The Vaydor G35 absolutely blew people’s minds by offering supercar style for a very affordable price. And now, the man responsible for the Vaydor is about to take the world by storm with another ridiculous kit that’ll turn your plain old C6 ‘Vette into something that’ll get more attention than a Ferrari! And it’s called the Valarra!
Get ready to take a trip into the future, because we’re about to tell you everything you need to know about the Valarra kit: where to get it, what it costs, and another option you might want to consider before you buy one. Introducing the new Vaydor G35… the Valarra ‘Vette!
Overview
Let’s just start off and establish that Matt McEntegart, the designing dynamo behind the Vaydor G35 and Valarra Corvette kits, has a serious knack for building badass bodies that look like they’re fit for superheroes…. or villains. The Valarra kit looks like a full-size Hot Wheels car with all those carbon accents, and the rear of the car looks like something they straight up pulled off the F-22 Raptor, with the wings to prove it! Featuring thin LED headlights on the front with a low and wide stance that makes it look like a panther ready to pounce on its prey. And a front end that retains some of that Vaydor design DNA, I’d say it looks pretty menacing on both.
I’m not quite sure if I like the Vaydor or Valarra design more, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t kick either one out of bed… or my garage I guess.
The First Design
In case you don’t know, the Vaydor was Matt’s first custom kit to hit the market. It was a design that took a stock G35 and turned that bland coupe into a supercar, without the supercar price tag! And they originally offered it for just $11,000! For a while, the popularity of the Vaydor exploded, eventually driving the price from kit car to supercar, and then it seemed to disappear completely. But there’s been a resurgence in the popularity of this villainous superkit in the last few years, probably because it appeared in the movie Suicide Squad, and they’ve begun selling the kit again for just a few grand… If that tickles your fancy, make sure you check out the video we did on the Vaydor!
But with the Vaydor body behind him, McEntegart has a crazy new kit that he’s about to let loose on the streets: the Valarra Corvette. The idea is pretty much the same: take a stock car chassis, set it up with some badass body mods, and boom, your base model C6 looks like a supercar that cost ten times what you actually paid for it.
The Valarra
Right now, the price quoted on their website to turn your regular ‘Vette into a four-wheeled fighter jet is $30,000 installed. But what do they actually do when you fork over your C6 and all that cash?
When you hand over your C6 to McEntegart and Mattao Concepts, they strip it down to the frame, removing all the factory body panels, and replace them with the fiberglass Valarra body. This kit has some of the coolest body lines I’ve seen in my life! Those elevated fender liner arcs are oh-so elegant, and the mold is accented all over with some super cool Forge carbon fiber that looks like it was taken straight from another planet. But I have to say, my favorite part is that well-engineered bumper with an exposed exhaust system that’ll have even BMW-owners scared to pass you. And those 4 exhaust pipes look like they’re ready to shoot flames and blast into warp speed.
The Cost
Overall, it’s going to be hard to find that kind of style anywhere for under $30,000. But can the Valarra Vette really be that sweet of a deal? At $30,000, there’s been quite a few complaints floating around the internet over what you actually get for that price.
While you do get those super stylish supercar side panels, and assembly is included, you don’t actually get one single performance mod. No wheels, no tires, no paint. It sort of seems like rather than offering the kit for what it’s really worth, McEntegart and the boys at Mattao Concepts are slapping a fat premium on what really amounts to some flashy bodywork. All in all, the kit’s actual value is probably half of that $30,000. But hey, I guess if you’re really itching to hop behind the wheel of your own Valarra Corvette, you’re going to cough up the cash.
However, you’re going to need to pull up to the Valarra garage with your own donor C6 Corvette, and the base car itself is going to run you another $25,000 to $30,000. So, at the end of the day, you’re looking at at least $50,000 to $60,000 to veer out of the shop in a custom Valarra.
But that being said, if you’re going to drop all that money on a sleek supercar body, are you really going to keep the C6’s five-spoke stock model wheels? If you ask me, that’s kind of a ricer move right there. So, if you got some self-respect, you’re probably looking at some additional cost to stick some slick rims on your facelifted C6.
And if you want your engine to match the exterior of your new sci-fi supercar, you’re looking at a whole lot more money to drop in a twin turbo kit or a big bad V8. That is… if you can even get your hands on a Valarra.
Installation
First of all, if you’re thinking, “hey, maybe I can just order a kit from Mattao Concepts for even cheaper and install it on my C6 myself,” I hate to crush your dreams, but they aren’t selling the body kits for homebrew.
Maybe you can get one pre-made? Nope. Sorry. There’s currently only one single completed Valarra in existence, the one that debuted at the Chevrolet SEMA exhibit this year, making this potentially the rarest car on the planet right now. Well, the Valarra and the Lamborghini Egoista… and the Ferrari P4/5, which are both one-off fire-spitting speedsters. Oh, and the Mazda Furai, which was also a one-of-a-kind car that tragically burned to a crisp less than a year after the guys on Top Gear got to test-drive it.
Also, Valarra’s Instagram page shows several different Valarra Corvettes under construction, so it’s likely that in the upcoming years you’ll see more of these Batman-style supercar builds ripping down the road. But you get the point, right now, getting a pre-made Valarra is about as likely as marrying into the Musk family and inheriting the Tesla fortune… Good luck with that…
And even if you’re totally down to drop them dollars on the kit and assembly from Mattao, you might run into some trouble. Valarra’s website says that installs were supposed to be available on the first day of 2020, but on August 10th, they claimed to be all booked up until further notice.
The good news is on August 24th, they claimed to be reopening pre-orders for the kit, but it seems like you’ll be waiting at least six months until your venom-spitting Valarra sees the light of day.
The Alternative
So, now that you know all of this about the Valarra, I’d say you’re probably better off snatching up a brand new C8 Corvette rather than going on the nearly impossible quest to find a Valarra kit for a C6. The new C8’s starting at $60,000, which as you know, is the absolute minimum you’re going to spend on a C6 base and Valarra upgrade. Plus, the C8 comes standard with a 6.2-liter LT2 V8 that’s got some street-pounding power at 490 horsepower, whereas a Valarra’s going to have a wimpier and older C6 engine.
And if you wanna talk about looks, I’d say that the C8’s wider headlights, sportier side vents, and lower front end make it look even more of a lane-switching lighting rod than the Valarra. Regardless whether or not you agree with me that the C8’s style is superior, I think it’s pretty clearly a better bang for your buck when you factor in performance and price.
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