Skateboarder Tony Hawk is probably the most famous person that often gets mistaken for... well, himself. But if you see him drive in a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray convertible, you’ll know it is definitely him.
Tony Hawk has just stopped by Jay Leno’s Garage to show off his 1964 Chevrolet Corvette C2 Sting Ray convertible. In fact, it was the first time he saw it in about three years. He had taken it to EW West before the pandemic hit for some upgrades, but the work was delayed.
Originally, the 1964 Corvette was put in motion by a 5.4-liter V8 engine paired with a manual transmission, but that's a thing of the past for Hawk's convertible. Because now, the vehicle has been brought to modern-day standards and converted into an electric car. It has an eco-friendly, rear-mounted Tesla small drive motor which puts out around 300 horsepower (304 ps). The conversion brought the classic Corvette to a current value of $70,000.
When checking it out, Jay said that he would open up the hood to check it out, but there's nothing there since the electric motor is rear-mounted. However, Hawk joked that "we could still open it up just to p*** off all the purists." And so, they did. Leno wasn't impressed with it and said that it was "not a lot to see here." He mentioned that, in the future, it can be converted back to a gasoline V8 for his grandchildren. He joked, "My grandpa, he mistakenly made it electric."
"I don't think the Corvette purists are going to like this very much," Tony Hawk admitted after checking out his converted electric convertible. But he added that "I've never been one to hold on to just all the original parts." But he still has them. And besides its electric conversion, the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Convertible remains in the same condition.
As they took it for a drive, Hawk said there is no difference in handling. He did feel like changing gears now and then though, but that was no longer possible.
During their test drive, Hawk revealed he learned to drive on a 1977 Honda Civic CVCC Hatchback, also with a manual transmission. And now he’s driving an electric 1964 Corvette.
Imagine a Wenn diagram for cars and celebrities. At the intersection you'll find Monica, putting her passion for these fields and English-Spanish double major to work. She's been doing for the past seven years, most recently at autoevolution. Full profile
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