450 HP Gasser: 1958 Chevrolet Corvette
For those not feeling some of the mods this 1958 Chevrolet Corvette is wearing, it’s probably important to note right off the bat that most of the original stock parts are also included in the sale. On the other hand, if you’ve been in the market for a fifties Corvette that’s already been through a restoration and made into a 450-horsepower gasser, this one seems to have achieved high-quality results in both the drivetrain and body departments. Keep scrolling for the details, but if you’re already digging the idea of seeing this one in your garage or on a nearby racetrack the car is in Lakewood, Pennsylvania, and can be found here on eBay, where so far there haven’t been any takers at the opening bid of $55,000.
There’s really nothing subtle about this build and plenty of clues just about everywhere you look that scream this one means business, but perhaps my favorite touch can be spotted nestled under the fender wells, as a pair of custom headers can be seen protruding out the bottom on both sides. The big-and-little chrome wheels were a popular combo from a more bygone era, but they look right at home here and add to the car’s mean persona, as does that bulging hood.
But more important than the hood itself is what can be found under it, and that’s a 350 putting out a hundred more horses than its size. There’s a fine shifting setup as well, which includes a freshly built Muncie 22, a new McLeod pressure plate and flywheel, plus a Hurst shifter inside. In true drag racing fashion, a 12-bolt rear end sits underneath with 4.56 gears inside, ensuring that you’ll be first off the line at any given stop light.
If your main focus is on how much brawn this ’58 has to offer, it’s sort of easy to lose sight of how good it looks on the outside. We don’t get any before photos of how the Corvette started out, but the body appears to be in excellent shape and the white paint job looks A-OK in my book. The chrome trim has also been given attention, with most of those pieces having either been polished or replaced with new parts.
There’s not much to find fault with inside, unless of course you’re not feeling the J.C. Whitney steering wheel, but the seller says the interior is all new and also mentions that the car has only been driven a thousand miles since the build was completed. He’s also open to speaking with interested buyers and lists a phone number, should you wish to contact him directly with any questions.
I can appreciate all the commotion that can be made with a 4.56 rear end as much as the next guy, but I’d probably invest in a second set of more cruise-friendly gears to periodically change out for some fun times off the drag strip as well. Based on his vision, I feel the builder just about hit a home run here, what do you think?
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Comments
“She’s about a mover”-SDQ
Love the steering wheel. How could someone not have a big silly grin driving this life sized Hot Wheels ?
58-62 Corvette Gassers are the dream cars of my youth and my old(er) age. I would take this before a C8. Anybody can drive a C8 (Here’s where “Cooter” chimes in!), but it would take a real crazy-a$$ to pilot this baby! Too bad there is no photo with the hard top on.
All it needs is a 4″ tube chrome roll bar with two struts going backwards thru the body and attach to the frame. That way you will have a hard mount for the two NHRA approved 4 point seat belts….just in case the parachute doesn’t deploy. Wow, what a cute little roadster! Nice job owner.
Another car that would benefit from a Tremec 5 speed . I really do like this car !
It’s cool but it’s not a Gasser,it’s a Hot rod , street machine/ street freak etc…
Yeah, it kinda does a (insert your name here) on me also.
I understand what he did to the front end but wow, wouldn’t a straight axle look absolutely rockin’!
Cum on big lottery! What a kick-booty little digger!
Consult your local dictionary for spelling!
Man I love these!
I’m a Hot Rod kinda guy but also a Corvette Lover, sometimes the two genres shouldn’t be mixed as it was in this offering. But apparently it was built to the owners taste so I guess it’s O.K. in some way shape or form. To put it bluntly it’s a sacrilege to do this to a Corvette. A ’58 is a stand alone year with its washboard hood and its trunk spears, so it’s hard for me to like this on either form a hot rod or a Corvette, if it were mine the first thing I’d do is to return its body to stock , get the nose back down to Mother earth , lose the 4:56’s and just enjoy banging gears , but I wouldn’t pay anyways near 55K for it.
moosie- You have forced me to ask the following question: “What the heck were you doing in the 1960’s and 1970’s??? I can only surmise you may have been born in 1990 and probably have never seen a modified Corvette. Back then it was harder to find one that was not chopped, sprayed, flamed, or whatever the owner’s imagination came up with. That is why NCRS was formed in 1974- to try and save at least some of the Corvettes in original, as-delivered form. Have fun, it is only a car, but together by some folks in Flint, St.Louis, and Bowling Green over the decades.
No Frank Sumatra , I was born in 1947, in the ’60’s I was enjoying the heck outta my basically stock appearing ’67 Lyndale Blue Corvette Coupe that I bought new, all by myself, no help from Mom or Dad. In the ’70’s I was also enjoying the heck outta my basically stock except for a set of American Racing 200S satin finish mags along with a pair of ’69 Corvette side mounted exhaust pipes along with a Lakewood Scattershield & a Hurst Competition Plus shifter ’71 Ontario Orange LT-1 Corvette Roadster, also bought all by myself. Yeah owners can modify or change their cars to their liking but that doesn’t mean I can’t comment about those distasteful (to me anyways) mods. Peace Out. Theres no provision to attach pictures on a reply, I will enter a picture of the ’67 in a new comment.
Boy does that look like fun (steering wheel and all) :-). I do agree it would benefit from a Tremac but remembering an episode of Counting Cars where a maroon late 50’s early 60’s Corvette gasser with a very large blower sticking out of the hood and a 4 speed just looked like to much fun and although not the best cruiser, this car was built for fun not practicality. IMO. Wouldn’t change a thing.
Perfect
Are there no editors at BF?
Obviously not for electric guys that need the car to drive for them. Why are your comments left up? By the way. Electric doesn’t have a nonsubsidized real economy around it.
Very Nice Car, not really a Gasser. Hood bubble belongs on a Ford. My favorite 1st gen Vette was a 62 with Torq Thrust Americans, Fawn Beige running around in the 60s, & had some nice parts in it but looked relatively stock.
FYI, listing ended with 0 bids.