October 1969 Motor Trend: “The 10-Second Trip”
Blow your entire mind on the hottest street machine in the 1970 Chevrolet Sports Department
To download and read the PDF version of this story from the October 1969 issue of Motor Trend, CLICK HERE.
Corvette engineers Gib Hufstader, Tom Langdon, and Bob Clift built an all-aluminum 454 1968 Corvette “Super Stocker” for the 1970 Chevrolet Long Press Lead event in the summer of 1969! Automotive journalists drove the beast to 10-second quarter-mile passes!
The one-off, all-aluminum 454 mule drag Vette was thrashed and enjoyed by the automotive press, then stripped of its good reusable parts, and crushed. For decades, only those with a copy of the October 1969 issue of Motor Trend and a good memory remembered the car because it was only seen once at the by-invitation-only Long Press Lead in the summer of 1969 to show off the upcoming 1970 Chevrolet cars.
Duntov and his team of Corvette engineers wanted the press to have some fun, so they set up a quarter-mile with timing lights.
Many years later, Dave Miller and friends decided to recreate the one-of-a-kind Chevrolet-built 454 drag Vette. I covered this car in the July 2023 issue of Vette Vues Magazine. You can read the story HERE.
The lead engineer on the original car was Gib Hufstader. Gib had mountains of documentation and knew exactly how to build the re-creation. Were it not for Gib’s knowledge and background, the re-creation project would not have happened.
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In 2009, my Illustrated Corvette Series monthly column had a two-part story titled, “Zora Arkus-Duntov’s Mule Corvettes”. Part 2 covered the all-aluminum 454 drag Vette. Gib was very helpful with my story. I sent him a few of my Corvette prints, and he wrote back a very kind letter that you can read HERE.
On May 5, 2025, Gib Hufstader died at the age of 94. I will be publishing a review of Gib’s long career sometime in June 2025.
To download and read the PDF version of this story from the October 1969 issue of Motor Trend, CLICK HERE. – Scott
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