[VIDEO] The Nighthawk is a Custom Widebody 427-Powered C2 Corvette with Straight Pipes

Man, there’s nothing like a guy who’s got money and isn’t afraid to spend it on cool cars.

Witness George, who commissioned Dustin and his staff at Nostalgia Hot Rods in Las Vegas to build him this wild and crazy 1965 Corvette, with the ultimate goal of making it into a bleeping Batmobile.

You can see this custom big-block Sting Ray in person at the upcoming SEMA Show, but in the meantime, Shawn at AutotopiaLA gives us a detailed sneak peek at all the pertinent facts and figures, as well as a thrilling drive down the highway, complete with all the glorious sounds.

When the project was in the dream stages, George actually wanted a ’67 but couldn’t find one. Instead, he located this 327 four-speed ’65 that had been sitting in a guy’s garage for a long time and just added a ’67 hood and side vents – and lots more – after convincing him to part with it for $55,000.

That was just the starting point of an impressive build that took only nine months to complete – some pregnancy, huh?

Dustin and his team installed a crate 427 big block V8 with aluminum heads, bowtie heads, stack FiTech multi-port fuel injection, hydraulic rollers, and Primary header tubes that all join forces to create 500 horsepower to the rear tires, just the right amount of “oomph” to make it a fun and predictable car to drive, Shawn discovers on his test drive.

Speaking of tires, get a load of those massive 355 19x13s in the rear and 335 19x12s in the front! Sitting inside those monstrous shoes at the corners of an Art Morrison chassis are Forgeline wheels, ordered in black but changed later to the gold theme that permeates through the exterior and interior of the car.

Despite the wild and crazy widebody look, Dustin says there actually aren’t a whole lot of body modifications other than the massive fender flares (5 inches wider in the front and 7 inches in the rear) and the big hood scoop (1 ½ inches taller and 2 inches wider). He even kept the door handles, just powdercoated them.

Nicknamed the “Nighthawk,” this car has a Tremec six-speed manual transmission to handle all that power, and did you even notice the blacked-out side pipes with open headers and no mufflers? As Dustin says, “it’s a big-block Chevy with a good sized cam shaft – you want to hear it!”

The fun continues with a full carbon fiber treatment for the interior, featuring Dakota Digital gauges and believe it or not, stock ’65 seats. “All we did was put new springs and new foam in the seats,” Dustin explains, along with gold stitching. The alcantara on the roof and centers of the seats even has patterns with little Stingrays.

The owner still hasn’t seen the car in person yet, despite being completed in March, but after the upcoming SEMA Show, Dustin says he and his crew will be busy making the final adjustments for him, including thinning down the foam in the seats to give more room for the occupants.

“This is,” Shawn concludes, “a total smile machine!”

Do you agree? We certainly do!

Source:
AutopiaLA / YouTube

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