If you’ve been in the industry for as long as we have, you’ve seen just about everything; from the junker to the show-stopper and everything in between. Eventually, looking at a row of classic musclecars and hot rods almost blur together Every once in a while
Starting with an honest-to-goodness ’63 split-window Stingray, the crew at Legacy Innovations completely rebuilt this classic from the ground up using not only some of the set hardware available, but plenty of one-off fabricated components as well. Under the hood, is a… yup, an LS – but it’s not just any LS powerplant, it’s a 638 hp supercharged LS9 borrowed from one of its newer descendants, the C6 ZR1 and sourced from Chevrolet Performance.
Known as the Black Widow and built on a Legacy Innovations/Rod Saboury C2 Corvette full Chrome-Moly TIG welded tube chassis, this isn’t another cut-n-paste LS-swap. It’s the real deal. Sitting behind that blown LS9 is a Tranzilla T-56 6-speed gearbox and Detroit Speed C6 front suspension and a custom Quadralink Strange Engineering S-Trac aluminum 9-inch rearend with 3.73 gears.
“The rear of the car was widened roughly 4-inches, then tubbed to fit the massive tires.” – Gary Drayton
The spent fumes exit out of the front fender scoops, courtesy a Borla exhaust system. The car sits on a set of Mickey Thompson SR (redline) radial tires with Billet Specialties Beadlock wheels, equipped with period-correct knock off cones and spinners. Tucked neatly behind are Wilwood disc brakes with engraved calipers at all four corners, bringing the stopping power up to speed.
On the inside it’s all ’63 Corvette; with a modern twist. You’ll find an Ididit steering column, a keyless entry system with push button start, a very modern form-fitted custom stereo and custom leather interior with 1967 Corvette headrests. In addition to the aforementioned feeder-mounted exhaust extractors, the body has seen several subtle modifications by way of widened rear quarter panels and mini-tubs and a killer custom paint job.
“The Black Widow was one of our quicker turnkey builds; all in all about 9 months start to finish…” -Gary Drayton
She debuted way back in 2012 at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas and would later go on to receive a Goodguys ‘Street Machine of the Year’ finalist award and an award for the Best Pro-Street at the 2013 East Coast Indoor Nationals. We’ve recently spoken to Gary Drayton at Legacy about the build, and below are his thoughts on it:
“The car was a shell when it came in, as you can see in the accompanying pictures. The rear of the car was widened roughly 4-inches, then tubbed to fit the massive tires. The clear ZR1-sourced engine window was grafted and molded into the custom hood. The Black Widow was one of our quicker turnkey builds; all in all about 9 months start to finish – and just in time for SEMA 2012! This included a complete interior design change just one week away from the build deadline. Overall, Legacy Innovations has nearly 3,500 man hours in the Black Widow.”
With over $300,000 invested into the build, the car didn’t go cheap when it was later sold after a visit at Mecum Auctions in Harrisburg. While the final dollar amount is currently undisclosed, we’re sure it wasn’t cheap. After all, cars built to this level are considered a work of art, rather than an interesting mode of transportation. We’re looking forward to seeing what our friends at Legacy Innovations cook up next!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, the parent company to Timeless Muscle Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the magazine’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next round modifications for his own cars.
