10 Modded Cars that Hammered for Big Bucks on the Big Stage, Led by $1 Million Corvette

You couldn’t get away with putting disc brakes on a car you’d restored at Pebble, even if it did make the car stop better. But in the hot rod/custom car world it ain’t really a big sin.

At least that’s the conclusion that can be drawn after Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction, where numerous so-called restomods went for well into the six figures and one, a 1967 Corvette Custom Convertible, hammered at $1,100,000. That's the highest price ever paid for a non-charity restomod at Barrett-Jackson.

You know what a restomod is. The word comes from combining “restoration,” which they do so well at Pebble, and modification, which they do so well everywhere else. A restomod takes a car that might have had whimpy brakes, vague steering and no power and gives it all that in its original, usually gorgeous skin. When restomods first became a thing maybe 25 years ago (argue all you want but you gotta pick a starting date), they were poo-poo’d by the collector car establishment. No way could those things ever go up in value compared to a numbers-matching whatever. But they did. And here are the top 10 restomods and their hammer prices from the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction.

ALSO CHECK OUT THE CARS OF RETROMOBILE

1967 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Convertible

Hammer price: $1,100,000

This 1967 Chevrolet Corvette convertible resto-mod was completed in October 2023 by Jeff Hayes Customs in Bloomington, Indiana, home of the famous Bloomington Gold Corvette meet.

The exterior is finished in champagne paint over linen-colored interior. It’s powered by a 540-hp LS3 V8 mated to a 4L70E automatic transmission.

Inside is a Vintage Air system, AM/FM/Bluetooth audio system, power steering, power windows, and even a power hood. They didn't have that in 1967. Instead of the original Chevy chassis, it rides on an Art Morrison sport chassis with four-wheel Wilwood disc brakes and rolls on custom-designed Schott wheels wrapped in custom white line tires.

1957 Continental Mark II Custom Coupe

Hammer price: $715,000

This one’s so nice it even has a name, “Cashmere.”

Instead of its original 368 cubic-inch Lincoln Y-block V8 paired with the original three-speed Turbo-Drive automatic, this one is powered by a 5.0-liter Coyote with an Edelbrock Victor II EFI manifold. That is then mated to a Performance Automatic 4R70W Street Smart four-speed automatic with a Simple Shift transmission control system operated using a Mastershift push-button head unit.

The build started with a California car and was designed and modified by Havasu Speed in Lake Havasu, Arizona. The original frame rails were boxed and melded with a newly designed front clip from Jim Meyer Enterprises, also in Lake Havasu. The full front and rear independent suspension was designed by the AMBR-winning team at Kugel Komponents in La Habra, Calif., to support the weight of the larger car. This one weighs approximately 4,900 pounds. The power braking system has Wilwood six-piston calipers clamping 13-inch drilled and slotted rotors. It rides on a RideTech air-ride suspension controlled by AccuAir management.

Subtle body modifications include the roof chopped by 1.75 inches, front headlight fenders shortened by 0.375 inches, rear decklid spare tire hump shortened by 2.75 inches and sectioned by 2 inches, custom door handles designed to follow the side body line, and the front bumper completely redesigned, shortened and tucked into the car's body.

The “Dark Cashmere” paint (a Bentley color) was provided by Sickens (founded by William Sickens way back in 1972). There is a lot more going on here but we’re out of room. Accolades for the build include the inaugural Sam Foose Memorial Design Award presented by Chip Foose at the 2020 L.A. Roadster Show, Al Slonaker Achievement Award and Al Slonaker Outstanding Interior, also at the 2020 L.A. Roadster Show. Suffice to say any of these mods would have freaked out both the original owner and his or her mechanic.

1964 Lincoln Continental Custom Convertible

Hammer price: $660,000

This ‘64 convertible also has a Coyote under the hood, this one from a supercharged Ford Mustang GT. It’s paired with a six-speed automatic Ford 6R80 transmission controlled by the Holley Terminator X Max management system.

B-J lists the rest of the mods: The rear end is a built 8.8 axle assembly upgraded with 31-spline, posi-traction carrier and new 3.73 gears, an Ididit steering column with Flaming River rack & pinion, performance suspension with Murray Kustom Rods control arms in the front and 4-link kit in the back on QA1 double adjustable coilovers, a high-power electric brake system, and, again, more fixin’s than fit here. The convertible itself has been reupholstered with a black canvas top.

1958 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Convertible

Hammer price: $588,500

This ‘58 was just finished last year. Power comes from a GM 7.0-liter LS7 with 570 hp and 540 lb-ft of torque connected to a 4L75E four-speed automatic transmission.

It, too, has a powder-coated Art Morrison GT chassis, this one with a compact independent rear suspension, featuring coilovers with adjustable ride height, and Wilwood big-brake package with power brakes. It’s only been driven 200 test miles since the build was completed.

