Pennzoil AutoFair at Charlotte Motor Speedway to Feature SuperLite SL-C Kit Car in April

It’s stunning. It packs a 6.2L LS3 under the hood that makes 470 horsepower. You can put it together in your garage. And if you’ll be in the Charlotte NC area in April, you’ll be able to take a look at the  SuperLite SL-C Kit Car at the Pennzoil AutoFair Presented by Advance Auto Parts (April 5-8 at Charlotte Motor Speedway), where an example, built by enthusiast Bill Phillips, will be prominently on display.

If Phillips’ low-slung racer looks familiar, it is because Superlite Cars – the Detroit-area company that designed and produced it – fashioned the SL-C to recall vehicles from the 1960s-era International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GTP series. Superlite and its sister company, Race Car Replicas (RCR), produce component kits that allow buyers to drive clones of iconic competition cars such as the Jaguar D-Type and Ford GT40. The cars’ bodies are fiberglass with embedded, color gel coats that require no paint. Most of Superlite and RCR’s chassis are aluminum monocoque designs with custom billet aluminum suspensions, and everything is TIG welded for strength and a cleaner appearance.

Such component kits are popular with do-it-yourselfers, and they come with everything needed to complete the project except for the engine and transmission. Phillips chose to install a 6.2-liter, 376ci General Motors LS3 V-8 engine and a Getrag G50-20 6-speed manual transaxle into his 2,600-pound coupe. The V-8, which sits behind the passenger compartment and powers the rear wheels, produces 460 horsepower.

In all, Phillips spent three years and an estimated 2,600 hours building this road rocket. He could have finished the job much sooner, but he added a full leather interior, reengineered the cooling system to take advantage of the car’s aerodynamics, and created trunk space under the pivoting front body panel.

During all four days of AutoFair, the Superlite SL-C will occupy the center of the Nationwide Garage, where it will share space with a “100 Years of Chevy Trucks” display, a dozen cars from movies and television, and unique creations that have been featured on Velocity’s “ToyMakerz.”