Unrestored, 25,600-mile L82-powered 1975 Chevrolet Corvette

White Cherry: Only 25,600 miles on this unrestored L82-powered ’75

Let’s face it, 1975 was not exactly a golden year for the Corvette. In fact, the base model was ranked by Edmunds.com as one of the worst Corvette models of all time. Thankfully, the L82 engine option was available to take the anemic 350-cid V-8 to 205 hp with the help of a healthier camshaft and 9.0:1 compression.

Only about 2,372 L82 Corvettes were built for 1975. In total that year, Chevrolet built 38,465 Corvettes. For point of reference, that’s about three times as many as the 2013 model run! And about the same percentage of the ’13 models were made up of Z06s and ZR1s as the L82 in 1975. Of course, once you start drilling down into the option codes of Tim Devlin’s 1975, such as the M21 close-ratio Muncie four-speed manual or the Saddle interior, it becomes even more rare. But power and production numbers are not what make this ’75 worth a second look.

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This unrestored Classic White cherry took second flight at an NCRS event because it sports just 25,600 miles. It’s barely broken-in … 40 years after it was first sold! Full documentation proves the authenticity of the mileage, which is what made the ’75 too good a deal to pass up for Devlin.

“I first came into contact with this car when its owner brought it to my shop (Devlin Rod & Customs) to inquire about some work. That owner later sold the car to one of my longtime customers. When that customer brought it to my shop to have the A/C serviced I remarked that if he ever wanted to sell the car to let me know. Two years ago he called. I told him the timing wasn’t right and I would have to pass, but if he couldn’t sell it call me back. He did call back and said it must go because he had bought something else.”

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Of course, some two years later, the hot rod builder never thought he’d still own the stock ’75. “I had intentions to flip it, but I fell in love with it. I tease my wife that our two-year-old son will drive this for his first car. I’ve always liked this series of Corvettes. They were still on the street when I was a kid. One of the execs at my dad’s company always had one. I had a teacher in grade school with one. They are nice driving cars. Much more technologically advanced than the C1 and C2. And it only has 25,000 miles! It’s a brand-new car. How often do you run across a car that old with that kind of mileage?”

Of course, some two years later, the hot rod builder never thought he’d still own the stock ’75. “I had intentions to flip it, but I fell in love with it. I tease my wife that our two-year-old son will drive this for his first car. I’ve always liked this series of Corvettes. They were still on the street when I was a kid. One of the execs at my dad’s company always had one. I had a teacher in grade school with one. They are nice driving cars. Much more technologically advanced than the C1 and C2. And it only has 25,000 miles! It’s a brand-new car. How often do you run across a car that old with that kind of mileage?”

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Just by looking at the immaculate paint and interior on this 1975 we can tell, though, that from the time it left the St. Louis assembly plant it lead a pampered life. It never went on a cross-country trip with foolish young men. It never blew a tire on the way to work. It was never towed to an impound lot for parking in the wrong place. Sandy feet or French fries never touched the carpet. Any stories surrounding this L82 C3 would have to do with the people that cared for it, and ultimately why they gave it up.

People have come and gone, but this ’75 has survived. It’s one of the lowest mileage C3s we’ve ever seen. Devlin’s Corvette gives us an incredible glimpse into exactly how this car rolled off the assembly line. Short of hopping in a time machine, this is the only way many of us will have this experience. And if this car continues to stay in Tim’s family, yet another generation will breathe in that new car smell from 1975.

Detroit Speed Built a Killer 803hp 1969 Chevrolet Camaro

Beyond Description: Detroit Speed’s 803hp Camaro is too exquisite for words or pics. We give it a go anyway

Licata didn’t like my first draft. He kicked it back and demanded a rewrite. Punk. Can’t blame the guy, though, because a mere nine words doesn’t make much of a feature story, now does it? The first draft in question simply read: “Too badass for words. Refer to pics. The end.” Granted that journalists have a reputation for being lazy, but laziness had nothing to do with compiling the shortest feature story in the history of mankind. Last we checked, Shakespeare and Hemingway aren’t available for hire anymore, and words can’t adequately describe the experience of seeing Detroit Speed’s latest creation in person.

