We’ve all seen restomod builds where an owner takes an older classic and slots a more modern drivetrain under the skin, but to see a situation where the reverse is true is less common. That is the case with this 2003 Chevrolet Corvette. This is a genuine 50th Anniversary Edition, but its original owner sent it off to a company for conversion to recapture an earlier era. It presents well but will undoubtedly divide opinions. If you find yourself strangely attracted to this Corvette, it is located in Naples, Florida, and listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding has soared past the reserve and sits at $62,665. There is only a short time left on the listing, so you may need to move quickly if you wish to stake your claim on this vehicle.
This Corvette was the brainchild of Advanced Auto Technologies (AAT), located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Owners would hand their beloved C5 Corvette to this company, and they would remove the original body panels. Utilizing the existing mounting points, they would attach a retro-style body that would embrace many of the design features of the 1953 Corvette. The result was a vehicle that they labeled as the 1953 Commemorative Edition. I haven’t established when they commenced this process, but I have seen a 1999 model that carries the same panels. The car presents well in Black, with paint that shines beautifully. There is no evidence of any significant flaws or defects, and the panel fit is impressive for a vehicle of this type. As well as a modern interpretation of the snarling 1953 grille, the rear of the car wears panels and taillights that successfully recapture the style of the original Corvette. The same is true of the trim and chrome, with the overall appearance being distinctive and interesting. It won’t appeal to purists, but it will undoubtedly be eye-catching. It is also relatively rare, with the company producing 200 examples of the 1953 Commemorative Edition.
The 1953 Commemorative Edition is purely a cosmetic package, with the company steering clear of performance upgrades. This Corvette’s engine bay is occupied by the 5.7-liter LS1 V8 that produces 350hp. Bolted to this is a six-speed manual transmission, and this combination allows the ‘Vette to cover the ¼ mile in 13.2 seconds. The factory claims that an unmodified 50th Anniversary Corvette could hit 175mph, but AAT’s aerodynamic changes to this car will probably drop that figure slightly. The owner provides little information on how well this classic runs or drives, but the engine bay and overall vehicle presentation suggest get the news should be relatively positive. It is also worth noting that the owner appears to be pretty approachable. Therefore, he may be willing to answer questions on this subject. The listing indicates an odometer reading of 10,000 miles, and given the age of this vehicle, that figure would seem to be entirely plausible. Once again, that would be a question that would be worth asking if potential buyers contact the seller.
It seems that when the original owner dropped this Corvette into the lap of AAT, they were willing to spend a few dollars. The car rolled off the production line with an interior trimmed in Red, but part of the conversion process included a re-trim in its current Oak leather. The effect is pretty stunning, and the interior remains in excellent condition. There is no evidence of any wear or significant faults and no signs of the sort of deterioration that may indicate long-term exposure to harsh UV rays. The owner has recently installed a pioneer stereo with a 6.2″ display screen and Apple Carplay. The buyer also receives all of the usual features that you might expect to find in a 50th Anniversary Corvette. These include airbags, climate-control air conditioning, power windows, power locks, power seats, cruise control, and a head-up display.
Vehicles like this 1953 Commemorative Edition Corvette will not appeal to everybody, but it seems that there was enough demand to justify AAT producing 200 examples. The appeal extended to the point where Jay Leno has one parked within his enormous collection of desirable classics. This car has only received eight bids to this point, but they have been enough to push it past the reserve. I’m unsure what the final sale price on this car could be, so this is an auction that I will be watching. Are you tempted to take that one step further by submitting a bid?
Yeah I’m going to say “no”
Yep.
No.
Me too , not interested.
Looks ridiculous
The detail shots i like…the final 3/4 view…run away…proportions are all wonky…run away
lOVE IT! beautiful car
chevy produces 10’s or 100 thousand corvettes each year……
they are everywhere. maybe this one is alittle special??
I like the car for what it is. You don’t own a car like this if you are a purist or you think people will assume it’s a 53 Corvette. You own it because you can and it would make a very fun driver.
Knew someone who had one. Spilled a full can of brake fluid across the hood and fenders and destroyed the paint. Fixed it, then sold it, couldn’t deal with the idea of less than perfect.
Sounds like he was…..less than perfect.
Anything is an improvement over stock C5 styling- the worst design exercise in Corvette history. All I can think of who drive these are Guy Fieri clones replete with frosted tips, tribal band tats and Affliction shirts stretched over man-boobs and beer bellies. Their C5s are always littered with chrome add-ons, including the mandatory one between the tail lamps with the cross flags. >Vomit<
Wow…100% disagree. I think the C-5 is one of the BEST things that ever came out of Bowling Green Assembly and I’m not even a Bowtie guy. $20k buys a pretty a really nice fixed-roof C-5, one of the best bangs for the buck, even for a 20 year old sports car. Can’t wrap my head around this conversion… it’s just plain ugly.
There are several iterations of this and all are really beautifully done. Not meant to be replicas in scale ,and not cheap to have done. That said? Just appreciate that with zillions of generic Corvettes in every Walmart parking lot maybe respect the creative well done customs. Instead of demanding that every generic corvette ultimately is a collectible? Geez!
Nah…
For that kind of $ I’d buy a real Corvette… 68 big block?
That is absolutely silly
WAY better than either the 53 or 23 , and I have 4 Corvettes ,3 eras.
“….take an older classic and slot a more modern drivetrain under the skin, but to see a situation where the reverse is true is less common.” I don’t think what happened here is the ‘reverse’ — what happened here is pretty much what the author described. Granted – a recreation of the earlier Corvette body – but it was dropped onto a more modern drivetrain/chassis. The true ‘reverse’ of the old body on the newer chassis would be to take the 2003 Vette body and fit it over the 1953 Corvette chassis/drivetrain. And that would, indeed, be less common as no one would want to do that.
I saw one of these in “real life” a few years ago; couldn’t believe my eyes! I drove up next to it and wondered then what the heck the owner was thinking. I still wonder that; agree with the above comments. It’s disgusting.
I believe these cost over $200,000 when they first came out.Like it or not the current price isn’t bad if compared to what they cost new.
An original 53 is ugly enough to start with….and this mod doesn’t make it any better.
UGLY! Looks more like a Batmobile than like a ’53 Vette.
Kin-digit Design, Just built two 1953 Re-Creation Corvette’s. They built them together for two different customers, they appeared to be almost identical, except for color. It was implied that they could build more if there was a demand. They were so close to the original car, if you didn’t know, you would guess they were a Resto-Mod of an original car. They aren’t, they are brand new custom builds. Maybe the nay-sayer’s and purists would find this more to their liking. I don’t know but I would guess the price would be deep into six figures. It will be interesting to see how many people may step up to the pump for one. They are so nice maybe a new owner would just as soon not have anyone know they are Re-Creation.
Personally, I like it
1) the ’53 Corvette only came in white. Looks good in black
2) this is longer, lower and wider than the original ’53
3) it’s different
From some angles it looks pretty good but those taillights are never going to look good. It looks like they didn’t think about them until the car was done and then just slapped the first thing they could find on.
SOLD for $65,101.
I live in Rochester Hills, and I know where the shop is.
They do repair work on higher-end cars in addition to custom stuff.
Some years ago I was near the shop and saw one of these conversions, a white one, cruising down the street. Frankly, I thought that it looked pretty good in person, but never got a close-up view.