Priceless '57 Corvette SS race car gets a little smoky at Indy

One of the conundrums of classic-car collecting is that your rare and valuable investment usually needs to be driven every so often — but doing so inevitably puts all those moving artifacts at risk. The Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway knows this more than most, as it keeps a collection of Indy 500 winners and other vehicles in running condition. Last weekend, the museum brought one of its jewels to the track — the one-of-one 1957 Corvette SS that was once destined for Le Mans. As you can see, it's now destined for some time in the garage.

This car occupies a pivotal point in American auto history; the result of General Motors hiring racer and engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov to spur what was at the time a moribund Corvette sports car. Duntov wanted the Corvette to compete against the world's best on the track, and set out to build a car that could prevail at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the dominating Mercedes 300 SL gull wing as a benchmark, Duntov and engineers crafted a Corvette body out of magnesium alloy to shave 900 lbs. off a production model, with a 307-hp V-8 under the hood.

At its debut race at Sebring, Fla., in 1957, the Corvette SS only lasted 23 laps before it had to retire with technical problems — but its performance was so intruiging that none other than racing great Juan Manuel Fangio was allowed to take it for a few practice laps. In a car he had never driven before, Fangio not only outpaced every other car at Sebring that year by four seconds but set a new lap record.