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In an era when Pro Touring cars are all starting to look the same, the Camaro’s satin white paint and body-colored bumpers are just as beautiful as they are ballsy. The contrasting black rollers and ever-so-slightly raked stance only intensify the visual pop. Nevertheless, pics can’t adequately convey the experience, either. The more you learn about all the details and subtle touches that have been integrated into this machine, the more badass it becomes. Suddenly the missing 1,000 words from the first draft seem a heck of a lot more important.

Let’s start with some specs, shall we? Under the custom-sculpted hood sits a supercharged Mast Motorsports LS7 packing 803 horsepower. Channeling the engine’s 706 lb-ft of torque rearward to the Ford 9-inch rearend is a Tremec TKO 600 trans mated to a Centerforce twin-disc clutch. Predictably, the chassis and suspension boast hardware heisted straight out of the DSE warehouse, and that’s a very good thing. The goodies include a DSE front subframe assembly, a QUADRALink rear suspension, subframe connectors, and a mini-tub kit to make room for the behemoth 345mm-wide rear rubber wrapped around 19-inch Rushforth wheels. To counter the serious speed generated by such serious power and grip, Baer six-piston calipers are tasked with squeezing the 14-inch rotors.

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Wise guys out there are probably thinking that the DSE Camaro isn’t much different from your typical cookie-cutter, bolt-on wonder. However, there’s a big difference between merely bolting on six-piston calipers and hooking them up to a race-bred Bosch ABS system. Likewise, while the custom body mods may not stand out at first glance, the fabrication work they required are immense. The hood, for instance, is the product of two ’69 Camaro hoods that have been welded together to extend the cowl section. It also incorporates a functional airscoop that also provides additional clearance for the supercharger. Look closely, and you’ll notice that the upper valance panel has been integrated into the hood as well. Popping open the one-piece lid reveals chassis stiffening bars that encompass the engine bay and tie into the main rollcage. The flattened firewall, scalloped inner fenders, functional ram-air induction system, and finned radiator shrouding is all custom as well.

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Circling the car a few times gives the impression that while the body retains the essence of a ’69 Camaro, its lines are cleaner and its proportions are tidier. To achieve this effect, DSE extended the rockers and the front corner of the fenders, thus wrapping them into the pinch flange. Furthermore, DSE shaved the driprails and narrowed and tucked the bumpers. Granted that tastefully executed cosmetic changes are always welcome, the Camaro incorporates many functional enhancements as well. Since the stock ’69 Camaro’s faux quarter-panel gills are just plain silly by modern standards, DSE opened them up to help divert air to the brakes. A custom bellypan out back and a custom lower valance and front spoiler (with integrated LEDs) up front smooth out the airflow beneath the car. Moreover, just like a new Corvette, small recesses built into the front of the quarter-panels replace traditional door handles and allow actuating an electric solenoid.

Despite the Camaro’s savage performance potential, its interior is downright luxurious. The dash, center console, and panels were all custom fabricated from aluminum before M&M Hot Rod Interiors covered everything up in leather. Other highlights include Recaro seats, Schroth harnesses, RacePak instrumentation, a Billet Specialties interior, and a custom DSE rollcage and shifter. The list of interior doodads would be plenty impressive if it stopped there, but the DSE Camaro packs every creature comfort in the book: a thumpin’ Sony stereo with Focal speakers, Vintage Air automatic climate control, GPS navigation, Bluetooth, fiber-optic lighting, a backup camera, and four-way power windows.

