Vehicle Description
Incredible professional build. Featured on TV’s “Counting Cars.” 700 horsepower supercharged small block, custom tube frame chassis, 100% steel bodywork. Incredible and fully sorted, terrifyingly fast.
If Insane Black Widow looks familiar to you, that’s because you saw it on TV’s “Counting Cars” on the History Channel. The Count didn’t build the car, but he did give it that over-the-top custom look that will earn it Best Paint trophies at just about any event it visits. The car was fabricated by one of the main guys on a NASCAR team (we can’t mention which one), which explains the NASCAR-grade tube frame chassis and cage. The body is 100% original steel, no fiberglass, and it’s laser straight. The black paint is what it originally wore, so they worked overtime to get the panels as smooth and flat as possible, and it shows. There’s not a ripple or wave anywhere on this car, and while it’s small, you still can’t afford to cut corners when you’re using black paint. The seams were welded to not only give it a smooth look but to reinforce the tub. And yes, if you get on it, you’ll probably be happy the wheelie bars are there.
The Anglia shipped out to Las Vegas for a complete transformation (you can see the TV show online, but there’s a clip of the reveal below). Danny and the guys gave it one of their stunning show-quality paint jobs, with custom flames licking across the bodywork, over the roof, and even coming out of the zoomie exhaust pipes, which are fully functional. Beautiful custom airbrush work on the tailgate shows you just how it got its name, with a wild black widow theme and a gothic look.
Aircraft-style aluminum bucket seats with custom red leather padding, 5-point harnesses, and a removable funny car style steering “wheel” (if you can call it that) reinforce the race vibe. However, there’s also plenty of sound deadening, custom upholstery on the floors, embossed door panels that continue the flame motif, and a Rat Fink there on the B&M shifter. The original Anglia gauges were too cool to ditch, so they’re still in place although they’re not hooked up. Auto Meter supplied the rest. You’ll also find The Count’s signature there on the dash, more proof that this car is legit.
There’s plenty of head room, control efforts are modest, and it works the way a car should. In back, the entire cargo bay was consumed with the oversized Mickey Thompson meats, fuel cell, and battery, but it’s all hidden under a beautifully upholstered panel with more embossed flames. The NOS bottle isn’t hooked up, but if you’re a special kind of crazy, it could be, putting the stout mouse motor close to the 1000 horsepower number. You’ve been warned.
The warning is that 355 cubic inch Chevy small block with the big honkin’ blower on top. It’s a 4-bolt main block bored 010 oversize with a steel crank and merchant rods inside. A full roller valvetrain with a custom-grind camshaft that’s unique to this motor makes it civilized but potent, and it’s force-fed through a set of aluminum Dart cylinder heads. The supercharger is a BDS 6-71 with a pair of Holley 600 CFM blower carbs that idle well, but if you roll onto the throttle at 1000 RPM, it barks to attention. Full boost is on tap before you can even get your foot on the floor—you’d better make sure it’s aimed where you want to go before you do something foolish like that.
There’s a full tube frame chassis made of 2x3 rectangular tubing and 0.90-wall 1.75-inch tubing for the roll cage and associated parts, so it’s incredibly rigid. The front suspension consists of tubular A-arms and coil-over shocks with spindles from a 1969 Camaro, so parts for the disc brakes will be easy to find. Out back there’s a custom-made Speedway Engineering 9-inch with a nodular housing, disc brakes, 3.89 gears from Tex Racing, a Detroit locker, and Moser double-splined axles for safety. In between there’s a built TH400 3-speed automatic transmission that was freshly rebuilt a few hundred miles ago and snaps off shifts like cannon shots. It’s finished with a set of Weld Racing aluminum wheels wearing skinny 24x5.00R15 front and massive 29x18.50R15 rear Mickey Thompson rubber.
Insane Black Widow is 100% street legal and has been licensed since it was built in 2012. It always starts, idles, and runs like it should, and it creates a stir even when we pull it out into the parking lot. If outrageous, high-quality, and expertly engineered cars are your thing, well, it’s going to be hard to top this one. No surprises, no questionable antics, just a double-plus nasty rod that’s been massaged by some of the biggest and best names in the business. And a little TV stardom certainly can’t hurt. If that’s you, here’s your car. Come get it!
For more details and photos, please visit www.HarwoodMotors.com
