What happened to all those great old American muscle cars? Sadly, much of that Detroit metal has been snatched up by connoisseurs who are willing to pay top dollar for a mint-condition Mopar or classic pony car, or by some obsessive who has the cash and the patience to nurse a classic clunker back to health. The heartbreaking part is that once they’ve been returned to their original state, most of them never see the light of day. They’re treated like precious commodities-never to be driven, only rubbed with a diaper in some environmentally controlled cage. Gary Dourdan, the smoothest of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation geeks, thinks this is a crime. “Why buy one unless you’re going to drive and enjoy it?” he says. “That’s what they’re made for.” Dourdan, who plays Warrick Brown on the perennial CBS hit, is a car fanatic and has the collection to prove it. One of his most prized rides is a ‘67 Chevelle. “It was the first car I got after getting an acting job here in Los Angeles” he says. “I drove it to auditions, everywhere.”
Last year he decided to have the 40-year-old Chevy fully restored, so he turned to West Coast Customs for some of their tender loving care. But he didn’t want just any old chassis-up rebuild; Dourdan was looking for something that combined the spirit of an old muscle machine with the ride, reliability, and features of a late-model sports car. When Ryan Friedlinghaus heard Dourdan’s request, he knew he’d found a kindred spirit. “That was my dream, too,” he says. And so they got busy on building a modern street rod.
The concept is a bit radical. Sean Mahaney, West Coast’s resident fabricator, explains, “Instead of salvaging parts from other cars or building them custom like everybody does, we decided to buy a new car, transfer the Chevelle’s body onto it, and make all the modern conveniences and features of the new car work within that shell.” Dourdan headed to a local Chevy dealer and bought a brandnew $70,000 Corvette Z06. “It had everything we were looking for-the tech, the chassis, the brake system, the heads-up display, the power” he says. “Plus, it wasn’t so expensive that I would feel like a complete dick cutting it up.”
It took almost a year and more than 1,000 man-hours (and another 230 grand!) to complete, but when Dourdan finally got a look at his new street rod (christened “the Corvelle” by WCC), things got a bit emotional. “I had tears in my eyes” he admits.
But the joy came when Dourdan climbed behind the wheel. “It was fast and the ride was smooth” he says. “The bushings used to creak going around turns. That doesn’t happen anymore. It’s tight, fast, and handles like a champ. I’m really diggin’ that.” He also loves the fact that underneath the beefy facade lie all of the latest technology and safety features. The air bags, stability and traction control, and antilock braking system all operate as if the car were still shod in the Corvette skin. Plus, it can be serviced by any Chevy dealer. “Any problem can be diagnosed by simply plugging this car into an electronic-diagnostic system” Dourdan says. “It’ll blow mechanics’ minds.”
On the street, people do seem to lose their minds around it. “Everyone wants to race” Dourdan says. “This guy in a Ferrari challenged me in Hollywood and I dusted him. Afterward, he was like, “Radical car, man.” It was cool. I had to call Ryan and let him hear this guy gush over the car. Even when he’s out shopping, people can’t help ogling the Corvelle. “They don’t even recognize me anymore” he admits. “They’re too busy screaming and carrying on about the car. It’s extremely flattering.”
So what’s next? “Obviously, we’re going to do another car” Dourdan says. He and WCC are looking to modify a Dodge Charger in another past-meets-present collaboration and, later, a Ferrari GTO. “Check back in a year or so” Friedlinghaus says. “We’ll have much more to talk about then.”
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