Tony Hawk just posted a video to his Instagram about his beautiful 1964 Corvette Stingray whose original 327 V8 was yanked out and replaced with an electric motor. Naturally, the comments are filled with Corvette lovers — old and young, and old — shouting in disbelief that America’s skateboarding hero desecrated such a piece of classic sports car iron. Here are some of the most outraged commenters, and why they need to relax.
Tony Hawk’s EV-converted C2 Corvette really isn’t anything new. He gave Jay Leno a ride back in 2022. But yesterday Hawk published an Instagram video with the somewhat bait-y title “Dear Detroit: we good?”
It turns out, “we” are not good.
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Here are the most liked comments on Instagram. With 3,238 likes as of this writing, commenter fk8.e30 writes:
Damn the one tony hawk post I hate
With 2,078 likes we have this from someone named tingey:
Ruined a stingray bruh ????
With 1,947 like, we have this one from spiff_d:
Cool, I fucking hate it.
filipecouto88 sums up my feelings, and those of apparently 877 others:
I feel really uncomfortable.
With 770 likes, camdenblast wrote:
You ruined that car????♂️
Those are the most popular comments, and though there are plenty of positive ones as well, many of those 1,400 comments on that reel read similarly. Here are a few cherry-picked ones:
Are fucking kidding me Tony with your money you could’ve put an ls7 in it???? I pray a v8 finds its way back into this car jus genuinely a shameDefeated the purpose by making it electricIt’s OK to drive an electric car, but please stop ruining all the nice and rare classic cars!!I wanna see how long those electric motors last compared to that small block 327.Yeah sorry man this is a bit of an L. Love you Tony you can do no wrong but this…this is wrong ????Dude, but why.. the whole charm is gone. If you want electric then buy electric. Don’t desecrate history ????I’m gonna go vomit now. I’d never have thought I’d ever tell Tony Hawk that I was disappointed in him.Tony you are on of my hero’s, but bro, you ruined this classic. Just buy a Tesla and convert it to a convertible. I still love you Tony!Even the coolest guy ever did one thing that fucking sucks lolTony noooooooooooo ????????????This is a sin against that carTony bro I love you but for this you need to go
I could go on and on.
Really, none of this should be a surprise. The Corvette is typically beloved by older folks, and many of the Instagram comments came through Facebook, which is also beloved by older folks.
Still, to all you Corvette purists, I have good news. Back in February of 2022, I visited EV West and saw them dismantling Tony Hawk’s 1964 Corvette (see the original fuel tank, rear differential, and 327 V8 in the photo above). While receiving a tour of the facility, I was told by CEO Michael Bream something that made the car enthusiast inside me happy: All of EV West’s conversions are reversible.
Though we saw this Corvette on Jay Leno’s Garage years ago, it appears that perhaps it wasn’t complete, because Tony Hawk apparently just received the finished vehicle, over four years after I visited EV West. Here’s EV West’s recent writeup from LinkedIn:
This week we handed Tony Hawk the keys to his 1964 Corvette Stingray, the final delivery on one of the longest builds we have had on the board. The technical summary: the original 327 V8 and manual transmission came out, a Tesla small drive unit went in – roughly 300 horsepower through a single-speed rear-mounted setup, with a 41.6 kWh battery pack relocated to the front engine bay for around 120-140 miles of range depending on how heavy your right foot is. No body modification. Every original drivetrain component was boxed up and returned to the owner, so the car is fully reversible.
I texted Bream about the Corvette, and he made it clear: “We’re car fans, so the chassis is the most important thing.” This was extremely apparent when I visited EV West. The place is filled with car geeks, so they’re not the enemy, they’re friends.
Does it really matter that the build is reversible? I don’t know. Maybe after Tony Hawk kickflips into the next realm, the next person will prefer the car the way it came from the plant in St. Louis, with a V8 and stick. So at least they’ll have that option.
While I find celebrities who turn their car collections into EVs under the pretense that somehow it’s going to help the environment to be rather tiring, this doesn’t seem like that. This seems like Tony Hawk, a guy who likes the look of Corvettes but doesn’t like to wrench and doesn’t seem to care that much about engine sound or stickshifts, just making a car he loves a bit easier to live with on a day-to-day basis. I can respect that. And given its reversible nature, hopefully some of the outraged folks in the comments can, too.
Here’s a hot take. It’s his car and he can do what he wants. It still looks like a million.
