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Cummins 1968 Corvette Dragster Covers Track in Diesel Fumes

The EPA might have taken thousands of diesel VWs off the road, but there's a Cummins-powered Corvette that's still doing Satan's good work, burning a hole in our atmosphere.
Cummins 1968 Corvette Dragster Covers Track in Diesel Fumes 6 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
Cummins 1968 Corvette Dragster Covers Track in Diesel FumesCummins 1968 Corvette Dragster Covers Track in Diesel FumesCummins 1968 Corvette Dragster Covers Track in Diesel FumesCummins 1968 Corvette Dragster Covers Track in Diesel FumesCummins 1968 Corvette Dragster Covers Track in Diesel Fumes
Cummins engine swaps are nothing new. There are plenty of Jeeps and even a few trucks with custom tri-turbo racing configurations. But this is the first time we've ever seen a C3 Corvette Stingray rolling coal. It's as shocking as lifting up Miley's dress and finding out she actually does have underwear.

The 68 Corvette is one of the sexiest shapes out there. But this one was purchased several years ago by Ryan Lush with severe accident damage at the rear. There was no hope of hammering it back into factory spec, so instead, he chopped off the rear and replaced it with four-link suspension and Ford 9″ rear end.

The original race configuration used a 396 big-block V8 making 550 horsepower. However, that wasn't interesting enough, and he eventually replaced it with a built 5.9 L Cummins 6BT diesel inline-six, complete with everything from an aluminum radiator to Mahle pistons. It doesn't work with the factory hood, which is just the way we like it.

As for the exhaust, it's piped behind the right wheel and down the side of the car, literally smoking the guy in the right lane. The engine is matched to a 1995 47RH Dodge Lock Up Overdrive with Goerend Triple Billet torque converter.

In this configuration and with some fancy sunrise orange paint, the Cummins Corvette has been competing in the NHRDA Pro Stock Diesel Championship in Division 3. The video below is the latest and shows how Ryan Lusk does a quarter mile pass in 11.88 seconds at 129 mph. You can't do that with a Volkswagen Golf TDI, now can you?

This will forever remain on our favorite pro stock dragsters, right up there with the crazy Hummer.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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