1,000 Horsepower Chevette Shoots for 7s

Canadian Chevette traveled 1,600 miles to flex at LS Fest West.

The Hoonigans put on a show of their own at the 2018 LS Fest back in May and while doing so, they scoped out a few vehicles in attendance for close-up segments. One of those vehicles was a Chevrolet Chevette that had come from Calgary, Alberta, Canada and while that might sound crazy, the car itself is even crazier.

The Walk-Around

The video above from The Hoonigans YouTube channel begins with a group of Toyota Cressidas drifting around the parking lot of The Hoonigan headquarters followed by a lengthy instructional segment on welding. Around the 13:45 mark, the video jumps back to LS Fest in May, where a pair of Hoonigan team members explain the trouble that they got into while trying to film individual vehicle segments after LSFest had ended and the safety crews had left. This meant that they couldn’t have their guests do any hooning, but fortunately, they got plenty of footage earlier in the event.

After that explanation, we meet Dario. He hails from Calgary and he traveled some 1,600 miles with his Chevrolet Chevette to attend LSFest. After putting on a hell of a smoke show during the event, the crew asked him to hang around for a feature segment and he agreed.

In this segment, we get a look at the 5.3-liter LS engine under the hood, fitted with a set of old NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series cylinder heads and a pair of S369 Borg Warner turbochargers that are mounted next to the headlights. This setup produces around 1,000 horsepower at the flywheel and for comparison, Dario dyno tested this car when stock and it made around 33 horsepower at the wheels.

We don’t know what the current setup runs, but with his old, gentler build, the car ran 8.50s at 160 miles per hour in the quarter mile. That wasn’t enough for him, so he put together this new engine with the hopes of getting into the 7s and trapping up around 180 miles per hour with help from a custom adjustable suspension setup, big wheels and everything else needed to lay down numbers like that.

The Hoonage

After a close-up look at Dario’s incredible Chevette, the video jumps to footage of the 1,000-horsepower compact doing donuts in the pit at LSFest. We don’t often get to see a 1,000-horsepower Chevy compact from the 1980s built to run 7-second quarter miles to donuts, but as you might expect – it puts on an incredible show.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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[Editor’s Note: Originally, we had it written as Calgary, Ontario, not Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Sorry about that, the brews were flowing early in the office and that geographical error slipped past us. Our bad. – Ed.]

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com