American Refinement: C2 Corvette Transcends Continents and Eras

By Jack Haworth

Photography by Kyle Kuhnhausen

To make a name for yourself at the annual SEMA Show, you need to think, design and build beyond convention. Surface-level aesthetics may generate casual attention, but true credibility is earned with thoughtful engineering, precise execution and detailed craftsmanship.

Within the aftermarket community, Kyle Kuhnhausen is quickly becoming a household name.

In 2018, he showed up to the SEMA Show with his "InZanity" '72 Datsun 240z build, earning him a Top 4 spot and Top Young Gun Award in the SEMA Battle of the Builders (BOTB). In 2020, his Ballistic Beige '64 Corvette Stingray earned him a BOTB Top 12 spot, as well as the attention of a new client looking to build a nice Pro Touring car, but one that was "kind of the run-of-the-mill thing you'd see at Barrett-Jackson."

Five years and 10,000 hours of work later, that nice Pro Touring car was ready for its big debut -- at the 2025 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

It was Kuhnhausen's most impressive and ambitious build yet -- "Serious66," a modernized '66 C2 Corvette masterpiece, "conceived to merge American heritage with European refinement."

"Five years of uncompromising work distilled into a singular vision: the essence of a '66 C2 elevated with modern engineering, bespoke craftsmanship and cohesive design," writes Kuhnhausen on his website. "Every surface, seam and system has been re-imagined from one-off body details and integrated glass, to an LT4/ZF8HP drivetrain and hand-built interior. Serious66 is not just restored, it's comprehensively re-engineered -- a study in restraint, innovation and execution."

Kuhnhausen said he dubbed his project Serious66 to reflect the nature of the build, "serious thought, serious hardware and serious execution." It wasn't the type of build that begs for cheap attention, but one that confidently unveils its brilliance through countless small details that add up to a serious achievement.

"Each decision balanced subtle restraint with bold execution, producing a Corvette that feels both instantly familiar and entirely new," he notes.

At first glance, the C2 silhouette does look familiar. But its refined finish disguises an engineering marvel, "one that preserves the midyear silhouette while advancing every other aspect to the highest standards of performance and craftsmanship."

Kuhnhausen's craftsmanship was acknowledged with a 2025 SEMA Best Engineered Vehicle of the Year Award -- a coveted accolade honoring a SEMA Show feature vehicle that demonstrates exceptional engineering throughout the entire vehicle, beyond just physical appearance.

According to Kuhnhausen, the success of Serious66 is best experienced behind the wheel.

"Driving this car is actually the greatest part of the whole experience. It truly drives like a new car with the 8HP transmission and the direct-injected LT4. The gearbox knows exactly what you want to do, the ride is plush but sporty, you can have a conversation in the cabin at freeway speeds. It really all comes together and as close as I've ever felt to driving a 911 GT3 Porsche is in this car."

EUROPEAN INSPIRATION

Kuhnhausen credits his client with shaping several of Serious66's distinctive design features, inspired by a visit to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and their exhibit of '60s European cars.

"He was sending me pictures day and night of all these key factors of iconic '60s European cars like the Ferrari 250 GTO, Jaguar E-Type and Mercedes 300SL Gullwing," said Kuhnhausen. "The common theme of those was they all had these smooth rockers, where the rocker seamlessly transitions to the ground and rolls under the car a little bit."

Integrating elements of European refinement into a classic American sports car would be a unique challenge, but Kuhnhausen was up for it.

"The guiding philosophy became refinement without erasure, to honor the C2's essence while elevating it with uninterrupted surfaces, integrated engineering, and timeless detail. More than 3,600 hours were dedicated to bodywork alone, with hundreds of one-off, CNC-machined and fabricated parts and vacuum-formed components developed to execute the vision."

Intricate solutions are implemented throughout the car, helping to refine the vehicle's overall aesthetic and performance. For example, even the fuel fill unit has been completely redesigned.

"The fuel fill location is moved to display the central body line uninterrupted," says Kuhnhausen. "It is now packaged in a fully bespoke CNC-machined assembly under the rear emblem."

MILLIMETERS TO SPARE

Serious66 has been upgraded with all cutting-edge modern systems. This includes creature comforts like A/C and stereo and excellent Pro-Touring performance created by a direct injected dry-sump oiled LT4 and ZF8HP-70 eight-speed automatic transmission that seamlessly communicates with the engine ECU via CAN-bus network.

"Function is always the driving factor," says Kuhnhausen. "We don't build anything that isn't made to drive and use as intended. But to do that, you need substantially more hardware than most people put into these things."

The challenge lies with the platform itself; the C2 Corvette offers notoriously little room for even modest modifications.

"I've done a Datsun 240Z, which is a really small car, and I feel like it had a lot more room for stuff than a C2 Corvette," said Kuhnhausen. "C2s are one of the hardest packaging cars ever, when you start interjecting modern tech and you have five different computers. I had to get super creative."