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The end product is a devastatingly wicked creation that conceals its technical sophistication and craftsmanship in a deceivingly subtle yet elegant wrapper. It’s part muscle car, part exotic car, part race car, and 100 percent badass. So what would inspire anyone to build such a machine? “Ever since I watched the movie Better off Dead when I was 10 years old, I’ve always wanted to build a first-gen Camaro someday. The lines on a ’69 Camaro are absolutely beautiful, and like nothing on the road today,” says car owner Angelo Vespi. “Over the years, I’ve owned a ’10 Camaro, an ’09 Challenger, some late-model Corvettes, and a ’14 Shelby GT500. I had to wait a long time to build my first muscle car, and Kyle Tucker and the entire crew at Detroit Speed did a phenomenal job. This car rides and handles so much better than my GT500. The difference is night and day. There is no comparison.”

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If building such an extreme muscle car the first time around seems peculiar, it’s because that wasn’t the original plan. “I just wanted a nice Pro Touring car with DSE suspension that I could autocross and drive every day,” Angelo recalls. “As the project progressed and as I saw the caliber of work that DSE performed firsthand, the project snowballed into something much more extreme. We bounced lots of ideas off of each other, but I figured that since no one told Michelangelo how to paint, I’d just let the guys at DSE do their thing. This car isn’t anything like I originally planned. It’s so much better.”

Evidently, we’re not the only ones who think very highly of DSE’s latest Pro Touring beast. It beat out 125 other hot rods to win the 2014 SEMA Battle of the Builders award last November. The competition’s unique scoring system first enlisted select media experts to narrow the field down to 10 finalists, and then had the finalists cast their vote for the winner. In other words, some of the top hot rod builders in the country declared the DSE Camaro to be the best of show.

Like we said about 1,000 words prior, the DSE Camaro is still too badass for words.

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Ringbrothers’ Latest is a 1965 Ford Mustang Named Blizzard

Polar Vortex: With 700-plus horsepower coming from a NASCAR-based 427 Windsor, Ringbrothers’ Blizzard ’65 promises heavy snow

While brothers Jim and Mike Ring have placed their signature style on numerous models of cars over the years, including several Camaros, a Chevelle, a Pantera, and a radical ’64 Fairlane dubbed Afterburner, it often seems their spiritual home has been the ’65-’70 Mustang fastbacks, since a lot of them have come out of their Spring Grove, Wisconsin, shop. Bail Out, Dragon, Producer, and Reactor are all examples of this, and you can add to the mix this latest car, a 1965 fastback named Blizzard. And as with all the others, it’s a 100 percent custom build that dazzles all the way down to the carbon-fiber–accented trunk latch striker.

Owned by Dominick and Becky Farbo of Buffalo, New York, Blizzard is, as usual for a Ringbrothers car, jam-packed with innovation and one-of-kind touches that you simply won’t see anywhere else. They include a first for even a Ringbrothers project. Mike told us, “This is the first car we’ve built with carbon-fiber doors. We now offer these ’65-’66 doors made of carbon fiber for those who would like to have them on their own builds. We made them a while back and were sort of sitting on them. They’re now on a car for the first time. In fact, numerous other pieces on the car are carbon fiber, including the hood, roof, trunklid, rear bumper, rear end caps, and side scoops. The G.T. 350 R-model-style front fascia is made of aluminum.”

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4/16 The 427 Windsor uses a Dart block with a 4.125-inch bore, a 4-inch stroke Eagle crank, Callies rods, and JE pistons that produce a 10.8:1 compression. Topped with Cleveland-style heads and built by Wegner Motorsports, other pieces include a COMP hydraulic roller cam, an MSD distributor, Edelbrock intake, and a 750-cfm Holley aluminum Ultra HP carb. The custom air cleaner/induction setup along with headers and exhaust were custom-built by Ringbrothers. Flowmaster Super 40 mufflers along with a BeCool radiator and electric fans make up added bits of exhaust and cooling componentry. On Wegner’s dyno, it all adds up to 707 hp at 6,400 rpm—exactly the same as a new Dodge Hellcat, but without a supercharger.

