The seller is calling it a 1988 Corvette Bella Elan Coupe and it’s supposed to evoke, I quote: “the owner’s dream of a French Deco style dream car”. I…uh…what? Maybe it’s just me, but I thought Excalibur kicked the bucket for good sometime around 1990 and Zimmer is considered a build-to-order deal, so what happened here, really? Part of this car looks like someone saw the 1995 Chrysler Atlantic show car, fell in love, and tried to build their own. Part of this thing smacks of pure retro funk, and not the good kind, and there’s just a whiff of 1980s cocaine-induced decision making about all of this. So, let’s break down what we’ve got here.
Let’s start with the majority of the body section, which was sourced from a 2001 Audi TT. 1937 Chevrolet fenders were attached, as were 1959 Corvette taillights, and teak wood running boards (and, from what my eyes can see, the rest of the lower trim too.) The frame is a custom X-supported box frame to which front and rear Corvette subframes were attached. A 1998 LS1 and automatic transmission power the machine, and inside luxuries such as heated seats, cruise control, and an AM/FM/CD/Satellite/MP3 deck will crank out the tunes while Vintage Air keeps you cool. Power windows, locks and seats still function, too. The paperwork will call it a 1998 Chevrolet Corvette, and everybody else will look at you with their head cocked, confused, like the puppy in the old RCA commercials.
I’m not saying that the build is horrific or that it’s low quality. I have never seen the car in person and I can’t say either one of those things in honesty. Truth be told, if someone went to the trouble of making heated seats work in a build like this, I’d suspect that there’s at least enough good in the machine to enjoy the drive. The questionable part comes in as why did someone go to all of this trouble for a handcrafted retro-cruiser? And who is the target buyer for such a build?
eBay Link: “1988 Corvette Bella Elan”
I checked out the 92 photos on Ebay, it looks like a quality build. Just not my style, more for the gold chain and cocaine set.
Ive seen worse I guess, looks to be put together fairly well.
I might have taken temporary leave of my sanity but I actually like this! It is so well constructed as to appear a professional build and only needs a few changes to improve it. Larger wire wheels, junking the vast rear brake light above the rear window and losing the fog lamps would improve it no end. At least somebody has shown some imagination and not merely slotted an LS into any old car.
OK, Geordie’s ready for that REALLLLY LONG SLEEVED jacket! Call the medics!
It’s a lot better than your typical Zimmer abomination, at least. Most of these “neoclassical” cars were unmitigated styling disasters. This one merely has a couple little details that don’t look right on an overall decent design, like some of the better original kit cars. I wouldn’t kick it out of my garage if it showed up on its own, although I could think of a lot better things to spend $28K on.