There’s a claimed 650 horses under the hood of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Corvette, despite which it’s claimed to drive as though stock. Let’s see if that Jekyll and Hyde personality is matched by a crazy-killer price.
Speaking of crazy, I recently watched Crazy, Stupid Love, a movie from a while back in which a middle-aged dad gets pursued by a high school girl.
Um… yeah, eww.
There’s really no shame in a May/December romance, but when the age disparity dips into teenage babysitter territory there certainly should be.
We looked at a middle-aged car yesterday, a 1986 Toyota Camry. It seemingly was well preserved and with a five-speed stick, it was interesting enough. That said, its ad was a bit off-putting, denigrating both the Japanese and crack heads alike. That aspect, and the fact that very few people actually want an old Camry, no matter how nice, made its $2,999 price unpalatable and earned the car a 60 percent Crack Pipe loss.
So, if the Camry is one of the most somnambulant choices out there, what car might actually keep you awake on the drive? Well, I think there’s a very good chance that this 1999 Chevrolet Corvette Coupé might just do the trick.
Corvettes as a genus are pretty stimulating to drive. In the early and latest models that’s typically because of their engaging nature, while the ones in the middle usually have enough squeaks and rattles in them that well, who can sleep?
This C5 adds to the fun with a built LS6 that’s rocking a Turbonetics T76 turbocharger. The ad lists the engine’s additional bonafides, which include 60-pound injectors and a MAP (speed density tune) rather than MAF to calculate fuel needs.
That all feeds a set of 317 heads which should drop the compression ratio appreciably from stock owing to their larger chambers. Beneath those sit Mahle pistons on Compstar rods. A Z06 cam keeps time.
There’s a shit-ton more noted in the ad, and all that is said to have set someone back a cool forty thousand dollars. It’s also said to make a lustful 650 horses at the crank. Those get fed through a twin-disc clutch and Hurst-equipped six-speed stick to a built-out LSD in the back.
Methanol injection is installed, but not hooked up. You could do so should you want to get all Mad Max on somebody or perhaps really need to see firsthand what a rod through the block looks like. For the rest of us that might just be considered overkill.
Once you start getting into the driveline mods you might be excused for ignoring the rest of the car and just asking it to have your babies. We still need to do so however so keep your pants on. The Coupé body is painted Light Pewter Metallic and rocks chrome-plated factory five-spokes. A set of Z06 wheels with new Nittos comes with the car in case you prefer that look. Regardless of wheel/meat combos, there are new brake pads all around.
The black interior looks to be perfectly serviceable and sports both a trio of add-on gauges and an aftermarket stereo in its center stack. A Z06 shifter knob sprouts just aft of those.
It’s not all perfect, however. The seller notes that there’s a cracked front bumper cap here, under the bra in the pics. That’s an injury that has apparently also taken out a fog lamp. Other problems include a driver’s side window regulator that’s giving up the ghost and some normal for the age scratches here and there on the paint. The CarFax record shows a rear-end incident having occurred at some time, although the title is clean so it couldn’t have been catastrophic.
The seller says there’s a little over 100K on the clock. He bought the car a year ago from Arizona and now offers it here in L.A.. That’s actually a good thing since it means that despite the extensive mods the car is still apparently able to be registered in one of the most emissions-sensitive states in the country.
Why have a car of this caliber and only drive it for a year? Well, my guess is that there’s a lot of competition for an enthusiast’s attention around this ‘Vette’s $13,500 asking, and after a year the current owner would likely like to move on. You could make the move to buying this monster horsepower coupé, but only if that price tag feels less than monstrous.
What do you think, is this built ‘Vette worth that $13,500 asking? Or, is that too many bucks even for all that banging?
You decide!
Los Angeles, CA Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!
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