Dragon Motor Cars' C5 Sport Rod

As the auto industry evolved, many different manufacturers emerged vying for market share by offering countless car designs and specifications to make them appeal to a broad range of buyers. As time passed, it was obvious many of these cutting-edge styles would provoke thoughts of customization in the minds of the young visionaries who created the world of hot rod and custom cars. As the cars produced by the leading manufacturers began to change, so did the styling concepts used by the customizers.

While hot rods were based on cars built up to 1948, true customs broadened the time span by using cars from the mid-'40s through the '70s. You might find an early chopped Merc from the '50s sporting a mile-deep black lacquer paint job, Appleton spots, lakes pipes, wide whites, and Cadillac sombrero hubcaps. The same car built today might incorporate wild cutting-edge paint, air-ride suspension, big-inch billet wheels, and low-profile tires.

Norm Grabowski designed the first T-bucket roadster in the '50s. Sporting a vicious rake, hot V-8, and loads of custom touches, it sparked a new design within hot rodding that's still prevalent today. As is true with any evolution of a particular style, the T-bucket went from cool in the '50s, to drag-inspired in the '60s, to the '70s Fad era encompassing loads of brass trinkets. T-bucket designs finally smoothed out and became downright sexy during the next few decades passed as builders revitalized '50s customizing themes with a twist.

Changing the overall vision of what a T-bucket is known to encompass is a challenge that must be met by someone who can bring a fresh design to the table with such wild changes that it causes heads to spin. John Chesnut is known throughout the kit car industry for his company, Dragon Motor Cars, that produces the Dragon, with its graceful body lines and aggressive edge that melds the appearance of '50s and '60s sports cars with loads of adrenaline and cutting-edge performance thanks to a lightweight chassis equipped with Corvette C4 suspension components.

For the T-bucket, John pulled out all the stops. He created a new-generation sports rod that could accelerate and handle like it was glued to the ground. Inspiration for the new car's design harkens back to his childhood, when his dad took him to Can Am races in Riverside, California, to watch what he considers the ultimate sports cars tear up the track. John never got over the exhilaration he experienced when he saw these cars run, and he promised himself that some day he would bring that feel to the streets.

Hold on tight, because this isn't anything like your Daddy's T-bucket! Starting with a fresh sheet of paper, John first set his sights on designing a lightweight chassis incorporating top-notch suspension components readily available to the kit buyer. While working along with design and fabrication masters Paul Carlson and Bryan O'Day, it was obvious the new chassis would have to be constructed from aluminum. They came up with an original-design race-quality semi-monocoque frame constructed from T-6061 aluminum that weighs only 237 pounds. The resulting chassis allows occupants to sit deep within it surrounded by extremely strong rails for protection.

John wanted the front-to-rear balance to be perfect, so he moved the engine and transmission rearward by 20 inches, which required him to shorten the torque tube and internal driveshaft by the same amount. Utilizing Corvette C5 suspension and driveline components would give the car world-class handling and performance. The new chassis was designed to accept the Corvette's parts as a simple bolt-on addition. This allowed the car to integrate the C5's massive wheels and tires, exceptional brakes, steering, and all-aluminum suspension cradles, not to mention its fire-breathing V-8 and six-speed transmission.

With the impressive, lightweight, loaded chassis now complete, John focused on the body. It would have to bring just enough nostalgic flair to the table and still be easily recognizable to car owners. Focusing this time on early hot rods, John decided the T-bucket would be the perfect body to start with when combined with a rear turtle deck instead of the traditional shortened pickup-styled back. Another plus would be the ease of registration in most states that recognize street rods once the car is completed. Since the rolling chassis was 74 inches wide at the rear tires, a good amount of surgery was required to make it all come together. By cutting the body down the middle and adding an additional 29 inches to its width, it was widened enough to be channeled over the chassis, thus giving it a totally low-slung appearance. When combined with the widened rear turtle deck, the car's proportions were now getting close to where they needed to be. With the addition of a custom front grille, side panels, and engine cover, all that was left for completion was paint and interior. Thanks to a glistening coating of black gloss by Sunapee Street Auto Works and dramatic real flames by Dale Flewelling, the car looks like no other.

The completed vehicle performs like a Corvette Z06, only with a better weight balance and a lower center of gravity, all while being 1,400 pounds lighter. John tells us it manages to accelerate like a drag car coming off the line and corners like a race car, all the while accomplishing a whopping 30 mpg of fuel. With performance tests coming soon, John expects the car to pull well over 1 g in the corners, hit a 0-60 time somewhere around three seconds, and scorch the quarter-mile in the mid-11s. With the car almost ready for release, we can't wait to see it hit the streets!