We Visit Specter Werkes, See GTR In Progress
After hearing about the pending unveil of the Specter Werkes GTR and since they're situated only a stones throw from the Jalopnik Detroit HQ, we decided to give 'em a ring and head out for a visit. President and founder Jeff Nowicki gave us a tour of the Troy, Michigan facility and gave us the low-down on what kind of hotness their rebodied Corvette C6 will be. The full scoop below the jump.
The GTR is the natural progression of Specter Werkes existing product line, which was previously topped out with the Group 6 model. When we first saw the new GTR, the car had just finished primary sculpting, meaning one half of the car had been carved out of clay and the full design was given the green light. As might be expected, half a custom car would only raise the ire of enthusiasts, so duplicating the work for the other side was the order of the day when we visited. The working buck was raised on static stands underneath a 4-axis CNC machine designed to scan one side of the car and duplicate it on the other. This is the kind of stuff the big boys do — so there'd be no corners cut here. The CNC tech has the job of fiddling with the the surface model program, setting it to execute, and then making sure the machine doesn't gouge a huge hole out in the progress. It's calm and quiet work requiring an eye for detail, and the ability to tweak software when needed. Normally it's not.
The car emerging from that massive hunk of clay is looking pretty sick. We've heard complaints about the C6 Corvette that despite lacking the giant-rear-end syndrome of its predesessor, it's without a certain je ne sais quoi in the aggressiveness department. The Specter Werkes GTR certainly gets rid of any of those complaints. The crazy aggressively angular body work will be complimented by exclusive Michelin PS2 Zero Pressure tires as wide as your arm is long, at 335/25R20 mounted to 20x12.5" Forgeline wheels in the back and 285/30R19 on 19x10 wheels up front. In case you weren't paying attention right there, that's a crap load of rubber. Carbon fiber bits and pieces will be scattered around in such components as the diffusers and the headlights. We were impressed to find out Specter is working directly with the Tier 1 supplier, Visteon, on getting those headlights directly from the source. These won't be crap aftermarket products.
We're eager to see the GTR #1 at its unveiling next month and we're pretty sure Rollie Purifoy Chevrolet in Lupton, Colorado is excited as well, considering their name is on the papers for that first car off the line. One of these days we might get out to the track to see just what these things will do. Fear not, we'll bring you along for the ride. [Spektor Werks]