Have you ever wished that you could trounce the person next to you at the stoplight and would still have the ability to haul things without resorting to an SUV or pickup? If so, this 1979 Chevrolet Corvette pickup is for you. You can check it out on Craigslist, or here on the CL archive, in Dewey, Arizona with an asking price of $13,500. Thanks to Keller G for submitting this find!
This is one custom ‘Vette! I love the Frenched headlight treatment and the side pipes, and of course the little pickup bed in the back. There have been other Corvette pickups to come down the pike, but I don’t know if any of them have been this wacky. This really looks like a fantastic custom piece of craftsmanship here. I like it and I’d drive it for sure.
The seller says that this is a “ONE OF A KIND, HIGHLY MODIFIED WELL DONE CUSTOM VETTE”; my apologies for yelling. It isn’t the biggest utility area for hauling supplies and gear for your second-story addition but for 90% of most people’s hauling duties this would work. It’s more about if a person likes the look of it or not – the utility, craftsmanship, and function of this custom ‘Vette isn’t in question.
There it is, pretty clean. I can’t imagine that a load of top soil has been hauled or ever will be hauled back there, but it’s a rare truck owner who hauls anything in their pickup other than their own rear end to work every day in it. Most people just buy trucks so they can see above everyone else, which you won’t do while sitting on the ground in this Corvette.
There are no engine photos, unfortunately, but this one has an “LS-6 454 FITECH INJECTED, TURBO 400, 2500 STAHL. BOTH FRESH REBUILTS. 373 POSI, AL RADIATOR.” Yeah, I bet it gets up and goes. The seller says that it has new leather and new carpet but this is the only interior photo. I’m sure that they’d send any serious prospective buyers additional photos, or I would hope that they would. Have you ever owned or, better yet, made a crazy custom like this Corvette pickup? If so, let’s see those photos!
I hate this. it is worse then the 4 door one.
A corvete coupe mixed with a el Camino pickup bed
All it needs are VW tail lights to be an official goofmobile.
I’d drive it, it looks much better then a Chevrolet HHR and faster. Really a 79 vette has about as much collector value as a 79 Vega maybe less, so why not.
Vegas stopped production in 1977, so a 1979 would be a one off original and worth quite a bit as a collectible.
This, however… well, the fit and finish are well done, but the design is…um, less than desirable.
Well what doesn’t look better than a 4 cylinder, front wheel drive mini station wagon style HHR?
And it IS faster. I took a photo of this and one of an HHR and raced them 43 times. The picture of this truckvette won every single time. Impressive.
You may be thinking of the SSR. The HHR was a four door wagon type thing. The SSR was a two door two seat el Camino type thing
Lovely… just flappin lovely.. Finally, a Corvette kit car that has a back end to hide that unsightly VW 1600cc engine.
‘Drove a MIGI once. Something about all of the thrashing going on in back ruins the ambiance.
Not my cup ‘o tea, BUT I can appreciate the workmanship. Seems to be a much higher standard than some of the other half-baked monstrosities that have appeared on these pages.
It’s certainly not the worst custom Corvette I’ve seen, not by a long shot, and as previously mentioned, this style of Corvette is very collectible anyway so no harm done.
Great workmanship. The price is not to bad either. Why should we knock a great piece of workmanship on this vette. The idea is great and it shows great. There had to be a lot of thinking and hand working to accomplish this, coming from an old body owner. My hat off to the people who built this. I like it and I am sure many other people like it. If you have never tried to do something like this, don’t say bad things about it. There is a great deal of work and thought in this vette. Just my opinion.
No. Just no. Nicely done, but no.
“it’s a rare truck owner who hauls anything in their pickup other than their own rear end to work every day in it. Most people just buy trucks so they can see above everyone else”
Uh…maybe where you live. Probably 2/3 of the pickup trucks that I see on my daily commute are towing or hauling obvious loads that couldn’t be handled by a car. There are a few showoffs, but most of the trucks I see are workin’.
Then you’re not in the places that buy trucks. No one buying a $60k+ pickup is using it for work, lol. Drive around any city in the US and you see… tons of trucks. And they are full of families who think the truck makes them more masculine than the minivan they’re emulating.
Wow! Useless as a sports car AND useless as a truck. That’s got to be quite an accomplishment.
Depends on the sport. Big block, higher stall and 3.73 gears… easy 13 second 1/4 mile times, and probably in the high 12’s . That’s pretty sporty to me.
That is a FANTASTIC…parts vehicle. I mean, look at the usable parts here- drive train, doors, seats, um… tires… a couple of tail light bulbs. Maybe a brake master cylinder. Beyond that, the rest is a trash heap in my opinion, and can be trashed.
That is one ugly car! I don’t think anyone would be sad if it was shipped over to Beirut Lebanon.
Props to the guy for making the tailgate functional. That’s all I can say.
A well dressed mess. But who am I to criticize? After it’s their car.
Hello
I never seen one before. Looks like someone put some hours into this ride it looks good
big fan of Custom Covettes, this one? Ehhhh, not so much
Please, I just ate breakfast. I think someone has been sniffing too much Whiteout for their own good.
Now that’s a car with a serious gender identity problem.
A wagon conversion would look better.
Needs a tow hitch, so you can pull your boat to go with the little truck bed full of beer.
Not in love with it, but I don’t hate it. Worse atrocities have been committed [see: Hot Rod Rolls Royce]
BF clickbait and we fall for it everytime.
I have never seen anything quite like this before.
I hope I never see anything like this ever again.
I have never realized how many Vettes have been wildly
customized…to this level.This really looks well done,although
I would have made “bed” a little shorter in height,
but I do love the front end, and sidepipes..!I think the price seems pretty fair,
considering how custom most of it is.Most of the Vettes on here
lately,have been either total trash,or weirdly/wildly customized..Lol..
