Photo: Ironworks Speed & Kustom (edited by autoevolution)
People collectively lost their you-know-what when BMW's M-Division announced their new M5 Touring sporty station wagon was coming to the US for a limited production run. With a healthy six-figure price tag and 503 horsepower on tap, there's not too many station wagons built today that come even close to being that fast. Key words "too many" being the most important in that string of words, because Rodger Lee's shop at Ironworks Speed & Kustom built something even faster.
This is a heavily modified 1965 Chevy Chevelle wagon, although you probably wouldn't have guessed it had we not told you. Owing to its fairly plain-jane exterior, complete with seemingly factory paint and black steel wheels. But on closer inspection, you'll find said steel wheels have giant chunks of boulders for tires that'd flare out past the fenders if the car was any smaller. It's perhaps the only visual cue present here that indicates what kind of restmod hardware lurks underneath. In its day, gen-I Chevelles left the factory with one of six different straight-six of V8 engine options ranging from 3.2-liters up to a 396-cubic-inches (6.5 L).
Safe to say, what's under the hood of this Chevelle wagon now is far beyond anything a mid-60s General Motors engineer could've ever fathomed. The same 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V8 out of the C7 Corvette Z06, CT5-V Blackwing, and the old Chevy Camaro ZL1 take the place of whatever American dinosaur was here from the factory. With at least 640 horsepower to work with, this is a wagon that can legitimately out-drag modern sports cars. All this power is fed to a ten-speed 10L90E automatic transmission, which is a downside that is better than Underneath. The ancient body-on-frame chassis that came with this Chevelle is also gone.
In its place is a custom high-performance chassis supplied by Speedtech ExtReme, where tubular control arms and JRI coilovers with disk brakes at all four corners. In short, there's enough hardware underneath and behind the engine to not throw you into a three or off a cliff like we've seen countless American cars do over theyears. If all else fails, the Michelin PIlot Sport Cup 2 tires will keep everything in line. Oh, and the steelie-type wheels are actually a set of FOrgeline OE2s designed to look the part. It's that fine line between a restmod and a sleeper that this custom Chevy manages to walk like a tightrope.
The fully-restored interior complete with vinyl-wrapped front bucket seats with color matched steering wheel and dash board looks OEM as well. Add it all together, and this is one of the most desirable custom wagons we've seen in ages. We're sure i'd cost at least as much as an M5 touring to build yourself. Shoutout to Ironworks Speed & Kustom of Southern California for one awesome build.
Safe to say, what's under the hood of this Chevelle wagon now is far beyond anything a mid-60s General Motors engineer could've ever fathomed. The same 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V8 out of the C7 Corvette Z06, CT5-V Blackwing, and the old Chevy Camaro ZL1 take the place of whatever American dinosaur was here from the factory. With at least 640 horsepower to work with, this is a wagon that can legitimately out-drag modern sports cars. All this power is fed to a ten-speed 10L90E automatic transmission, which is a downside that is better than Underneath. The ancient body-on-frame chassis that came with this Chevelle is also gone.
In its place is a custom high-performance chassis supplied by Speedtech ExtReme, where tubular control arms and JRI coilovers with disk brakes at all four corners. In short, there's enough hardware underneath and behind the engine to not throw you into a three or off a cliff like we've seen countless American cars do over theyears. If all else fails, the Michelin PIlot Sport Cup 2 tires will keep everything in line. Oh, and the steelie-type wheels are actually a set of FOrgeline OE2s designed to look the part. It's that fine line between a restmod and a sleeper that this custom Chevy manages to walk like a tightrope.
The fully-restored interior complete with vinyl-wrapped front bucket seats with color matched steering wheel and dash board looks OEM as well. Add it all together, and this is one of the most desirable custom wagons we've seen in ages. We're sure i'd cost at least as much as an M5 touring to build yourself. Shoutout to Ironworks Speed & Kustom of Southern California for one awesome build.
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