As a teenager in the piney woods of East Texas during the 1960s, Doyle Thomas landed a part-time job on weekends.

There wasn't a lot of glamour attached to his new position. As with an untold number of his friends and contemporaries around the country, he worked at a fast food restaurant. The location was part of a chain known primarily in the southeastern U.S. at the time: Whataburger.

Thomas literally started at the bottom. He wasn't even allowed to work inside. He was assigned to clean the grounds, pick up trash and manage the dumpsters out back.

Then, fate intervened. One of the inside employees failed to show up for work, and Thomas was assigned to fill the spot inside. The spontaneous promotion changed his life. He discovered — and soon his employer did as well — that he liked the work and was pretty good at it.

As promotions go inside a fast food restaurant, his came on a regular basis. Within six months, he was managing a Whataburger location. Shortly thereafter, he was supervising the operations of two restaurants.

Thomas saved his accumulating money and while he was still in high school, he bought his first Corvette.

"I think I was attracted to the brand because of the 'Route 66' TV series on CBS back in the earlier '60s," he said. "There haven't been too many months in my life since then that I haven't owned at least one Corvette."

Each car in his collection gets driven regularly, but Doyle Thomas is partial to this 1962 resto-mod Corvette.

And while he was buying Corvettes, he also started buying Whataburger franchises as his success with the hamburger chain grew. Now, Thomas owns 14 of the restaurants scattered throughout East Texas. He also owns a garage full of Corvettes, hot rods and other muscle cars. Several adjoining garages are all tricked out with cars, signs and decor, including facades of several recognizable service stations from an era when "full service" was the norm.

The collection is located in the backyard of acreage shared with his and his wife's home outside of Longview, Texas. Though it can't be seen from the street and it's not open to the public, he occasionally shares the automotive fantasyland with guests. Most walk around smiling at the jaw-dropping display of Corvette memorabilia and automotive history.

"95 percent of everything in the garages is original. It may have been restored, but it is practically all original," he says.

Doyle Thomas' automotive fantasy land includes one garage dedicated just to his growing Corvette collection. He counts his 1963 split window coupe (lower left) among his all-time favorite Corvettes, citing its timeless design features.

While his Corvette acquisitions have mostly centered on the early generations and his favorites, the C2s, he bought a new C7 not long after they made their debut. He says the design inside and out is as close to perfection as an enthusiast could hope for.

The Doyle Thomas collection seems eons removed from a teenager with a job in a hamburger joint, but he's quick to say that first job played a big role in his ability to collect Corvettes today.

"I guess you could call this my ‘my hamburger collection,'" Thomas said. "It represents lots of combo meals sold over the years at Whataburger."

Brand-specific decor adorns Doyle Thomas' Corvette collection. He traces his initial interest in Corvette back to the old "Route 66" series on TV, which feature first-generation Corvettes.