I recall Arnold converting his Humvee to electric a decent while back. I can’t imagine how that would go over these days.
Probably pretty well. They come from the factory converted to EV these days
The ev West and other classics ev conversion companies that do custom ev swaps and store the original powertrain seem like a good option for a collector who actually wants to use the car. It’s better then it just sitting somewhere because it doesn’t work or scared of breaking it. They make sure everything is reversible. The car is actually usable. Some of the porshe guys used to complain then mainly got over it. It will probably take the Corvette guys a few decades to get over it.
I’m not sure we should be giving raging internet lunatic comments on the internet a platform…outside of COTD.
This conversion actually makes a lot of sense.
It would be different if it was a car know for a special motor, but that is not the case here.
Absolutely. It’s (checks notes) one of roughly 100,000,000 Chevy small blocks built. If Tony Hawk gets to enjoy his car more this way than he did before, then it was worth doing.
Tony Hawk is a legend and can do whatever he wants with his car. That being said seems like maybe some comments aren’t giving the ol’ 327 + manual enough credit. I haven’t driven a ‘Vette but got to drive and ride in a friend’s ’65 Biscayne with a 327 and a 3 on the tree some years back and it may not have been especially fast but it was an awful lot of fun. Even if it’s the exact same drivetrain in this Corvette it’s gonna be a blast to drive, and imo a lot more of an experience than with an EV drivetrain, we don’t need to act like the 327 is some dog turd to rationalize the conversion.
Two months ago, I saw a slammed, restomodded C2 split window coupe. It had all kinds of mods done to it, including six tail lights. Anyone want to complain about that one?
Plenty of people do, even though a lot of the time those resto-mods are a car that was in rough shape and not numbers matching, so why bother restoring it like it was in some time capsule?
I’ve known Mike Bream and the EV West guys for years. I first met them when they were racing an old BMW in the 24 Hours of Lemons, and I’ve actually cleaned some of my car’s parts in their washer. True blue car guys who respect cars no matter the powertrain.
I have no problem with this, although it’s not what I would choose to do if I had a Vette. As mentioned, EV West doesn’t permanently modify the car. Their primary business has been doing EV conversions for classic VWs, and that’s a car which I think is a great EV candidate.
people get irate over the dumbest things and now with the advent of social media too many people have to listen to it.
Yeah. They made nearly 118,000 of those C2 Corvettes. If a company is not converting them by the gross, then it’s not a big deal.
Jay Leno got himself a free Lamborghini Miura back when they weren’t worth an engine rebuild. Values change, but in the end they are just cars.
327 V8 is version I’d want to drive. Tony has a different vision. His money, his car, his vision.
Do we have opinions? Damn right, it’s why we’re here instead of watching Bassmaster Live.
Lots of comments in the supposedly land of the free ????
Gonna commit some minor sacrilege here and just say it: a 1964 Stingray isn’t that special, and a fully reversible conversion with the original parts just boxed up means it’s really nothing to get your jimmies rustled over.
The jort army drowning in tears lol
But that was one of 5 black convertibles built on April 3, 1964, when Bill Smith was filling in as 1st shift supervisor because Lou Romano was out sick with the flu. And since Bill was acting as supervisor, a young John Franklin took over his spot doing door assembly and those doors are particularly well put together…..
Since nothing was done to the suspension or other handling parts of the car I wonder how it drives after adding 1,000 pounds or so? Tony may need to get back to his skateboard weight because that bowler body is just adding more weight
It’s a more practical car for the owner and makes them happy, and that should mean it gets used more. That’s great.
Personally, I would much rather be in this thing in real world conditions than the original car. Choking on your own 60s exhaust in bumper to bumper traffic because you had the audacity to drive towards the beach in your convertible on a sunny Saturday isn’t fun.
His money, his car. Not the worst thing he could do with it, if not what I would view as best.
My opinion is that the best thing about the C2 and other cars of it’s age/generation is their outer beauty. The drivetrains are archaic and inefficient and difficult to keep driveable. So there is nothing wrong with swapping them out to make the car beautiful AND driveable. Just my $0.02.
He can do whatever he wants but it seems to me buying a Tesla and converting it to a 1964 Corvette would be cheaper and result in a far better handling car.