1958 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Convertible

Hammer price: $550,000

Instead of the 283-cubic-inch, 230-hp valve-in-head V8 this came with—or maybe it came with a 245-hp twin four-barrel 283—this restomodded Corvette now has an LT1 direct-injected 6.2-liter V8 making 460 hp with 465 lb-ft of torque routed to a 4L70E automatic transmission.

To handle the new power without twisting apart, it rides on an Art Morrison chassis with rear independent suspension and a fully adjustable ride height.

This one has only 150 miles since its rebuild.

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Custom Roadster

Hammer price: $495,000

East Bay Muscle Cars of Brentwood, California (not that Brentwood, the one up in the Central Valley), swapped in a supercharged LSA V8 engine equipped with a Concept One serpentine drive system, one-off headers, and a custom exhaust system. It’s mated to a 4L80E automatic transmission, all sitting on a—you guessed it—Art Morrison GT Sport chassis with Penske double-adjustable racing shocks and 14-inch Wilwood disc brakes.

“This is a full frame-off custom build with nothing left untouched and less than 1,400 miles since completion,” East Bay says. It debuted at the SEMA Show in 2018, where it was a Top 10 honoree in its class during that show’s Battle of the Builders.

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Split-Window Coupe

Hammer price: $478,500

This Split-Window coupe was built by Burning River Resto-Mods in Berea, Ohio. There they put in a GM 6.2-liter supercharged V8 making 650 hp, paired with a 6L80E transmission. Like its fellow A-listers it has Wilwood 14-inch brakes with six-piston calipers up front, four-pistons in the rear, and stainless brake lines and rides on a powder-coated Art Morrison IRS chassis.

It was owned by Gary “The Local Brush” Kupfer, who painted and modified it himself during his ownership to take it to numerous ISCA (International Show Car Association) shows. In 2022 Burning-River Resto-Mods in Ohio got the car, gave it some 20th-century upgrades, and then also toured it through the ISCA show circuit.

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Split-Window Couple

Hammer price: $467,500

Another ’63 Split-Window! This one was done by Factory Hot Rods in West Chester, Ohio, a shop that specializes in hand-built custom Corvettes and muscle cars.

“The build started with a clean, original factory GM body which was rotisserie-restored and upgraded with the latest in modern technology,” Factory says.

The restoration was founded on an SRIII custom round super-tube chassis with C7 Z06 Corvette suspension front and rear. It got a 2-inch stretch on the rear floor “for more comfort and to accommodate taller drivers.” It’s powered by a new 755-hp LT5 supercharged GM Performance crate engine mated to a TREMEC Magnum six-speed manual.

Brakes are a C7 Z06/Z51 performance package with HD six-piston calipers and HD 14-inch rotors. The rear end has a Winters quick change with a 3.55 gear ratio. It also has Viking coilovers with 18 different levels of ride control, HD Z06 antiroll bars, high-performance Stiletto Quick Steer power rack and pinion, ZR1 axles and hubs, and a stainless-steel fuel tank with a ZL1 pump built in.

The job was completed in 2023 and has roughly 100 test miles.

1966 Chevrolet Chevy II Nova SS Custom Coupe

Hammer price: $330,000

This custom Nova SS was built from the ground up by Jim McKay at Lakeside Speed and Shine in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It’s powered by a 500-hp 5.7-liter LS engine from Turnkey Motors with a Magnuson supercharger, all mated to a 4L60E four-speed automatic.

It rides on a TCI M2 sub-frame featuring Ride Tech Shockwaves front and rear, power rack-and-pinion steering, TCI four-link suspension in the rear, Wilwood four-wheel power brakes (13-inch rotors with four-piston calipers on the rear and six-piston calipers up front) rolling on Budnik Gasser aluminum wheels (20-inch on the back and 19-inch up front) with the valve stems mounted on the inside.

The build was finished in 2019 with 850 miles since put on the clock. It took second place at the L.A. Roadster Show in 2020 and B-J says it will be featured on the All Chevy magazine cover in early 2024. Hey, we scooped All Chevy!

1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Coupe

Hammer price: $330,000

This custom ‘55 pays tribute to the car Harrison Ford drove in American Graffiti. It took five years’ work to finish and has just 28 miles on the odo since completion, the lowest miles on this list.

It’s powered by a Hilborn electronic fuel-injected 383-cid stroker with eight polished velocity stacks, backed by a new four-speed manual transmission with a polished and chromed case and bell housing, custom shifter, transmission mount, new clutch, flywheel and hardware.

This car rides on a modified original frame with a chromed nine-inch rear end with 4.11 gears, 31-spline Dutchman axles, QA1 adjustable polished rear shocks and a chromed rear sway bar. The builder says lots of “Swiss Cheese gasser holes” were added to lighten everything up, including the frame, control arms, seat mount, hood and braces.

The paint and body are a single-stage high-gloss Tuxedo Black with smoothed front and rear bumpers and rear fenders, radius cut and flared for a factory look. But with all that it still retains most of its original Bel Air trim and moldings, minus a few emblems shaved for a streamlined finish.

Let’s hope it doesn’t meet with the same fate as the Chevy at the end of American Graffiti!