Hooniversal Joints- Dick Guldstrand's Shop

By Robert Emslie Oct 30, 2009

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Whether you hoon on the street, or hoon on the track, you want your loud pedal to dig deeper, and your go-fast to be go-fastier than the other guy. And if big-bore Chevys are your cup-o-hoon, then there’s a guy you might want to meet. We met him- in fact he let us peek behind the curtain and see where he makes the all the hoon happen.

If you know anything about Corvettes, then the name Dick Guldstrand will be familiar to you. Known as “Mr Corvette”, He has spent the better part of the past 50 years developing and racing Chevy’s sports car.

And he opened up his shop for us last night.

A 1999 inductee into the Corvette Hall of Fame, Dick Guldstrand was feted not only for his contributions in making the plastic fantastic a better racer, but also for his skill behind the wheel of those cars. He won the Pacific Coast Championship three times in a row (1963-1965) as well as the GT-Class at Daytona in 1966. If that weren’t enough, he was also the first professional driver for Roger Penske driving Penske’s Corvette Grand Sport at Sebring in 1966 and 1967.

Guldstrand’s prowess with tuning and driving was not constrained to the Corvette, as he raced Camaros in the Trans-Am series in ’67-’69.  He also built the cars, managed the team, and drove for James Garner’s Can-Am effort.

These days, at 83, Guldstrand still makes public appearances and drives in special events such as the Monterey Historics. If you find your Corvette lacking in either performance or handling, he’ll be more than happy to fix that for you.

He maintains a Southern California shop, where he continues to provide go-faster parts and tuning for Corvettes, GTOs, and Camaros. Dick was kind enough to host the weekly gathering of So-Cal car nuts there this week, and it was amazing to meet Dick and step into all that hoontastic history. Guldstrand Motorsports is truly a Hooniversal Joint.

Guldstrand Motorsports FTW!

0 thoughts on “Hooniversal Joints- Dick Guldstrand's Shop”
  1. Mr. Guldstrand has been a has been a longtime customer of my father's. A few weeks ago I was at my dad's shop when he was in the neighborhood and stopped to visit. He was driving the gold C5 Z06-based machine seen in pics # 15, 18, and 19.
    If you ask me, driving a 550hp+ standard shift Vette to work every day at age 83, after a long career as a successful racer and tuner, should qualify a person for the Hoon Hall of Fame.

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