Garage fire couldn’t kill “Burnie,” a 1967 Corvette that still fires up after inferno
Published on Sep 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Sep 24, 2025 at 3:44 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
A 1967 Corvette that was burned was rescued by a YouTuber, and despite its poor condition, the Chevrolet sports car is still able to start and turn over.
The YouTuber was called up by a friend who owned the car and offered it to him, even though it looked burnt to a crisp.
The fire itself was started by a malfunctioning lawnmower, and it didn’t take long for it to spread and badly damage this gorgeous piece of automotive history.
Thankfully, it would appear all is not lost for this American sports car.
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How the 1967 Corvette caught fire
According to its owner, Scott, he had been mowing his lawn when a fire suddenly started.
The fire originated in his malfunctioning lawnmower.
It quickly spread to the garage where the Corvette lived.
Firefighters managed to put out the blaze, but Scott could see that the car was badly damaged.
The garage looked to have borne the brunt of the damage from the fire.
That led to Scott calling Larry Poetter, who then got in touch with his friend Jack, a mechanic and Corvette fanatic.
Despite the damage to the sports car, Jack was keen to see what it looked like and what needed doing.
Incredibly, the Corvette had fared better than you would have thought.
The sports car had escaped total destruction
Some parts of the sports car had indeed been badly damaged by the ensuing inferno.
Incredibly, though, some parts had escaped almost unscathed.
The rare spindle wheels of the C2 Corvette had somehow survived, and even the interior had escaped the worst of the damage.
Inside, there was just ash covering the seats and dashboard, but underneath that, they had survived.
Even more remarkable, however, was that the Chevrolet still fired up despite the obvious damage.
When they turned the key, the V8 roared into life almost instantly, which made its restoration a lot more feasible.
It would have been easy for Scott to simply get this Corvette scrapped or broken up for spare parts.
However, thanks to Jack, it may well have a second chance at life.
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Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a leading heritage steam railway in England.