Asked about how the fit, finish, and detail of Blizzard were achieved, Mike’s answer was actually pretty straightforward. “What really helps Jim and I is that we’ve maintained the collision-repair part of our business. The OE (original equipment) manufacturers build pretty great cars today. We are big fans of the OE manufacturers and how they build things and appreciate their fit and finish. Jim and I study them, and their detail helps us with our detail.”

Surprisingly, Mike commented that Blizzard uses a number of stock panels and modified those as the foundation. “We’re really about keeping a lot of what Ford did on the ’65-’66 design, but we updated it and made it a little bit, well, more modern. We did, however, eliminate all the pinch welds throughout the body.”

5/16 Recaro seats are the bones here for an interior with a classic Ringbrothers vibe, which is to say one-of-a-kind. Upholstery Unlimited did the sewing and other pieces of note are Classic Instruments gauges, a MOMO steering wheel, an ididit tilt steering column, and Alpine sound equipment. As mentioned earlier, the floors aren’t covered with carpeting but rather seat material similar to what’s found in various GM cars and trucks, such as a Chevy Trailblazer. The billet shift handle is connected to a Bowler five-speed manual.

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Moving inside there’s an invisible rollbar seamlessly integrated into the futuristic (nothing like 1965 anyway) cabin. Furthermore, we were told a Ringbrothers car hasn’t had carpeting for the past five years or so. What is it then on the floor inside? Pretty simple stuff, actually. “It’s a fabric from a GM seat material. I think it’s from a Chevy Trailblazer,” Mike muses.

Other details abound on Blizzard to be sure—easily enough for a 100-page book. But a directly visible cue is the fuel-tank treatment—or lack thereof. It’s an Aeromotive fuel cell but with a twist. “We always seem to raise the tanks on a Mustang to give us more room for the exhaust,” Mike said. “The tank took up a lot of space, especially on this car, because the exhaust is coming out of the quarters. And we also think that when the tank hangs down, it kind of looks like a diaper. As on Blizzard, we usually build a little bellypan for the back to clean up the look.”

7/16 Blizzard is equipped with a complete Detroit Speed Engineering suspension. Up front, that includes a unique cast-aluminum cradle, tubular upper and lower control-arms, rack-and-pinion steering, aluminum coilovers, and an antiroll bar.

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9/16 DSE’s rear coilover four-link design uses high-durometer rubber bushings, an antiroll bar, and an adjustable Panhard rod. The 9-inch rearend has 31-spline axles, a TruTrac centersection, and 4.11 gears.

We certainly enjoyed discussing general ideas and concepts with Mike as they relate to a car like Blizzard, and another thought we were surprised to learn was his logic behind a popular and maybe even common practice: powdercoating. “We do a lot of powdercoating on our cars. There is some cost savings,” Mike told us, “but I don’t know if we would do it any differently even if it wasn’t a cost savings.” With a Ringbrothers car, one doesn’t often think of saving money as a mitigating factor. But if Mike Ring thinks enough of it to mention, then it’s certainly worth considering in terms of any project.

That includes a full custom car such as Blizzard, or any vintage Mustang project in one’s garage. Cheap or expensive, simple or complicated, cars such as Blizzard serve an important purpose. And that is to provide inspiration for one to create a dream Mustang exactly how they want it to be.

While Blizzard is the latest in a line of several Ringbrothers ’65-’70 fastbacks, a ’65 convertible was actually Jim and Mike’s first blank canvas of choice (it graced our Feb. ’05 cover). More than 10 years later, Blizzard extends the lineage of vintage Mustangs getting the 21st century Ringbrothers touch. Although the Blizzard White is a worthy rename of the color, Mike divulged its more pedestrian roots, noting it’s the same as used on a Volkswagen Touareg.

One MaliciouSS 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu

This 1964 Chevelle from the Roadster Shop is the wildest on the planet

“This car saved my life.” So says its owner, Tim Roach of Tennessee. He has an emotional bond with the Malibu that goes far beyond the attachment that normally forms between an enthusiast and his automobile.

