Every once in a blue moon, something comes along that sets the automotive world on its ear. In the winter of 1953, such an event occurred when thousands of show goers who attended General Motors’ Motorama presentation at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, were wowed by a little white fiberglass sports car taking center stage. It was the all new Corvette from Chevrolet. That day, an icon was born.

In 1964, someone in the marketing department thought that even though the Corvette was certainly an appealing showpiece in its own right, the two year old C2 could use a an improvement when it came to the auto show circuit.

To start with, they selected an early production 1965 Corvette coupe that was taken right from the assembly line. It was/is, a gorgeous Nassau Blue, beauty, fitted with white leather seats. The “Chosen One” was then shipped to a specialty company that produced dramatic exhibits for use at commercial and industrial shows. The car was immediately disassembled and a one-of-a-kind Corvette was created.

The body is mounted to elevating rams, and the body could be lifted from the chassis, leaving the car’s chassis and powertrain exposed. To further expose the inner workings of this machine, careful and well thought-out incisions were made in all of the major components. The frame was then painted a bright yellow, while the engine, transmission and other mechanical components were finished in a bright red hue. When completed, the project cost $1,000,000 to complete in 1965. Adjusting for inflation, that’s nearly $7,500,000 today!

Eventually, the project was deemed finished, and the car somehow ended up at a South African auto mechanic school in the 1990s.

But the cut-away did eventually find its way home, at which time it was completely restored by collector Al Wiseman. In 2007, the car was auctioned off, and gathered $704,000 when the hammer dropped.

Once again, you can own this piece of history, as it goes back to the auction block. RM Sotheby’s will handle the sale of the car, and current estimates project the cut-away to collect an estimated $1.4 million—but, there is no reserve established. The auction is scheduled to take place on May 2, in Fort Worth, Texas. For more information, visit RMAuctions.com.