One Mean Martian: Scott Leber's 1963 Vette Gasser

You’d assume the owner of ScottRods—a company that specializes in creating custom fiberglass gasser bodies—would race something. Especially since he also runs ScottRods AA/Gassers, a nostalgia drag racing organization packed with supercharged, straight-axle monsters that look like they rolled straight out of the sport’s golden age.

But Scott Leber spent years on the sidelines while his friends thrilled crowds with the massive burnouts, wheel-standing launches, and fast-paced action the match-racing series is famous for. As his wife Kathy put it, “We go to all these races and he sits and watches. He’s tired of watching.” Scott added, “It drives me insane being a spectator.”

That insanity drove Scott to build what might be the ultimate gasser. Motivated by a methanol-guzzling, Hilborn-injected, Littlefield-blown big block Chevy, this replica split-window dubbed “Cosmic Ray” zaps onlookers with a body that glimmers with more metalflake than “an upside-down bass boat,” as Scott describes it.

Click on the Slide Show link above to take a dive into the details of a radical Vette that looks too nice for the track…but isn’t!

Photography By: Todd Biss Productions
Art Direction By: Lance Nemes
Story By: Aaron Dolezal

FAST SPECS

Chassis
Frame: Mild steel main rails with chromoly structure, TIG-welded, NHRA 7.50 certified
Frame By: Crowman Fabrication, Canton, OH
Powdercoat By: Rack Coating Services, Canal Fulton, OH
Rear End: Moser Engineering Ford 9", 4.30:1 ring and pinion, spool, 40-spline axles
Suspension: WAC Customs straight axle with hairpin radius rods (front), ladder bars and anti-roll bar (rear); Viking coilover shocks (front/rear)
Steering: Flaming River steering column; reversed Corvair-type steering box
Brakes: Wilwood Dynalite disc (front/rear)
Wheels and Tires: Cragar S/S (15" x 4" front, 15" x 12" rear); Mickey Thompson ET Front 24 x 4.5-15 (front), ET Drag 31 x 13.0-15 (rear)

Engine and Transmission
Engine: 427 cu. in. big block Chevy (bored .060 over), World Products Merlin rectangular-port cast iron heads (ported and polished), Ferrea valves, Arias 8:1 forged pistons, Total Seal gapless rings, Venolia connecting rods, Chevy forged steel crankshaft, King bearings, Isky RR-730 grind camshaft, COMP Cams solid roller lifters
Induction: Hilborn mechanical fuel injection with 1-150-A pump (methanol), Littlefield 6-71 supercharger, BDS intake manifold, DJ Safety blower restraint
Ignition and Electrical: Mallory magneto, Wired Two Win custom wiring harness
Exhaust: 2 1/2" zoomie headers by Crowman Fabrication
Transmission: Rossler Powerglide with pro trans-brake, Mike’s Transmission 10" 5,500 rpm stall torque converter, Hurst Pistol-Grip Quarter Stick shifter

Exterior
Body: Custom 1963 Vette by ScottRods
Paint: Axalta Hot Hues Candy
Paint By: Customs Unlimited of Ohio, Hartville, OH
Lettering and Artwork: Designed by Kerry McFarland; painted by Leonard Wren
Body Modifications: Raised rear fenders, deleted headlight buckets, modified hood, and much more
Other: DJ Safety parachute

Interior
Dash: Custom fiberglass dash by ScottRods with hydrodipped artwork, AutoMeter Sport-Comp gauges (tachometer, oil pressure, and boost)
Seat: ScottRods fiberglass bucket
Safety: DJ Safety harness and fire suppression system
Other: Sheetmetal interior panels and scrollwork by Crowman Fabrication

Special Thanks To: Zack Leber, Dan Heinle, Gordon Crowe of Crowman Fabrication, Barry Brown, Jim Palosi of Customs Unlimited of Ohio, and Tim Irwin of Moser Engineering