Instead of trying to adapt...
Instead of trying to adapt original or reproduction C2 gauges, Dan Gernstein and his team at A-1 fitted the entire '96 Corvette dash cluster and center stack to the Sting Ray's dash.
And, like most Vette Rods being built today, this one is no trailer queen. "I've got about a couple hundred miles on it right now, and it's really a neat car," Dan says. "I'd never owned a '96 before, so I assume that it has all the driving characteristics of the '96." Good driving characteristics, yes. Bad kit-car characteristics, no. "I don't want this to have the standard 'kit car' reputation-where if we sell the parts to someone, and they assume they can do it but can't, it ends up in a garage and gets a bad name," says Dan. "The way we'll approach this at Classic-Glass.com is, if someone wants their car re-bodied, we'll take the old body off and put one of our new bodies on, to make sure that it's put together properly. If they want to do things like paint it and do their own interior, they can. We want to control all the hard parts, to make sure that job gets done right the first time. We don't want something out there that's not put together properly."
Right now, the factory C4 chassis is the only one they've used. "I'm not sure what other levels we'll take this thing to, but we're working with Blue Fusion," Dan says of their ongoing development work. "They're a privately-owned company that's a Tier 1 designer for Ford and Chrysler. They're coming in and doing a lot of scanning on our body to make some adjustments, to make for a little easier installation." Easier, that is, with the next ones they plan on building. "We're gonna do, I think, four or five more, "Dan says. "That's so we get an idea of what our costs to produce it really are, and what our time is to build it."
Regardless of the time that A-1 will need to turn out the second C4-inside-a-C2-split-window Corvette, Dan has plenty of praise for his two key employees, Gary Berthelsen and Jim Hatch, whose talents made this car a reality. "Their extraordinary workmanship and devotion to excellence resulted in the success of this project."
 If the original Sting Ray...  If the original Sting Ray buckets were good, C5 sport seats in a C2 are even better. Not only was the C4's dash adapted to the new C2 body, so was a custom armrest/console and storage area behind the seats. |  Repro Sting Ray door panels...  Repro Sting Ray door panels from Al Knoch Interiors hide power windows/locks, while housing their switches. |  This is a photo of the car...  This is a photo of the car with all the original body panels removed and showing the steel cage that is incorporated into the new body. |
 One-off billet aluminum wheels...  One-off billet aluminum wheels keep the "turbo-finned" styling and three-prong spinners as was seen on the C2's optional knock-off wheels. Tires are high-performance Generals, with OEM '96 Vette disc brakes also at each corner. |  Reproduction "Fuel Injection"...  Reproduction "Fuel Injection" trim pieces hint at what's under this Vette Rod's hood. |  We met up with Dan Gernstein...  We met up with Dan Gernstein and his Sting Ray-bodied C4 Vette Rod at Mid America's Corvette Funfest. |