To further intensify the challenge, he needed to fit a very tall driver into this very small car -- 6-ft. 5-in. tall.

"The firewall is completely custom and recessed 4 in. in the center for engine clearance and bellhousing access, along with the driver's footwell being protruded into the engine bay up to 6 in. over stock in portions and downwards to more comfortably accommodate the driver with full brake pedal swing."

Electronics were another major problem, but Kuhnhausen managed to solve it with creative solutions. He repurposed the glovebox as an electronics access point, with a custom steel liner to house the fuel pump PWM controller, engine harness fuse panel and diagnostic port, and TurboLamik transmission controller.

Additionally, he utilized one aspect of his client's vision for dual purpose.

"The suitcase was so instrumental in the vibe that the client wanted [it] based off the Mercedes Gullwing, just something really timeless and classy. But then I interjected and found a way to make it a functional piece of the car. So, it has a removable faux floor in a plaid covering, and that's where I hide a lot of the electronics."

Once it was time to put the car on the chassis, the clearances were minimal.

"We're talking millimeter-space constraints once it's all said and done because we didn't pull any punches on the performance aspect," Kuhnhausen explains. "That was very important to me; that we didn't build a show car."

THE GREAT EQUALIZER

Kuhnhausen created hundreds of one-off components to address packaging constraints, improve performance and refine the overall build. While fabrication remains his specialty, CAD programming and 3D printing has elevated the work to another level.

"I'm on the computer almost as much as I am behind a welding hood nowadays," says Kuhnhausen. "I'll 3D print the prototype in-house just to make sure the dimensions are right, and then I'll send it to SendCutSend and I'll get a metal part back in a few days. I don't have a million-dollar 12-kW fiber laser, but I get results like that and it doesn't slow up my workflow too much. It's really equalized the industry."

Kuhnhausen is well-skilled in the traditional methods of fabricating by hand. He built a C2 similar to Serious66 in 2019, using minimal CAD programming at the time.

"I've done it by hand, but now that I have all these tools at my disposal, there's no going back," asserts Kuhnhausen. "It just creates such a better product and gives me the ability to build off of the platform I just created. I have all those parts in CAD, so if I want to do another one, I don't have to start from zero."

Kuhnhausen's utilization of CAD and 3D printing began to increase around the time he launched the Serious66 project in 2020. Now he has four 3D printers that are "pretty much going 24 hours a day," building tools to sell online and prototyping his latest ideas.

"It just gets crazier every year. Now we can do 3D printing in metal and in engineering-grade materials. You can build anything you want to build and do it on a fairly reasonable budget. A 3D scanner is under $5,000 and you can get a good 3D printer for a $1,000. It's really scaled down to something that's utilizable."

As shops continue to expand their use of this technology, Kuhnhausen is seeing an explosion of creativity unleashed across the industry.

"Every big hot-rod shop now is building incredibly badass stuff that wasn't even something you could think about 10 years ago. Most shops now have a staff engineer versus fabricators. The precision has just gone through the roof, and the technology has followed to where we're building darn near aerospace-grade hot rods. It's just wild."

While a hot-rod space race may initially sound like a disadvantage for the small shops, that hasn't proven to be the case. Online fabrication services like SendCutSend have also helped even the playing field.

"SendCutSend just got into CNC five-axis milling. You can have a one-off part CNC five-axis milled and have it at your doorstep in under a week versus what used to be probably 10 times the cost and five times the lead time. It was basically priced out of being an option, whereas now it's the standard."

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

This new standard is unleashing the potential of talented builders like Kyle Kuhnhausen.

While his cars consistently attract attention at the SEMA Show, they are built alongside his father in a modest 1,200-sq.-ft. shop in rural Oregon. No large staff or million-dollar machines, just a father and son working together to produce some of the most innovative builds in the industry.

"My dad owned a mechanics and bodyshop, and he did a lot of drag racing on the weekends," said Kuhnhausen. "There are pictures of me at six months old sitting on the air cleaner of his drag car. I just recreated that with my daughter on top of the motor of Serious66, so it came full circle. It's just in my blood; I grew up fully immersed in it my whole life."

Kyle is only 34 years old, but the two have been working together for more than 20 years. He got his first job at his dad's shop when he was 12, the same age he learned to MIG weld. Today those roles are reversed. Kyle owns the shop -- Kuhnhausen Metal Concepts -- and his "semi-retired" dad is his only employee.

"My dad is my best friend and my mentor. Even back when I was 12 and I got my first job working for him, the loose idea was to always build hot rods together. So, to be able to realize that and do it at the scale we do, it's such a blessing. We do what we love every day so it's not really work, though Serious66 is probably one of the most challenging things you could ever do."

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