Care to know what happens when a 1956 Chevrolet pickup truck becomes the subject of a nice backstory, an interesting build chronicle, and comes out reborn with a great purpose ahead of it?! Well, this is just a snippet from the daily life of this twin-turbo LS2 machine rocking an enticing blue shade with contrasting carbon fiber and a rear chute. And it should still be enough...
According to Shawn Davis from AutotopiaLA, this is by far the fastest ride he’s ever experienced – and we believe him judging not only by the actual footage but also from the sound level. Just imagine, this serene looking (it has to be the paint, for sure) ‘56 Chevy is so noisy that in the driving portion of the video we see them wearing aircraft headphones!
And, of course, this is to be expected from the pet project of one Griffin Steinfeld, better known as NASCAR driver and older brother of singer and Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld. He was clearly not afraid to get grease on his hands - though it really doesn’t show, as he loves shiny, polished, ceramic-coated stuff – just check the engine bay shots in the gallery.
Still, he participated in the build by modifying the LS2 twin-turbo engine by himself, using lots of interesting stuff such as Precision turbos, camshafts from Dougherty Racing Cams, and other such elements. The end result is quite astonishing, given that Griffin states current power to around 1,400 hp at 20 psi on the dyno, with potential to reach around 2,000 hp once cranked up to 40 psi.
Even more unbelievable, the zero to 60 mph estimated time is under one second (he says 0.8s)! Really, we are not kidding – as he specifically raced the truck in 1/8 mile drag events. And he also had a specific purpose in mind because he wants to keep his builds capable of daily driving events... to the grocery store.
As such, he had one shop do all the body bits and pieces, including the carbon fiber details, and while it sports a full tube chassis the custom Chevy truck still has classic things such as steel fenders, hoods, and cab, along with a raft of creature comforts like powered windows. Well, they’re a bit hard to use because of the roll-cage, but we get the point – along with the note that it runs of three types of fuel (91, E85, and methanol).
By the way, Griffin is giving all sorts of interesting details – such as the story of getting the truck from the famous former owner (check the 5:10 mark), why it has just one Ford item, or what happens when the parachute deploys (6:45 if you can’t wait for the rest). Hint, he says it’s like a “head-on collision with a marshmallow” …
We have just one regret – the driving part starts very late (7:40) towards the end, and no words are enough to describe it, it really needs to be experienced (with the volume cranked up, if possible). Another hint, there’s a POV with one of the many burnouts performed that day.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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