Although I should be writing about the winner of our 2021 ChevyHardcore.com Feature Car Of The Year, I can’t. When I started this yearly endeavor, I knew that the challenge culminating with a tie was a possibility, but it never happened — until now. This year, not only did we have a tie, but there are three cars that carried the same number of votes to the top of the list.

I could just pick one and call it done, but that’s not what I want. This website is for and about you guys, so once again, I need your help. I am placing the three challengers in a final shootout to see if we can narrow down a winner.

What that means is I need you guys to vote again. Hopefully, the voting does not result in another tie. If it does, I guess I’ll just have to put the cars in a hat and choose one. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Bob And Carrie Frampton’s ’61 Corvette

Bob first began telling me about his feature car by saying it was in very poor condition when he found it. It was drivable, but barely. “It had a small block and a four-speed in it, but no parts of the drivetrain were original to the car,” he says. The Corvette was painted white, and unbeknownst at the time, that coating of shiny stuff hid a lot of body damage.

“The toughest part of building this car was teaching myself to work with fiberglass and bonding adhesive,” Bob states.

This C1 Corvette has been a labor of love and a test of Bob’s patience, but the end result shows it was definitely worth the work. The couple has even picked up several awards with their gorgeous C1 Corvette since its completion. As a testament to finding that perfect project, each year they return to Corvettes at Carlisle where their custom C1 is brought full circle — back where it all started.

Bob chose to slide an LS3 under the hood of his C1 Corvette. Chevrolet Performance makes this easy by offering a 430-horsepower version that comes in a crate. While early Corvettes are known for having a four-speed transmission, behind the engine in this C1 Corvette is a Tremec five-speed with a row-your-own Hurst shifter.

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Jim Seprish’s ’79 Camaro

“It was during the late-’90s when I first learned about this Camaro,” says Jim. Apparently, it was forgotten, sitting behind a body shop. “When I found the car, it was in really poor condition,” Jim mentions. “I had to replace the floor from the firewall to the rear bumper. Aftermarket panels were not available at the time, so I had to find rust-free donor parts.”

Jim spent several years getting the car’s sheetmetal ready for paint. When it was finally ready to be covered, he sprayed a new mix of GM’s Camel Metallic to make it all look factory fresh.

Jim chose to fill the engine bay with a 496 cubic-inch tire-melting monster. The rotating assembly features an Eagle crankshaft and rods that build the streetable 10.5:1 compression ratio with forged SRP pistons. A hydraulic-roller cam with .589/.601-inch lift and 228/234 degrees of duration allow the Canfield aluminum heads to breathe the fuel and air from the Edelbrock RPM intake and 950 cfm ProForm carburetor.

Behind the big-inch big block is a TCI Auto-built Turbo 400 with a Neal Chance converter. Finishing the driveline is a Moser Engineering rearend with 3.70 gears.

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Curt Gosman’s ’65 Biscayne

Curt Gosman says he found his feature car in 2010 while doing an internet search to find something to build. “When I found it, it was sitting in a pole barn in Iowa and had a small block under the hood with a Powerglide behind it,” says Curt.

He went on to explain how the car had very little rust when the rebuild began. In fact, after a five-year process, it still retains all the factory panels, including the floors and trunk.

The big Biscayne relies on 427 cubic inches of motivation. Jerry Hautly of H3 Automotive and Performance Inc. says the camshaft and valvetrain from COMP Cams, is from the Big Mutha Thumper line of bumpsticks. That means it’s a hydraulic-roller-lifter unit with .575/.554-inch lift and 243/247 degrees of duration at .050-inch lift. Keith Black hypereutectic pistons help create the squeeze under the Edelbrock heads, and an Edelbrock RPM intake supports the Inglese fuel injection that is controlled by a FAST brain box. Backing up the engine is a highly strengthened 700R4 transmission and a 12-bolt rear with 3.73 gears and the requisite positraction differential.

Curt has built a hot rod cruiser that not only looks great, but also possesses enough muscle to satiate any power junky’s needs. What can be better than having the more-than-comfortable ride of a “big” car and the power of a big block? Nothing if you ask me.

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Now that you know which three cars are tied for the title of the ChevyHardcore.com 2021 Feature Car of the Year, let me know which car should be crowned King. You can do that by either emailing me at [email protected], by commenting below or reaching out to me via our Facebook page. I look forward to hearing from you. Voting will be closed on February 10, 2022.