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The plan was to use the 1964 Chevelle to pull an Airstream trailer around the country, traveling with his wife. That was the plan they formulated after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Unfortunately, she couldn’t beat the disease and died before the dream could be realized. According to Tim, driving the convertible helped him deal with the depression he felt after she was gone. It kept him sane.

As with most classic vehicles, the A-body eventually started showing its age. Rust had started bubbling up through the paint, and there were mechanical issues as well. The choice was quickly becoming either fix it or sell it. For Tim, getting rid of the ragtop simply was not an option. He decided to ship the Chevelle to the Roadster Shop in Mundelein, Illinois, for repairs and upgrades. Like a lot of builds, the further they dug, the worse things got. The owner decided it was time for the Chevy to become a full-on custom, something like what he recalled from his youth. But this was no throwback build. Tim sketched out a design for the rear panel to change the taillights and spell out Chevrolet between them.

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“The taillight sketch turned into every inch of the car being tweaked, customized, reimagined. However, it always stayed true to the car’s original lines and clean, simple design,” according to Tim. “And of course, me being in the tech world, these one-off modifications could be handled with state-of-the-art technology not available in 1964 or even five years ago.”

When your author first saw the Chevelle dubbed “MaliciouSS” at the 2014 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the first thought was this is what the Malibu would look like if Chevy brought it back as a 2016 model. It has classic lines, but with thoroughly modern lighting and an interior that’s totally 21st century. It succeeds where a lot of OE efforts at retro styling have failed. We love what the Roadster Shop created for the grille, a modern design with classic touches. The tailpanel is in a league all its own. Inspired by the ’65 Chevelle, it uses cutting-edge lighting for a one-of-a-kind look. Don’t go searching for any of these parts on the Internet. They’re all one-of-a-kind.

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The body sits on a Fast Track Roadster Shop chassis with billet control arms and spindles, Penske double-adjustable coilovers with Hyperco springs, and rack-and-pinion steering up front. Making sure it handles like a modern sports car is a Roadster Shop independent rear suspension carrying 3.50:1 gears. Rolling stock consists of one-off six-spoke rims from Greening Auto Company in Nashville, Tennessee, (18x9 front, 19x12 rear) wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires (225/35R18s and 335/35R19s).

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Under the hood is a 416-inch LS3 built by Wegner Motorsports (Markesan, Wisconsin) that uses ported LSA heads, a Callies crank and rods, Mahle pistons, a Comp cam, and Edelbrock E-Force supercharger. Horsepower is more than double anything offered by Chevy in the ’64 Chevelle—813 at the flywheel, with 789 lb-ft of torque. The folks at Wegner said it could tweak this further, but Tim figures that’s way more than enough to crush any import-style vehicles he’s likely to encounter. A 6L90 six-speed automatic handles the gear changes, with pushbutton controls on the console.

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Paul Atkins Interiors in Hanceville, Alabama, handled the unique cockpit and convertible top. There’s a drop-down iPad mini that comes from the center of the dash, a narrowed stock gauge cluster opening, and a custom-designed center console housing pushbutton controls for the transmission and engine starting. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before in a vintage Chevy.

“MaliciouSS is my tribute to GM’s design, the simplicity of the car’s roots, a modern take on mid-1960’s design, the start of an era of Chevelle Malibu as a muscle car, to the advancement of technology and engineering available to us today, and above all, a tribute to my late wife, Katherine Clark,” noted Tim. “The car has been reborn and so have I. I have found a wonderful, understanding wife. We are starting a family together, all made possible with the help of a 1964 Malibu that reminded me that I could be happy again.”

The A-body went back to the Roadster Shop for some final tweaks after SEMA, and is slated to do some major shows in 2015. Then Tim said he’s going to start piling on the miles. “I put a lot of money into it so I can drive it,” he said.

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