I’m looking for every possible loose quarter in couches. I’m emptying the coin holders out of the cars. I’m checking my jeans for spare change. This is easily the most exciting find on eBay I’ve seen in quite some time. A while ago, we asked what car influenced you to get into the hobby…while this isn’t the car that got me going, this is one car that is seared into my brain.
In the January 2002 issue of Mopar Muscle Magazine (article can be read here), there was a feature on a spray-bomb black 1965 Belvedere owned by Kevin Alexander. It didn’t look much out of the ordinary, certainly didn’t fit in with the restorations that usually plague Mopar magazines…but there it was, boiling the rear tires into oblivion. So how did this rough, unpolished low-buck B-body make it into the magazine? One 440 and two turbos. At a time when only Buick guys seemed to play with hairdryers on their car, Kevin had slapped two of them onto a Chrysler big-block and made it work beautifully. Over time, he messed with this, tweaked with that and got his second feature shoot at Popular Hot Rodding (article can be read here) in 2007.
Courtesy of Mopar Muscle Magazine
The 440 in the car is now sporting iron heads, a Torker intake manifold and a Carter carb. Where’s the turbo system, the aluminum heads or the EFI that this car sported in a Popular Hot Rodding spread? It’s being saved for a current build. Because Kevin works at a Mercedes dealership, the car sports quite a bit of impressive hardware, including the brake system from a 2005 Mercedes S55 AMG hooked to a Dodge D150 manual master cylinder and the cooling system. The list of modifications done to the Belvedere are huge.
The reason that this car speaks to me so much is that Kevin focused on function, not form. This thing, even without turbos, is nothing short of a riot and for the price, you’re getting much more than bargained for. The brake conversion alone is worth a few grand. How can a BangShifter not love a car that was not only built but engineered to be beaten on?
CLICK HERE to see the listing for the Belvedere while it is available
What ta hell, I’m bidding on it.
Bob
I was really surprised when someone sent me a link to this write up. The hot rod was just something to tinker with over the years. My budget has always been tight. I just didn’t have the money to spend on it and always felt it was not nice enough to park beside the nice cars at shows and such. In fact, I fussed at Geoff Stunkard about the high dollar cars in the magazines. That complaint ended up landing the hot rod in his Mopar Muscle magazine article.
Other car guys started to contact me and ask for help. The build took on a life of it’s own. When I didn’t know how to do something I either had to figure it out or knock around ideas on Moparts.com. All the while the car quietly gathered followers. It became a bit of a tribute to what a little guy can do with a minimal amount of cash, internet access, and a passel of gearheads with which to kick around ideas.
Not everything on the car was my idea. I had plenty of input from others. However, I was stuck footing the bill. That explains the wide variety of parts.
The car has been scaled back a bit but is still in far better condition than at any other time since I helped a friend drag it out of a field 18 years ago.
We lost that friend to a motorcycle accident last year. That makes it much tougher to see the car go. However, money is still tight and decisions must be made.
The hot rod has a bit of a legacy behind it but it’s far from over. I was simply it’s caretaker for a little while. It’s time for the next guy to look at the car, scratch his chin, and say to himself “what if…”
Had a satellite with a big block. That thing loved to burn rubrubber. Always liked this body style Beautiful car.