Specter Werkes/Sports Corvette GTR: Low, wide, and loud

[Chris DeMorro]

For Corvette enthusiasts, there is no shortage of aftermarket variants to choose from. America’s sports car has been around for over five decades, and many designers today grew up with wild ideas and grand schemes in their head long before they ever touched a wrench. The latest Corvette variant seems to take a more boy-racer approach to the classic sheet metal approach.

Called the Specter/Werker Sport Corvette GTR, Motor Trend got their hand on this mode which combines lots of fiberglass, a stroker motor, and some very aggressive styling for more money than the ZR-1.


Pictures: Motor Trend

First, all that fiberglass Specter/Werkes replaced the fascias, hood, door outer skins, rocker panels, and rear quarters with their own fiberglass parts. All this insulation widens the ‘Vette by 4.4 inches, allowing the meaty ZR-1 tires to fit in the wheel wells. This adds to Corvette GTRs already hefty fiberglass load which includes a front diffuser and side mirror caps, adding an extra 10-20 pounds of weight. The engine even gets its own touch of fiberglass with fuel rails and an engine cover. A Hotchkis sport suspension and Corsa/Specter exhaust rounds out the base package for about $34,995 over the base GTR’s price of $84,000.



Of course all of this styling wouldn’t mean much without some go fast goodies. To that end, SWS offers a number of performance options to tick off on the order form. To start with, you have your choice of a variety of stroker motors, starting with the Matrix stage l motor. This motor offers 560 horsepower and 479 ft-lbs of torque at the flywheel with CNC ported LS6 heads and Powerwerkes long tube headers.

The stage II motor bumps power up to 615 horsepower and 578 ft-lbs of torque, putting it in the same neck of the woods as the ZR-1. A $5,800 Stoptech package is also available and adds 14 inch rotors and 6 piston calipers in front, 12.6 inc rotors and 4 piston calipers out the rear. A fully equipped SWS Corvette GTR runs for around $119,000, quite a chunk of change, but certainly a unique looking ride too.