Fate can be a fickle mistress, and for veteran George Talley she would prove cruel as well, snatching away his beloved 1979 Chevrolet Corvette just a couple of years after the Detroit, Michigan resident bought it. Kept apart for nearly 35 years, Talley was surprised when he received a phone call informing him that his Corvette had been recovered hundreds of miles away in Mississippi.

But while time had eaten away much of the Corvette’s important bits, Talley was just glad to have her home, even taking the time to write to GM boss Mark Reuss about the recovery. Upon hearing Talley’s story, the President of GM North America decided to give back to the veteran and lifelong GM customer, offering to fully restore the ‘79 Corvette back to showroom condition.

It’s interesting that GM would put so much time and effort into restoring a Corvette of the 1979 vintage. C3 Corvettes aren’t exactly known for being valuable within the collector car circuit, and the 1979 model year offered a mere 195 hp to motivate nearly 3,400 pounds of American steel and fiberglass. Despite these handicaps though, the 1979 Corvette sold extremely well, making it both commonplace and kinda boring, though not to a man like George Talley. Cars are really only as valuable as what we as human beings assign them, and while Talley’s 1979 may not be worth much in the traditional sense, it is virtually priceless compared to the experience and joy it has given him.

The ball got rolling on this project last year, and the team of dedicated GM restorers spent as much as 16 hours a day for much of this year getting Talley’s Corvette ready to roll out for the annual Woodward Dream Cruise. They were successful in their efforts, returning to a loyal customer a car he had thought lost forever, and giving this sad story of a stolen car a much happier ending than anyone expected.