The brand new engine was fired for the first time on Friday, March 5, 1999. According to an e-mail message Rick sent to a few friends and this website, "It ran and sounded B-A-A-A-DD!" The message ended with "Man am I gonna sleep well tonight!"

Now on to the body work! The photo shows what the body looked like in late '98. There was still a lot of work to do and paint job to come, but the stance of the Corv-8 was perfect! The wheel and tire combination looked terrific and it was now time to think about the details.

The view above gives us a good view of the trick rear suspension components and hot looking exhaust pipes. A replacement steel piece was needed for the lower rear quarter panel and he'd have to come up with a custom rear grill treatment to accommodate the wild looking taper tips. He also planned to add a Yenko style spoiler to the deck lid.

You may have noticed the vanity plate 6 V8 6. Rick's wife Jan suggested it. It reflects the car's design; a '66 with a V-8 in the middle.

By June, '99, the replacement section of the rear quarter panel was installed and Rick was experimenting with the look of the rear of the car. He attached the Yenko style spoiler and temporarily painted the rear cove area silver to get an idea of what the cove would look like in its final color, the Argent Silver used to trim the '65 and '66 Corsas. He also modified the air exhaust grill to frame the taper tip exhaust pipes.

How'd you like to hear the sweet sound of that electronically controlled, fuel-injected small-block? If your computer has an installed media player, it should turn right over! If you are on a dial-up connection, it may take a few seconds for the sound file to load. On a fast cable connection...instantaneous.

Click a road sign for more about the Norris Corv-8.