By Robert Emslie
Have you ever pined for a Corvette, but felt that two seats and competent handling just weren’t your bag? Well, just as Burger King will accommodate your freakish penchant for a burger sans pickles and lettuce, Corvette enthusiast and family man Gene Swatek will build you a Vette you and the whole family can enjoy.
When not constructing frankenvettes, Swatek helped his wife make babies, and it was his desire to take all four of his girls to Corvette shows in a single trip that led to the creation of the four-door, limo-esque Family Vette. While the modded car is based on a C4 platform, the Swateks also own an unmolested ’73 coupe and a stock ’64 convertible. Their unique, elongated version of the bow tie sportster is actually based on two-thirds each of two cars- the front clip of one car being grafted to just aft of the rollbar of a second. And they’ll do it for you, should your passions lie in the dual regions of Corvette ownership and family circus comics.
If you want all that and the windswept hair that only a convertible can offer, they’ll make you one of those as well. The Family Vette II comes with all the leg room and seating capacity of its hard-top brother, but rocks both more headroom and Lincoln-esqe suicide doors.
Offered, incongruously, as one-of-a-kind creations that can be replicated on a limited basis, the Family Vette recalls the Corvette America of years past. While that Custom Coach created C3-based 4-door saw only 8 production models, you and Gene could potentially swell the numbers of Family Vettes taking up multiple parallel parking spaces across America.
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Kamil Kaluski
Makin' babies…stretchin' Vettes. I can think of worse gigs.
Is that a bloody lion cub on the first pic?
Gene will be happy to build you one in his small shop in High Center, Michigan.
<img src=http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_kpgoz52KZ31qa2s29o1_1280.png?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1268254643&Signature=AHHkXdOJAZ%2F6vRW60VQMESw2Sdg%3D>
This is polygamist approved. It will be a nice compliment to my other family mover:
<img src="http://www.greaterthings.com/Humor/brigham_brougham.jpg">
+1
Having never seen that before I can't stop giggling! So much win …
Red Corvette's build quality looks just horrible, I'd use this to drive over it:
<img src="http://thecarloos.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/tanklimo.jpg">
(Google image search "corvette limo" gives a lot of strange results)
Damn SARS is making me see things. Now I'm seeing a 4-door convertible 'Vette with suicide doors. What kind of
dreamnightmare land am I in?I'm wondering how the convertible top on the 4-door white one works. It doesn't seem possible — if it were, why doesn't anybody sell such a magical creation?
Bleah. I'm sorry, but that just seems to be a horrible thing to do to a 'vette, much less two of them. Especially when I don't even have one.
Arches on a barn? How declasse.