‘Junkyard King’ G-Body Runs 10s, Hurts Feelings

With a junkyard 5.3 running boost, this patchwork ’80s three-box coupe can walk away from the pretty muscle cars.

“It ain’t nothing special,” this GM G-Body racer tells BigKleib34 at Cecil County Dragway. “I just built it in the garage and a buddy did the cage for me.”

She ain’t a looker, but we suspect this 10-second G-Body regularly leaves modern and classic muscle cars behind.

If you’ve been around any racing at all, you know General Motors’ G-Body platform just works for all kinds of racing: dirt-oval, road racing, autocross, and especially drag racing. GM built them in huge numbers that mean a gigantic aftermarket for them. And the fact that they’re relatively lightweight and can fit just about any engine? You’ve got a ready-made racing platform.

We probably wouldn’t call it a “sleeper,” per se. After all, the LS-style intake plenum poking through the pitted hood says “Hey, this thing can probably run a little.” The bullwhip-sounding blow-off valve on the big turbo also might be a dead giveaway.

So sleeper? No. Let’s call it a hurt-feelings machine because getting waxed by a G-Body that’s seen some “life-experience” is bound to leave some salty aftertaste in its wake.

We’ve seen variations on this combination in bulk before with good reason: It works. The engine is a Gen III 5.3-liter Vortec V8 from a junkyard. Aside from a camshaft and valve springs, the 5.3 itself remains bone-stock. Of course, it breathes with some help from a T70 turbo pushing 16 pounds of boost and the owner is a recent E85 convert.

The thick summer Maryland air kept him from running close to his claimed personal best of 9.80 at 140 miles per hour. That said, a 10.74 is nothing to sneeze at. The car launches pretty softly but back-halfs like it means business.

With a 6.0-liter, a 91-millimeter turbo, and a set of heads in the works, we expect this feelings-hurter to cause some more emotional damage in the future.