1968 Corvette Dubbed ‘the Beast’ Is an Early Custom With a Cool Story

The owner of this 1968 Corvette bought it new and proceeded to completely engineer it for both looks and speed.

While most prefer the stock look when it comes to Corvettes these days, there was a time, decades ago, when custom examples ruled the car show scene. For a while, people loved to swap out body parts and make second- and third-gens, in particular, look like nothing else on the road. This 1968 Corvette, built by former GM tech Richard Smith, is such a car, as Smith modified it into his own vision of the ultimate street machine – which he called “The Beast” – shortly after purchasing it brand new, as his nephew, Greg, explained to Top Speed recently.

Smith’s goal with his 1968 Corvette build, which began in November of 1968, was to make it as lightweight as possible, and he wanted to use as many genuine GM parts as he could as well, for obvious reasons. In total, it took two years to make his vision become reality, and that’s because Smith disassembled the car down to its bare frame, going so far as to install a custom-fabricated cross-member. Smith also removed the factory bumpers and replaced the radiator with a lighter aluminum piece.

Smith then turned his attention to the body, deleting the T-tops, windshield wiper door and its related components, and taking out the rear Astro ventilation ductwork. The clamshell-style hood came from the famous Bruno’s Corvettes, which is part of the new one-piece front end inspired by GM’s famous Mako Shark concepts. But the bodywork, as a whole, took inspiration from a number of other concepts from the Corvette’s past, including the 1957 Corvette SS, 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer, Mako Shark I, Mako Shark II, and Manta Ray.

The rear section of the C3 is also a one-piece unit that also came from Bruno’s, but was heavily modified by Smith, who smoothed the whole thing out, removed the exhaust cutouts, and relocated the license plate section. Smith even modified the rear fender flares to accommodate the 15×10-inch American Racing wheels before laying down coats of Appliance White accented by Lucerne Blue stripes. The simplification theme continues inside the cabin, where Smith got rid of everything that wasn’t necessary, including the radio, heater, sound deadening, and carpet padding while also adding lightweight seats and aluminum trim.

As far as power goes, Smith ultimately chose to go with a 454 big block, but carefully curated every part that went into it. In addition to an aluminum block and heads, the big V8 also features fortified internals with an 11:1 compression ratio and a Sig Erson flat tappet hydraulic cam. Total output is estimated to be in the 650 horsepower range, which is enough to move the 2,700 pound C3 rather easily. It sends all that power to a 3.70-geared rear end via a build Muncie four-speed manual gearbox.

Smith drove his custom Corvette for 15 years before selling it to someone who stored it for the next three decades. The car was sold when he passed away, and then sold again at auction. Greg was able to contact the newest owner and talk him into selling it back to the family, however, and now, this cool old custom Corvette has come full circle, returning to the place where it all began.

Photos:Top Speed

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