Karl Kustoms’ Corvette Customer Stories

At Karl Kustoms, we restore and restomod a lot of cars. One of our favorite models to work on is the Corvette. The Corvette is such a great work of art by Chevrolet. We love bringing classic Corvettes back to their original glory. We also love modernizing classic Corvettes and customizing modern Corvettes.

Two of our customers were nice enough to grant a close look at their Corvettes. They gave us the privilege to work on their prized possessions. We’re all immensely proud of the outcomes. Check out what two of our favorite customers, Steve and Dan, have to say about their Corvettes:

Cruising With Carl – Corvette Collection

In this clip, you’ll meet Carl Moyer, the owner of Karl Kustoms. He took us on a cruise in his flawlessly restored 1947 Mercury convertible. The destination? Steve’s house. Steve is one of our customers. He has a very impressive collection of classic and modern Corvettes.

Steve’s collection consists of 5 Corvettes, including:

• A 2001 Corvette
• A 1963 Roadster
• A Corvette C7

Steve was more than happy to share some stories about how he acquired his amazing collection. He pointed at one of his Corvettes and said that he was looking for a Corvette with a cashmere interior. He ended up buying that Corvette with a red interior. Next, he had our talented team at Karl Kustoms change the carpet color. We’re honored that Steve trusts us to work on his Corvettes.

Another story he shared was about how he landed the C7 of his dreams. Two years ago, Steve decided that he wanted a C7 with specific features including:

• A cashmere interior
• Dark red paint with oak top

He found a C7 with those specifications on eBay. He won the auction with only 4 seconds to spare. He couldn’t believe how perfect the car was. It had only 800 miles on it, and he had an impressive experience when he went to pick it up.

“[The eBay seller’s] showroom was fancier than my house,” Steve said. “He said, ‘well, we’ll take you in here and show you the car.’ So he goes in there […] and reaches into his pocket. He takes out his white hanky to open the door. Same way with the trunk lid in the hood. Same way to close them. [The C7] was better than showroom condition.”

Even Carl Moyer, who has seen many performance cars in mint condition in his lifetime, was impressed with Steve’s collection. “Geez, everything you got is like brand new,” he marveled.

Here’s a secret. You don’t need to be a millionaire to have a Corvette collection that’s as impressive as Steve’s. He’s a regular guy who’s very savvy with money. “I barely made it through high school,” he said. “I don’t have a college education. But I knew how to work and I knew how to save money. So that’s how I ended up getting what I’ve got today. Just save a little and spend a little.”

Seeing Steve’s amazing Corvette collection made our entire week. Check it out in the clip above!

Dan’s 1979 Corvette L82

We love classic Corvettes as much as we love modern Corvettes. That’s why we were elated when Dan asked us to work on his 1979 Corvette L82.

This beautiful work of art came with the L82 package in 1979. That means it came with only 225 HP. It may have been impressive in the 70s, but it isn’t a very high performance car by today’s standards. Dan bought the car with 25K miles (when it was 4 years old, in 1983) and now it has only 30K miles. He has been storing it. In fact, the Corvette hasn’t been driven in over 10 years. Dan decided to get it freshened up a bit. “I didn’t drive it to keep it nice,” Dan said. “And then I let it kind of just, you know, set.”

Dan asked us to “modernize” the car. That includes:

• Cleaning the grimy undercarriage
• Taking the motor apart and beefing it up by:
  • Putting aluminum heads on the roller cam
  • Installing a Holley Sniper fuel injection system
• Completely redoing the suspension system
  • Installing coil over shocks on the front
• Installing a new brake system in the back
• Replacing the wheels
• Replacing the exhaust system

In Dan’s own words: “It’ll be a 1979 Corvette, but it’s gonna have a lot of the modern amenities.” He went on to explain: “[The Corvette] is gonna look stock, especially the eight-track player and the interior. But everything else is going to be really new and updated. It’s gonna be fun to drive.”

Dan is very involved in the restoration process. He drops by the shop often to check on his prized possession’s transformation. “It’s been fun to stop in and see the progress,” he said. “It’s fun to take some pictures and ask some questions. It’s been real encouraging to be able to stop in and visit with the people who are actually working on the car for me.”

Dan has an established history with Karl Kustoms. He has bought three or four new vehicles from us. Also, he would always see a lot of Corvettes in our lot whenever he drove into Des Moines. So he always thought of Karl Kustoms as Corvette experts. But what really convinced him to have us work on his 79 Corvette was one phone call he made to our shop.

“I called and I was talking to Patty about how the process would work. She wanted me to bring the car in, but I told her that I hadn’t driven it for about 10 years. She offered to send someone up here and tow my car back to their shop. I really appreciated that. They came with a truck and picked the Corvette up and hauled it down to their shop. If they hadn’t offered to tow the Corvette for me, I would probably still have it sitting in my mini storage facility wondering what I was gonna do with it.”

We’re very honored that Dan considers us worthy enough to work on his 1979 Corvette L82. It’s going to be a magnificent road beast when we’re done working our magic on it!

To meet more of our customers and marvel over their gorgeous cars, subscribe to our YouTube channel!