CORVETTE IN PARADISE

This Big-block 1958 Corvette Was Rebuilt Beyond Restomod but Stays Nostalgic

- TIM BERNSAU

The good news about all the abandoned and forgotten cars out there is that they still exist. Whether it’s an out-of sight barn find or a hidden in-plain-sight field car (like this 1958 Corvette), these neglected treasures are still out there, and many of them are being found and resurrected back to their former glory—or beyond, and this big-block-powered C1 Corvette from Oahu, Hawaii, definitely delivers.

The Corvette was discovered in 2014. Car designer Samuel Kuaana from Nanakuli, Hawaii, had heard about an older man who had many Corvettes scattered around his property in the town of Wahiawa, Hawaii. When he visited, he saw eight or nine of them in various condition. “This was the only 1958 Corvette,” Samuel told us. “The car was all stock, complete, and in working condition, but it had been sitting under a tarp in a bush in his yard and needed a lot of work. The car sat so long that the brakes and engine were seized because of the moisture and rain.”

Samuel bought the car and towed it home on a flatbed, already planning the restoration process by the time he got it off the tow truck. The dilapidated body was the only part of the original car that would be retained. He shipped it to Brent and David Jackson, father and son hot rod builders in Grass Valley, California. Work continued as their shop moved to Chatsworth, California, and eventually to Boise, Idaho, under their shop name Idaho Muscle Cars.