Pair of classic Corvettes find new life

“If you look in the dictionary for the word ‘Corvette’, you’ll find a picture of the 63-67 fastback. It’s those years that simply define the model,” Brent Jarvis says.

While Merriam and Webster felt the need to include the many other body styles of the iconic Chevrolet two-door to properly define the heritage of one of America’s greatest sports car, Jarvis is dead-set on his definition.

“Never will there be such a beautiful car, from any manufacturer, with as sleek body lines of the second generation ‘Vette. It’s still considered extremely aerodynamic by today’s standards,” the Port Barrington man says.

And who can argue with Jarvis’ research when he backs up his statement with a muscle-bound portfolio with not one, but two, curvaceous 1965 Chevrolet Corvettes. It all started a few years back when he unearthed his now-red coupe down in Texas after it sat lifeless and neglected for more than two decades.

Hauling it home, the avid track competitor who holds several pro licenses — including one that allows for wickedly fast, 7-second quarter-mile elapse times — set about building the car as a contender for his favorite class: Outlaw Vintage road racing.

This type of nostalgic competition transports participants to the glory days of motor sports, as only vehicles produced from 1963-73 are allowed to battle it out in intense door-to-door action.

To comply with the rules, a vehicle must retain stock-looking body lines while utilizing a period-correct engine block. With these guidelines in mind and after installing a 14-point roll cage, Jarvis set to work molding and massaging the voluptuous fiberglass body. All four fenders were stretched several inches to accommodate larger tires, the ‘stinger’ hood scoop was raised for better heat exchange, and a custom front and rear spoiler were grafted on for additional down force.

Providing the horizontal force is a 565-cubic-inch V-8, good for 900 horses, fed to the tarmac through a G-Force clutchless transmission. Add it all up and it’s the ideal combination for mixing it up on the banked asphalt of any circuit.

But before any checkered flag waving could commence, Brent had a sudden (and project-halting) change of heart.

“Halfway through, I stepped back and realized, after all those hours put into the unique body modifications, this thing is looking way too cool to flog around a racetrack! Right then I decided to re-create it as a radical show car.”

Just when victory circle aspirations appeared sidelined, the second ’65 Vette showed up in nearby Lakemoor. Seeing another prime opportunity, Jarvis snagged it, already envisioning it as the pole-position performer he’d been dreaming about.

With the race restrictions off his first project, Brent tossed the rule book aside and proceeded all out in producing an attention-grabbing award winner. Except for the roof and already tweaked fenders, every body panel was modified in some way while still retaining those factory curves. That busty sheet metal was then drenched in mouthwatering Candy Apple Red paint over silver metalflake for the ultimate glistening finish.

With the trophy-winning coupe completed, the attention was turned to the now-deemed speedway star. Following its stablemate’s lead, the fenders were stretched out providing for larger tires and the once-white body received a new coat of Nassau Blue and given a bold white racing stripe. The Spartan interior was rid of all but the essentials, ensuring that the 705 charging horses galloping out of the 427 ci. big block aren’t saddled with any unnecessary weight. A 10-point roll cage and race suspension was bolted in, keeping the car firmly planted while flying through apexes and around hairpins.

Whereas the scarlet showstopper took three years to build, the itch to tear up straightaways spurred Jarvis on with the cobalt charger, requiring just four months to complete.

“The car was purchased in January and by April, we were at our first vintage road race. By the end of the season, it had gone to ten, been hammered on but always provided me with that experience of a lifetime!”

Even though his passion is blazing down backstretches, so much so that he’s already itching to enter the ruby stunner into some track events, Jarvis gets plenty of opportunity when away from the pit lanes to be around high-horsepower machines, while overseeing his Mundelein hot rod shop, Performance Restorations.

While it may seem like Jarvis overstepped unwritten classic car lines by altering these timeless originals, he assures all that wasn’t the case.

“Both of these vehicles were in extremely rough shape when I found them — to the point that the average bystander would write them off as nothing more than just a hunk of junk. But by doing all the work myself I was able to affordably breathe new life back into them and give them a new purpose in life.”

So the next time you want to read up on Chevy’s factory track star, don’t be surprised if you happen to find Jarvis’ cars on the pages, because when it comes to creating cool classic Corvettes, he definitely speaks the language.