Chevy’s new 670-hp Z06 might be the big draw for Corvette fans visiting this year’s SEMA show, but it’s in serious danger of being outshone by this incredible C1, one of a pair produced for the event.
Created by Dave Kindig, the car nut behind Kindig-It Design and the host of Motor Trend’s Bitchin’ Rides, the twins, one silver, one white, claim to be 1953 C1 Corvettes, but are unrecognizable, at least in engineering terms, from the stock C1 your Chevy dealer would have sold 68 years ago.
Instead of a shonky fibreglass body they feature shells made from carbon fibre, and while we haven’t seen them in person, judged on these pictures the finish is light years beyond even the best restored original car. The distinctive restomod shape was designed by Kindig but executed by Doug’s Performance Corvettes.
The bodies ride on a Roadster Shop Spec 7 chassis rolling on gigantic Forgeline rims that measure 21 inches at the front and 22 inches at the back to give a suitably SEMA look and are wrapped in modern Michelin Pilot S4 rubber.
Related: Chevrolet Debuts Corvette Z06 At SEMA Alongside The Beast And Hot Rod Magazine’s Project X
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Those huge wheels don’t just look good, but also help give the C1 enough footprint to help harness the monster Lingenfelter-tuned 7-liter V8 under the hood. Fitted with Borla 8 Stack injection, the motor send a serious 673 hp and 618 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels via a GM Performance 4L80E automatic transmission.
That’s a fair improvement on the feeble 150 hp buyers of the original got from its 235 cu-in. (3.9-liter) straight six, and even if Kindig’s C1 can’t quite keep pace with a new Z06, you can bet that it cuts the stock C1’s lethargic 11.5-second 0-60 mph time in two, and then some. Power like that would be terrifying if you had to rely on the creaky original ’53 car’s drum brakes at the end of a straight, but this pair features a Wilwood disc setup.
We’ve always found the really early C1s kind of dorky, but with these mods, we can suddenly see the appeal.
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