I’ll get straight to the point here. I don’t normally shoot cars like this – I just don’t. My time in Japan is mainly spent featuring rides that are usually a collection of bolt-on parts, finished off here and there with a few custom touches – just enough to call the project unique. Granted, when we’re dealing with modern cars, there isn’t really much else you can do. You rely on what the industry supports and backs you and tuners with, and call it a day. But when it comes to the older stuff, that’s when we truly begin to see the actual skills in fabrication that a builder has. It’s then that you really see a true transformation and a coherent theme come alive in a specific build.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the US, and especially so at the SEMA Show where the latest and most badass custom builds are brought out…

At this year’s event one machine in particular stood out. So much so in fact, that it’s one of the few cars that I revisited multiple times to get a better look at, and of course, add to the top of my ‘to feature’ list.

Seeing that I do live on the other side of the world I hadn’t heard much about Ringbrothers up until a few months ago. In my downtime I always check out Jay Leno’s YouTube channel, and that’s where I first came to hear of these guys and be introduced to the type of work they do. Looking at the DeTomaso Pantera they took to Jay’s Garage, I remember thinking that restomodding sure has evolved over the years – something that was further emphasised by actually seeing the car in person at SEMA.

But then I saw the other car they built, and my mind was blown.

Such is the level of detail in this build, that it took a really long time to go over the 1966 Chevelle and its underlying jet fighter theme. As you make your way through this story you will see this for yourselves – a build where literally every surface, every addition as well as every omission works beautifully together to create something very special.

The motor of course. Truth be told it’s not quite 1000hp – 20hp shy to be precise – but who the hell cares when it’s presented in a fashion like this!

Given the feeling I was getting from the car, I had high expectations lifting up the lightweight carbon hood for the first time – and I was certainly not let down. The Wegner Motorsports dry-sumped LS7 almost looks compact in the center of the Chevelle’s expansive shaved and smoothed engine bay. For pure function’s sake, it’s been positioned right back against the firewall to give the car great front to rear weight balance.

The LS7 is built around an RHS block and heads and features a forged bottom end that provides the bulletproof base that a blown setup like this needs to reliably churn out solid numbers. And that’s 980hp to the wheels let’s not forget!

To get the feel of the car just right, paint was always going to be a tough choice. But after much debate, Ringbrothers decided that a custom mix from BASF was the only way to go. They call this military-inspired hue Sand Storm.

And I thought I was impressed with the exterior! If the car executed some of the highest levels of craftsmanship on the outside, I’m unable to quantify the skill that has gone into designing and physically crafting the interior.

Recoil‘s cabin puts most concept cars to shame, and it’s here that the money involved in the build begins to make sense! Look at the door trim, the aluminium door handle wrapped in hand-stitched leather, the bicycle brake lever you need to pull on to open the door, and the round billet rotary switch that activates the electric windows.

Behind the jet-fighter-like front seats – which are impressively comfortable and supportive I should add – the rear bench has been deleted. But take a look at the aluminium metal work that wraps around the cabin, down to the sills and across the whole floor and transmission tunnel. Those are all handcrafted pieces with a hydrographically-printed pattern that almost looks like carbon fiber from a distance.

The dash has been shaved and there’s nothing there aside from a plastic panel with a Recoil logo on the passenger side. Behind the custom steering wheel and attached right onto the steering column is where all the instrumentation and switchgear is neatly arranged.

Yep, total concept car stuff right here! That illuminated start button is a Ringbrothers original product called the Terminator Touch Start System. You tap it with you finger and it senses your heat. One tap gets you into accessory mode, two taps starts the engine and a tap after that you kill the ignition. On the same tiltable and adjustable binnacle is where the back-lit Racepak LCD dash display and data logger is located. All you need is right there. Nothing more, nothing less.

The car is even fitted with an audio system and air conditioning. I won’t say more, just look at the details…

Nothing has been forgotten, and once you lift the carbon trunk lid you are treated to clean and simple space sporting the same aluminium metalwork we saw in the cabin. At the center of it all is the fuel tank with a centrally mounted filler. On the right side – and this is something that appears on most Ringbrothers builds – are terminals to connect a battery charger up to, because let’s face it – the cars they build aren’t the type that you’d drive on a daily basis. But you absolutely could if you wanted to…