One Supercharger? That's Nothing, According To This 1953 Bel Air
For many people, one supercharger on their V8 would be quite enough. Weaver Customs, of Utah, disagree. They took this 1953 Chevy Bel Air, named Vortex, equipped with a 6.2 liter LS V8, and topped it off with twin superchargers. The twin unit is made up of two Magnuson 122 superchargers, combined together into one unit. These were produced back in the day, but have since ceased being manufactured.
The engine is an LSX376-B15 sourced from Chevy Performance and, out of the box, already produces 473 horsepower and 444 ft-lbs of torque. When you add a duo of superchargers to that, those figures are gonna be significantly improved. Weaver hasn’t released any official figures, and we couldn’t comment without knowing more, but it should be a pretty punchy increase.
The engine is far from the only change that’s been made to the Vortex — what kind of restomod would it be otherwise? The engine is hooked up to a TH350 automatic transmission that feeds into a Ford 9-incher. Further back, you’ll find a diffuser, improving the car’s aerodynamics and downforce.
Then we come to the body. Taking one look at it, you can tell it’s far, far from stock. The chassis has been replaced with a custom one by Art Morrison, and the body work has been chopped, widened, and channeled. Perhaps the most obvious change though, are the doors. The old fashioned stock ones have been replaced with suicide doors, which, given the new engine, are somewhat accurately named. A superb car, it’s apparently going to be auctioned in the near future.
