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If you’re walking past the Billet Specialties booth at the annual SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center and see a crowd, it’s likely because everyone is stopping to admire the Noah Alexander-built 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle.
Made for a customer, the restomod Chevelle was built up from the bare custom chassis. The exterior of the car was modified to remove both the side mirrors and the door handles.
“We wanted to build something sleek,” Alexander, the star of Velocity’s Speed is the New Black, said of the car.
“We wanted it to look bad ass, a nail we hit on the head,” he added with a chuckle.
Sleek is the perfect adjective for the car. Alexander likes to use three primary colors when creating a build. For the Chevelle, he clearly used acres of black paint paired with a tan interior and a satin silver on the wheels and engine.
The car looks fast and it has the engine to back up its appearance. Under the hood sits a Chevrolet LS9 capable of making 638 horsepower paired with a Tremec T56 Super Mag six-speed manual transmission. The custom paneling over the engine is removable.
He also added an independent rear suspension and opted for a static stance, as the ride height was the chief design factor.
Alexander said he builds cars that handle and drive well because he doesn’t want them to become trailer queens.
“We’re big into getting customers to drive their vehicle a lot,” he said.
The driver and passenger seats were made by Recaro, though Alexander deconstructed them and removed the headrests, a move that highlights the cavernous interior. The original dash shape was maintained and has carbon fiber accents. The back seat was custom-built.
Dakota Digital gauges and Vintage Air were also installed.
Alexander was able to include a personal touch inside the car after a 3,000-hour build. The new owner once drove a similar Chevelle but wrecked it. He kept the shift knob, which was added into his new Chevelle.
“I had to throw that (the shift knob) into the safe because I was going to need it when I was done,” he said, laughing.