the ability to pursue his Corvette passion every single day. And despite all the magazine articles written about his work and the television and event interviews he’s been a part of, he’s never truly been able to tell the stories behind the cars to his fans. Some of his greatest finds have been the result of years, sometimes decades, of persistent grit and cunning.
“I may have been interviewed about the cars I’ve restored, but they don’t know about what I had to go through to get them. They may see the cars done now and they’re all beautiful and pretty, but they don’t know what it took to get there. That’s why this book is so important. Readers are going to say ‘Holy crap! This guy is out of his freaking mind. This guy never gives up!’ When I do something I try to go all out at any given time and I don’t give up. Maybe that’s just my nature. I have a high school education and although I’m not a good reader or a good speller, I have the drive and I have the will and I have the passion.”
Christmas 1962 was a special time for a seven-year-old Kevin Mackay. He received a toy Indy race car as a gift! Even then, although he loved tractors, trucks, and trains like most boys, he especially loved race cars. His sister, Colleen is standing up with her doll right behind his brother, Jerry. Kevin’s other brother, Brian, experienced his first Christmas that year.
After winning a local soap box derby race, Kevin (right) poses with his