Yeah, I’d call the EV conversion an upgrade over an old engine. My dad has a neighbor with an old Corvette, and visiting over the weekend I thought that there was heavy diesel machinery outside when it was fired up- excessively loud and sounded like dogshit. It apparently spends a lot of time on a flatbed as well.
The guy certainly shouldn’t need to apologize for being less obnoxious.
It’s a chevy small block, pretty easy to keep running with some minor modern upgrades like electronic ignition, this isn’t some exotic ferrari with multiple tiny carbs that need syncing. I was able to successfully rebuild a carburetor in high school (circa 2002) in my ’76 Chevy Blazer (basically the same engine as this car). Might need the valves adjusted every 15K miles if it’s got solid lifters. And for what he no doubt paid for this conversion he could have easily had someone throw a Holley EFI on it truly modern drivability and no tinkering with carburetors.
I didn’t mean it was hard to keep running. I’m sorry if it came off that way. More hard to keep in top notch running condition. Adding EFI seems like it would have been a good solution, but I don’t see that it’s all that different from switching drivetrains, as far as affecting the value/authenticity of the car. I could be wrong though, certainly not an expert.
Yeh that’s fair, I commented and then started thinking back to my days messing with carburetors and tbh I don’t miss them thaaat much. Obviously subjective, but imo with an EFI conversion you’d still keep like 90% of the sound and character of the car that to my mind you are kind of losing with an EV conversion though I’d be curious to drive one and see if it changed my opinion!
I haven’t driven an EV, so can’t really express an opinion on how it changes the character, though I’m sure it does. I’m just not sure the original character appeals to me, though I’m sure it does to others. I do love the sound of a big V8 sometimes though.
eh, who cares, a 327 4 speed seems nice, but it is still pretty much the base model vette in 64. While I think the EV west change overs are intriguing, I am encouraged by the bolt in and out nature of the setup. hell I have the original 327 and 4 speed from a 68 Camaro in the garage so I can convert it back from a big block if I so desired or wanted to put the number matching stuff back to get a few more dollars from a Keep it stock stooge.
I’m an older guy that hates facebook, but I have to use it stay in touch with a whole slew of college friends for the reunions we still have. Not the college ones, the ones put on by my friends! Luckily I can go directly to the page for these, and not have to put up the the bs of the main fb feed.
This is guaranteed done better than every Boomer Bodge Chevelle with drywall screws holding shit together. I don’t wanna hear it from the Jet Age crowd, you guys ruined plenty of combustion engine cars all by yourselves.
Not the same thing when you can still buy it new or off a BHPH lot. Once it is discontinued the clock is ticking
It’s literally just a car, there will be other low production V8s I promise
I love the C2, and if I saw this car at a classic car show I know full well I’d not look at a single other car after it and spend as much time as Tony, or any other person who might do this, would give me pouring over, and under, the thing. I don’t view this as sacrilege, I view it as innovation, even if limited in certain aspects (like reusing Tesla components), and I applaud it the same as someone dropping a modern LS/LT or Coyote motor in a classic car to improve performance, reliability, and usability.
Coyote would be sacrelige, Tesla’s not much better especially considering GM was selling Bolt crate motors/batteries/controllers to keep it Chevy powered.
I wasn’t suggesting putting a Coyote engine in the C2, as I used the phrase “in a classic car” to note that I support putting newer engines into pretty much any older car.
Also, the GM eCrate setup maxed out at like 200hp and doesn’t have near the aftermarket support that Tesla conversion do.
To be fair, these are the same people who got all freaked out over the shape of tail lights.
#neverforgetroundtaillights
Better not let Torch know you feel this way. Banned for sure. LOL
Careful! Some people around here resemble that comment!!!
/s
Previously it was just a ’64 Corvette. Now it’s a ’64 Corvette EV owned by Tony Hawk! It’s even more special than it used to be!
People love to pretend like a celebrity is some grand canvas to paint their preferences and priors onto, but it’s just some guy with enough money to do whatever he wanted with his property. Nobody’s opinion but his really matters.
Wow, some people in the post’s comments want to TAKE AWAY HIS FREEDOM to change HIS OWN PERSONAL PROPERTY?? Used to be, IN AMERICA, you’d have to pry my electric motor from my cold, dead hands!!!!!
Gobbless America red white and blue 4ever
Bulldoze the Whitehouse ballroom! Paint the reflecting pool! But don’t EVER convert 60’s automobiles to EV!!!
(Major sarcasm.)