1971 Corvette
Past Due Vette
In these trying economic times, we'd rather not be a commodities trader. Despite that, Doug Kurzydlo can still feed his appetite for Corvettes. When Doug was about 20 years old, he purchased this 1971 Corvette. This was 1976, so the car was still pretty new. From the beginning, he wanted to "twin turbo" it, but being in his early 20s and turbos being less popular than they are now, this proved to be an impossible task. Instead, he did a halfway restoration to spruce it up, but he wasn't happy with the result. In 1981, he got married, and his attempts to bring the Vette back were futile.
In 2005, he got a break. He teamed up with Performance Restorations of Mundelein, Illinois, to complete the build he always dreamed of. Just as he planned it over 30 years ago, this would be a radical twin-turbo--powered car that would be comfortable to drive. He steps out of Detroit's ultimate modern-muscle daily driver, a Corvette Z06, so his expectations were high. He wanted something with brutal power, but with the smooth ride and excellent handling of his late-model Corvette.
Doug brought the project over to the shop one piece at a time. This wasn't because he was running out of funds, but because he wanted to take his time and really enjoy the build. The first part to arrive behind the tall roll-up doors was the frame. There they acid dipped it, welded all the seams, and ground down the rough edges.
The engine was built from a fresh Dart block with a 375-inch displacement for high-rpm capabilities. Most of the internals are top secret, known only to well-known turbo engine builder Gale Banks. The cool thing is that this motor can be run on its 800-horsepower 91-octane setting, 850-horsepower 93-octane setting, or its 1,100-horsepower 100-octane setting. Then when the world's gasoline supply is down to a trickle, this Vette can run on E85!