[VIDEO] Watch this 1965 Corvette Hit 254 MPH at Bonneville

Aug 14, 2026

399

[VIDEO] Watch this 1965 Corvette Hit 254 MPH at Bonneville

It doesn’t take turbos, hybrid drivetrains, or other advanced technologies to make history. Sometimes all you need is a big block 427 V8 engine, a four-speed manual transmission, and a driver willing to do what others said can’t be done.

In the video below, you’ll see a Corvette enthusiast named Wayne Yurtin who took his Nassau Blue 1965 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe to Bonneville Speed Week and ran 254.374 MPH across the historic salt flats to earn the title of the fastest carbureted C2 Corvette

If that speed sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because it nearly matches the top speed by the legendary Callaway Sledgehammer, which also ran 254.76 MPH way back in 1988. Yurtin just tied that top speed not on asphalt as the Callaway did at Ohio’s Transportation Research Center, but on the salt of Bonneville under his tires.

Yurtin was a Corvette restorer in California who was known for working on only one car at a time before he got bit by the Go-Fast bug. That happened after he got his own 1965 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe, and it was then he started thinking about land-speed records. Teaming up with The Garage Shop in Cocoa Beach, FL., his Corvette was transformed into a high-speed missile thanks to plenty of wind tunnel testing to develop an aero kit to keep the Corvette firmly planted.

Powering the ’65 Corvette is a custom-built 427 V8 that comes from Jeff Collins Engines. Sitting on top of it is a 1,000-CFM Brazwell carburetor that can spin up to 8,400 RPM and makes 805 horsepower. A four speed manual and 2.75 gears gives it the ability to take advantage of all that power.

After a shakedown at El Mirage Raceway, Yurtin headed to Bonneville where he found the conditions to be quite brutal with a Density Altitude (DA) of 6,895 and temps inside the car exceeding 140 degrees. None of that mattered once it was go time and you can watch the car make its run from both a front and rear-facing camera views. Let’s hope we see more of Wayne and his record setting C2 Corvette at future go-fast events!