A few years ago, a unique ripoff configuration of a car appeared out of the blue that was inspired by American performance cars, came with a $250,000 price tag, and was called the Equus Bass 770. It was a car made to modernize the muscle car looks of the 1970s, like the Dodge Challenger, Chevy Camaro, and Ford Mustang — yes, these all have actual modern counterparts, but this was different. The company, Equus Automotive, has essentially done the same thing again, but this time with a Chevy Corvette as their muse.
The new Equus Throwback could so easily be mistaken for a Corvette C7 from far away or in dim lighting. It’s the same basic design, with a little bit of exotic flair and retro styling — this is what the company thinks the Corvette should look like. While the Throwback (yes, that’s what they are calling it) has a few subtle, barely noticeable inspired styling cues, some hardcore enthusiasts will recognize the more obvious nods, like the C3 inspired rear end and massive fin shaped indentations extending from the front wheels to the doors.
This is all great, but what caught our attention, after the initial double take to check out what we were even looking at, is the performance. While the C7 Corvette is no dog, it’s a long way off the top trim model Throwback that makes 1,000 horsepower and 882 lb-ft of torque. It can also reach 60 miles per hour in 2.5 second, and has a top speed of more than 220 miles per hour.
The performance of the Throwback will come at a price, and realistically, you would probably come out cheaper taking a C7 over 1,000 horsepower. If you want to get ahold of one, the starting price is $130,000, for what comes up to be about 10 grand more than the newest Corvette ZR1. However, for what it’s worth to you, this is more of a collectible and exclusive car as it will only be available in a 25 unit run.
Equus Automotive has expressed their plans to make more cars like this, as tribute upgrades, and they think they will be the leader in automotive customizing in the United States. They might have a ways to go, but they definitely do garner quite a bit of attention every time they release a model, so that’s a start!