Air Flow Research pieces. And because
Michael’s a power junkie, we also
know that it makes 586 lb-ft of torque
at 5,400 rpm and 700 horsepower at
7,000 rpm. That’s no easy feat so he
relies on good friend Bill Winkelbleck
to keep it dialed in. But he’s aware of
his urge to overdo things so he had
Tom Stack paint the Latin phrase
“coram Deo” (before the face of God)
on the rocker covers. I mean, if you’re
going to drive something so potentially
wicked, it’s probably a good idea to
have good rapport with your maker.
The 1 7/8-inch headers and 4-inch-
diameter side pipes that Larry Knapp
built contain the ruckus ... barely.
Michael also specified a TREMEC T-56
Magnum rather than a Muncie. It spins
a 3.70:1 gear on a Positraction carrier
in, of course, an original Corvette hous-
ing. He didn’t go the stock route on
brakes, however. A set of Tilton mas-
ter cylinders in a Wilwood assembly
activate Wilwood four-piston calipers
and 12-inch rotors. A set of 15x9 and
15x10 Duntov Racing Wheels—basi-
cally Bogart Racing Wheels’ D10
centers bolted to two-piece rim assem-
blies—mount Mickey Thompson
26x10.00R15LT Sportsman S/Rs and
255/60R15 ET Street Rs.
The Audi Ipanema Brown Metallic
finish leaves no doubt that Michael
wanted this car his own. Robert Ediger
at Robert’s Autobody in Colorado
Springs applied the PPG formula. The
cockpit has maybe half a yard more
material than a real Grand Sport.
Knowles Trim Shop in Colorado Springs
clad it in Brick, a tan Nissan/Infinity
leather color. A set of G-Force five-point
harnesses keep Michael and passenger
safely pinned in the Kirkey seats. He
commands the car by a Grant 14-inch
Classic Corvette steering wheel mounted
to an ididit column. AutoMeter Custom
Shop gauges offer feedback on the mon-
ster at the helm of the car.
We humans may do nostalgia well,
but there’s one thing we’re not all that
great at: accuracy. Meaning we tend to
remember only the good parts of the
things we’re fond of. Take the Sunoco- Yeah, it was 102 octane, but only by
the old RON standards. By current AKI
standards it’s about 95 octane. And in
today’s terms, the $.51 Michael spent in
the late ’60s is about $3.75 today. No, the
93-octane I just bought ain’t exactly 95.
But I ain’t complaining, either; it
cost $2.55.
The gas is a good metaphor for the
car itself in the sense that it seems like it
was so much more attainable back then.
Yeah, when new, a real Grand Sport
cost a lot less than five to seven mil. But
to own one even then took people so
prominent that we know their names. Yet
here’s a regular guy like you and me ...
and he gets an experience that everyone
but wealthy team owners were shut out
of half a century ago. Here’s the bonus:
the small-block in it churns out horse-
power unthinkable by 1960s standards,
the so-called golden age of the muscle
car. And depending on how it was built,
a mill like that could do it on the same
gallon of 93-octane fuel that we can buy
for less than $3.
As the saying goes, nostalgia just
ain’t what it used to be. If Michael
Sabo isn’t ecstatic about that, he sure
should be! VETTEVETTEWEB.COM 31