We Can’t Help Our Infatuation with This C5 Buggy Vette Kart

We all know of Leroy the Vette kart, but this off-road C5 buggy is just as cool. Check out this quality build on a former FRC.

We all know that the Vette kart is kinda polarizing, but that isn’t stopping some people from continuing to build them. Take for example this C5 buggy we found on Bring-A-Trailer. This particular one is stripped down, and lifted up through oversized tires. It might even think it is a Jeep; It does use a Wrangler font bumper, after all.

In terms of power, this one is rather tame, using a stock 5.7 V8, with no boost or power adders of any sort. In fact, a good majority of the interior was left alone. The body panels have been removed, the frame rails shortened and an exo-cage was built. But one thing we can’t figure out yet is why a perfectly good FRC Corvette was used for this project. Especially because the whole “fixed roof” portion that makes the FRC so good is no longer present on this car. This wasn’t built from a wrecked car either. The title shows it is clean. That helps keep it road legal, but DOT approved lighting ensures you get a safe road car.

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To Each Their Own

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Built as a C5 buggy, this Corvette uses C5 Z06 wheels with big 265/70 front and 275/70 tires out back. It features at least some form of hood, albeit a lightly shaped metal panel. Cowl splash shields are also in place to keep mud away from the occupants. All of those panels are made of aluminum sheet. Out back, the buggy’s builder mounted a converted Camaro muffler on an angle and pointed downward. But somehow it works for the shape of this car. Factory adjusters have helped raise this Corvette’s suspension. That means if you wish for your C5 buggy to be a C5 kart again, all you have to do is adjust the suspension back to factory and fit a different set of wheels and tires. As you can see from the original car below, the transformation is incredible.

At the time of writing, this C5 had been bid up to $15,000, which given 118,000 miles, isn’t far off from the price of an un-modified fixed roof coupe. They often say you don’t see monetary returns on the modifications done to your vehicle, but this might end up bucking that trend.

Photos: Bring-a-Trailer