Vehicle Description
Beautifully built pro-touring Corvette roadster. 327 cubic inch V8
with fuel injection and twin turbos, 5-speed manual, 4-wheel disc
brakes, power steering, and much more. Gorgeous paint and bodywork.
Insanely fast.This Corvette seems to have spent its entire life
going fast. We don't know what was living under the hood when it
was new (a 327 of some sort, of course), but over the years it has
been steadily upgraded in the interest of going fast. Sometime in
the '70s it received an upgraded rear end, which suggests serious
blasting powder was on tap, and just a few years ago it was given a
full makeover to take it to the next level. Obviously Corvettes
don't rust, but this one has never been wrecked so the substrate is
straight and didn't need a lot of massaging to look as good as it
does. The doors fit well enough to close with just gentle pressure
and both the hood and deck lid sit flush with the bodywork. The
paint is a gorgeous metallic burgundy that really glows out in the
sun and it looks right on the Corvette's traditional bodywork. No
graphics, no modifications, no shaved emblems, just a traditional
Corvette look with a wicked stance. You'll also note it carries
high-quality chrome bumpers, fresh emblems, and those unique side
gills are in excellent shape. Few cars attract attention in our
showroom like this beautiful solid-axle 'Vette.The interior was
restored to mostly factory spec, and that's a good thing.
Everything inside is brand new, including the seat covers, door
panels, and carpets, and the reproduction pieces are the good
stuff-just check out the details on the door panels. Factory gauges
were rebuilt and connected to the twin turbo mill, along with an
Auto Meter tach neatly integrated into the original deash. They're
all visible through the spokes of a slightly smaller diameter
steering wheel that mimics the original design. There's also an
upgraded AM/FM/cassette stereo head unit that looks right in the
vintage Corvette, and it's joined by the original clock and an Auto
Meter boost gauge in the center, giving passengers a hint of what's
to come. The shifter pokes through the floor and you'll note that
there are five gears available rather than the usual four, and the
Tremec unit underneath shifts beautifully. Seat belts were added
(good idea!) and there are monogrammed floor mats to dress things
up a big. There's storage space behind the seats because this is
one of those Corvettes that was ordered without a soft top, but
there is a color-matched and restored hard top included with the
car. The trunk is also finished to stock specs, although the
battery was tucked away back here to make room for the turbos up
front. Nice!OK, let's get to the hardware. The engine is a stout
327 cubic inch V8 with Holley electronic fuel injection and twin
intercooled turbos, all built by noted racer Jeff Lutz of 'Street
Outlaws.' The hardware just works, because it starts quickly and
easily, idles well, and drives extremely well. The turbos stay out
of the way until you really lean on it, but then you can really
hear them coming. You get half a heartbeat to sort out your affairs
and then all 500+ horsepower show up ready to fight and the
Corvette lunges forward on a towering wave of boost. But the nice
thing is that if you stay out of the boost, it's content to idle in
traffic and just cruise around town, and the turbos keep things
nice and quiet so it's quite pleasant on the highway. There's also
a giant aluminum radiator with electric fan, lots of chrome and
aluminum dress-up, and a custom intake to keep it all under the
stock hood. Boost is set at a modest 8 PSI so it's pump gas
friendly. The exhaust system feeds both turbos and then dumps into
downpipes with wastegates and finally a pair of stainless mufflers.
The aforementioned Tremec 5-speed has the right ratios and a tall
overdrive, so it's relaxed at speed and we believe there are 3.23
gears in the rear end, which really make the most of the boosted
motor's torque curve. There's a big disc brake at all four
corners-a good idea given how fast this thing accelerates-and
steering is by power rack-and-pinion. 18-inch Boyd Coddington
wheels give it the perfect stance and carry 225/40/18 front and
245/45/18 rear Goodyear radials.Beautifully built with top-notch
hardware, this Corvette takes a slightly different path to
performance. Complete with all the upgrades, it's a fantastic
driver that brings the heat when needed but remains reasonably easy
to live with in the real world. That's the beauty of the resto-mod,
so take a look and then give us a call!Harwood Motors always
recommends and welcomes personal or professional inspections of any
vehicle in our inventory prior to purchase.
