There are few things in life more entertaining than coming up with new project ideas. Whether you are hanging out with your friends wrenching on cars or daydreaming by yourself when you’re supposed to be working, coming up with new and creative ideas is one of enthusiasts’ favorite pastimes. We do it here at GMHTP World Headquarters a lot (probably more than we should we do have work to do, you know), and have recently started to collect some of our favorites to put into print. The goal: to inspire someone to build one of these projects, or, if none of them are your cup of tea, to motivate you to get back to work on your own project, so we can see it come to life. Whether it means buttoning up the final touches on an install or starting a brand-new one-off project from scratch, we hope you can find inspiration within these pages to get back out there and build something that makes you happy. As you will see on the following pages, we love a variety of crazy builds here at GMHTP and, with the help of some very creative readers, we have tweaked a couple of really good ones and teamed up with Eric Brockmeyer of Brockmeyer Design to bring them to the next level.
Remember those single seat NHRA Super Gas Corvette racers from back in the day? The SD-290X is a modern interpretation of those classic race cars, although instead of running on a 9.90 index, the SD-290X would be built for heads up X275 drag radial action. A Pontiac Solstice may throw some hardcore drag racers for a loop, but with a fully built 2-liter Ecotec ingesting 30-plus pounds of boost, the Solstice could be competitive if given a fair weight break (We’re thinking 1,200 pounds maximum, just like the Super Gas guys get to run). If you’re insane you could try rowing your own gears, but for us a Powerglide would probably work best stuck to the back of the Ecotec, and just for fun it would be awesome to see if we could keep the independent rear suspension out back, even if we had to upgrade the centersection to an 8.8- or 9-inch pumpkin. Weld wheels front and rear with some M/T drag radials would keep it hooked up, and we’re sure it would be one hell of a ride.
A road race Silverado? Yeah, you bet it is! The SSX1 takes a regular cab 1500-series Silverado to the next level by slamming it to the ground and adding all of the cool accessories you would expect to see on a high-end race car. Custom valved coilovers on all four corners, 18x10-inch CCW Classics wrapped in aggressive R-compound tires and a super short 69-inch bed instead of the traditional "standard bed" found on the regular cab trucks make the SSX1 a one-of-a-kind monster. Under the hood, SSX1 would have a high compression, solid roller 5.3 breathing out a pair of 180-degree long-tube headers and a side exit exhaust. A T56 six-speed would make rowing through the gears a breeze and add to the corner-carving experience.
If Pontiac was still around to build the GTO, this is what we would love to see. Keep the styling of the ’04 to ’06 GTO, but add a set of factory installed SAP grilles, the sweet SAP lower bumper extension, and the new VFN GTO hood and we would have a real looker on our hands. The CTS-V wheels should give you a clue what we’re up to here, but for those not following the nomenclature, the new VTO would be LSA-powered and ride on the same fantastic Magnetic Ride Control shocks that we have fallen in love with on the new Cadillac and Corvette models. Braking would come from a set of six-piston Brembo calipers, which would make this the perfect everyday street cruiser.