Oh man, you guys are going to love this one!
One of the most polarizing trends in car modification these days is the Vette Kart. Made popular by our buddies over at Roadkill, they are typically based on ratty, unloved C4 Corvettes. Builders of these things start out by stripping all of the fiberglass bodywork off the car and ripping out most of the interior, leaving a 4-wheeled, V8-powered skeleton that resembles a full-sized go-kart. With the eager chassis of the C4 and the best technology the 1980’s had to offer, these things are great for refining into a razor sharp-handling autocross toy or just hooning around. The Bloomington Gold purist crowd hates them, but nearly everyone else out there loves these things. As popular as they are, this one stands above the rest.
Introducing: the Chupacabra. Named after the (probably) mythical creature, this thing sports FOUR TURBOS and will do burnouts for days. Let’s have a closer look!
The Chupacabra started its life as a 1989 Corvette with an automatc transmission. It had been set out to pasture, and the targa roof was missing, making a mess out of the interior. It didn’t run, and it didn’t matter, because the plan was cheap LS power from day one. The owner sold off bits of the car to fund the purchase of a used 2000 GMC Sierra with the 4.8L V8. He plucked the engine, sold off the rest of the truck and parts, and zeroed out his cost. From there, a quartet of eBay turbos appeared on his doorstep, and he got to work!
You can see here some of the builder’s handiwork in the exhaust plumbing. He built the exhaust himself, which exits each side via a set of side pipes. Other than the tell-tale sawblade wheels, there’s not much to remind you of this Corvette’s former life.
Another shot of the turbo plumbing. If there was ever a proper home for a LS swap, this is it. The builder is still tuning the car, and it’s only making 300 horsepower to the wheels right now, but he promises to unlock more power in engine tuning soon. Still, 300hp is enough in this lightweight chassis is more than enough to have some fun. You can also see in this pic a bit of the front suspension. Back in the 80’s, this kind of setup was exotic stuff!
And yes, he drives it! That’s a real license plate, and it’s road legal. I can only imagine the disgust on Tommy Bahama shirt-wearing Corvette purists’ faces when they walk by this thing! Another fun fact: there’s no ignition key. The car now starts via a fingerprint scanner. That’s one way to thwart theft!
The builder has some major plans in the future to maximize those four hair dryers. In the cards are a new torque converter, a new cam, upgraded fuel system, and more. It’s one of the coolest Vette Karts we’ve seen, and we want one more than ever. We can’t wait to see what he does with it in the future!
The builder has a build thread going over at the Grassroots Motorsports Forum; check it out for more details!
You can watch a video of this strange beast below!
You really should have explained the origins of the chupacabra for your readers that didn’t watch the X-Files. And yes they really do exist!
I hope he gets his head ripped off by the real thing!
4 turbos and only 300hp – should have put a 2 turbo Shotgun in it and tripled the power,,,,
Bone stock engine on only 8 lbs. I never intended to only make this much power with it, but once it was running I had trouble not driving it long enough to finish it.
I\’m shooting for a 1000 HP next month. In a car that weighs 2000 lbs, that\’s like 2500 HP in a Hellcat.
Yes because it makes sense to dump an extra $20K into a vette cart.
Brilliant as usual CHMG—by the way, what kind of Hot Rod you rockin’
Vette Karts are true modern day Hot Rodding. Working with what’s available, hopping it up, reducing weight, And cheap! It’s not like future generations are gonna miss a few Corvettes, they don’t even like cars anyway!
BEST use EVER for mid-80s—early 90s Corvettes. These things look like Mega-Fun. (hey moderator, happy Labor Day)
x
guess I’m being moderated out again–bummer
4 turbos slapped on anything makes me smile.