Iam in the minority cuz I think its cool,but I can understand
how some people would hate it..,cuz the basic design of a Vette
doesn’t need changes!
Still can’t get a golf bag in that “bed”, therefore useless.
What a way to waste money destroying a car….
This is not a pickup, any more than the Lincoln Blackwood was a pickup.
This is a cramped two-seat coupe modified to add a functional trunk. As such, it gains an enormous amount of utility over the donor car which is restricted to carrying whatever you can cram into the passenger side seat and footwell. Makes it viable as a weekend getaway car for two people. Or indeed, even an everyday driver if you want to carry a passenger and more than what can be crammed into your pockets.
I think maybe it’s modeled after the attached photo
“Boat tail” Vette S W E E E T
I’ll bet the back glass met an unfortunate accident and upon learning that it would be a cool grand to replace it, the owner decided get creative instead. It looks pretty good and it would hold quite a few gas cans to keep the 454 fueled up and haulin’ on a long cruise.
Maybe the design is a side effect from the AM/FM/CD Steroid in the ‘Vette? Read the ad for more info…
The customizing job is well done, assuming the pics are anything to go by (says the photographer who used to cringe at the build quality of some of the cars he shot for magazines).
OMG! How to ruin a Bette in 1 simple lesson
I also like the headlight treatment, probably because I have never seen similar before. Also always liked the cowl induction hood. The back… groceries, beer, ice…. hey, it’s a 79, they made a bunch, and all were pretty ho hum cars. So, I guess I’m glad they didn’t do this to a 60’s Corvette, and somebody will likely have a lot of fun with it.
Headlights are modeled after a TVR or maybe a McLaren
Looks like some goofy custom for a TV detective, like that goofy Toronado Mannix drove.
For 13.5! Can’t beat the price. Creative piece!
Very original, nicely crafted…if the rear of the ‘bed’ pitched down to copy the downward angle of the rear fenders, I think this would look quite good. I don’t normally like these FrankenVettes, but this one has a cool original vibe to it.
This is the fugliest Vette I’ve ever seen. Please tell me this is a Photoshop joke!
There are some very good reasons why you should never inhale the fumes from fiberglass resin. This is one of those reasons.
The 80s brought worse than Travolta in a white suit and disco.
I like the front end. Especially the headlights.
It looks like quad head lamps from a muscle car
Can’t cook it anymore it’s” well done.”
and I thought my mother was ugly …..
I think the body work is every good ………………………..
Tim Deal, you are absolutely correct. And a lot of labor. His idea is great, do not know why a lot of comments do not think this vehicle looks great. If most of these people posting negative comments is because they have never tried to do something like this. They must think it just fell together. [Old retired body man]. just my opinion.
Totally disgusting
If it gets you to talk about it then it’s a success. That’s what I love — seeing someone willing to b creative regardless of what others may think. If Chip Foose had done it first and painted it black we’d all probably be marveling at the idea.
Kudos to the builder for taking the risk!
Well, after reading through the comments, I have undeniable further proof that there’s something seriously wrong with me. I like this. I would drive it around. I’m not wild about the color choices but outside of that….I like it. Now, let me get back into my 82 Imperial and go to the Thursday Night Rodder’s Meet ‘n Greet where my car’s mere presence annoys people.
I quite like this. The “trunk” is adequate for hauling my weekly supply of groceries from Costco. I find the trunk does not look like a tumorous growth and it seems to blend with the lines. The only thing is which I don’t like is the the 454 which I would imagine gets lousy gas mileage and at this stage of life, I am not interested in break-neck acceleration and prefer the small V-8 for economy purposes.
Its not a pickup bed, not a trunk, but possibly a large cooler?
If the top of the bed lid were a bit higher, and a bit of tweaking, it might look a bit like a US version of the Lotus Europa.
Proportionally it is a bit off…but so what.
I agree with BH San Diego – The creativity is worth applauding…who cares what anyone “thinks”, do something different. Its not like this vett is some rare bird.
“STALL” not “Stahl”
I have always been a fan of full custom cars, regardless of what they are, and I really like this Vette!!
I personally believe that no one takes a decent (or better ) Corvette and does a full custom treatment on it. As one of the greatest Corvette people on earth told me personally (after one of his creations appeared on this forum, and was terribly criticized ) that he built that car from a totaled , trashed car that was headed to the garbage…….and I believe that this Vette pickup was in the same condition.
I’ve always wondered if THOSE style corvette seats are tough on one’s back!?
Do, say, standard(not thicker delux) ’73 high back “tuck and roll” factory firebird/camaro/vega seats bolt in? If so, i wonder why GM didn’t use em.
I would think they would be more comfortable & look better – with a ONE PEICE SMOOTH area for one’s back.
My stepmother had a 69 T-top. I don’t remember what the seats looked like and I never drove it any big distances but I don’t remember them as being uncomfortable. Of course, I was also 40 years younger.
Hey Bob , and probably a couple a wives lighter …..
Just one wife lighter!
UGLY!!! If u want a truck car, get an el Camino!
I like this Vette! It reminds me of an SSR or an El Camino or both.
Yep. The resemblance is startling.
Yep. The resemblance is startling. From a different angle it also reminds me of a Lotus Europa.
Some of the truly awful Kooky Kustom Kars are Korvettes. They are often done by some seriously low self-esteem men, with their design taste in the septic tank. Look at me, I own the only corvette in the world with an HO scale diorama 1950’s train station under the new whale tail spoiler with a functioning rail yard on the hood. If you look close you might spot the 1957 Chevy Nomad in the station parking lot.