This 1,100-HP Wildcat Restomod is our dose of motivation for Buick to start making powerful muscle cars again.

Buick today is popular for its luxury SUVs in America and luxury minivans in China (its greatest market). This is a sad turn of events if you look to the past, as Buick was one of the coolest luxury muscle carmakers of the 60s and 70s. The Wildcat was the first-ever muscle car from Buick. It holds a very special place in carving the American car culture that we have today. It was joined by the Buick Riviera and the Pontiac Grand Prix in creating a new cult of personal luxury cars.

If not for the advent of the “sportier” muscle cars like the Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Camaro, and the Dodge Challenger, today’s American luxury cars would have looked a lot different and packed a lot more muscle. Enough to make even Ferraris and Lamborghinis quake in their boots. With our 1963 Buick Wildcat Restomod render, HotCars digital artist Timothy Adry Emmanuel imagines an alternate future. One where 1000+ hp personal luxury cars from America can even make luxurious European supercars sweat.

Our Wildcat Restomod Render Reminds Of Buick’s Glory Days

Our reason to pick the 1963 Wildcat for this awesome Restomod render is because of how this muscle car single-handedly showcased the cool, ambitious, and forward-thinking attitude of Buick in the 60s. Like many iconic muscle car legends of the 60s, the Buick Wildcat also started off as a top-spec luxury trim level of the Buick Invicta.

It was in 1963 that it became a standalone car, and boy oh boy, did Buick’s first-ever performance car send shockwaves across the performance car world. The base engine on the 1963 Wildcat was a gigantic 6.6-Liter ‘Nailhead’ V8 that pumped out up to 325 hp. This was huge for the 60s.

To give you an idea of how insanely powerful the Wildcat was, the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO packed 302 hp, and the 1961 Jaguar E-Type packed just 260 hp. We all know that horsepower is just half the story, but to see a 60s American luxury car with more power than racetrack-ready Ferraris and Jaguars swells us with pride.

The 1963 Buick Wildcat was a proper American sleeper car, even with the base engine. Even the 1963 Pontiac GTO (credited for kick-starting the muscle car mania) was powered by a 325 hp 6.4-Liter V8. In fact, iconic muscle cars that came after the Wildcat was still shy in terms of hp ratings.

The most powerful engine of the first-gen Wildcat was a 7.0-Liter V8 with up to 360 hp. There were modified versions of the Wildcat engines, packing up to 465 lb-ft of torque. This was mind-boggling for the time; Even some 2023 sports cars and muscle cars have less torque than this 60-year-old American performance car.

This Luxurious Wildcat Restomod Will Put Modern Muscle Cars To Shame

Our Buick Wildcat Restomod is not slammed to the ground just for looks. This gorgeous personal luxury car gets a serious engine swap as its stock 6.6-Liter V8 is replaced with a ferocious 6.2-Liter LT4 V8. The engine’s cubic capacity might have gone down, but we bet you aren’t prepared for the insane performance bump the LT4 brings to the table. The LT4 is General Motors’ tried and test performance engine that is used in the likes of the 2023 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, the C7 Corvette Z06, and even the now-discontinued Cadillac CTS-V.

The versatility of the LT4 V8 is very impressive, which also makes it a very loved engine for tuners. In its stock form, the supercharged 6.2-Liter V8 produces 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. This is ample to do 0-60 mph in under 3 seconds and have a top speed of over 180 mph. This alone is enough to make the 2024 Dark Horse sweat. The 500-HP Mustang might be the coolest Ford available right now, but it is no match to what we have cooked up with this classic Wildcat Restomod.

The LT4’s stock 650 horses might be enough to topple the whole 2024 Mustang range. But it is too humble for a Buick that once stood among the powerful American cars of its time. So we brought in “The Exorcist” to cleanse things! Our 1963 Wildcat Restomod packs the same engine that Hennessey Performance has plonked into its Camaro ZL1 Exorcist. Hennessey’s most powerful performance upgrade package for The Exorcist bumps the numbers to an insane 1,000 hp and 966 lb-ft of torque.

But we needed to push further to make our bad boy the most powerful road-legal muscle car in the world. And so, by taking a wilder approach than Hennessey and using bigger and more hardcore engine upgrades, this 1963 Buick Wildcat produces a mind-boggling 1,100 hp and 1000 lb-ft of torque. This makes our Restomod more powerful than the almighty 1,025-hp Dodge Demon 170!

This Wildcat Restomod Shows The Badass Side Of Personal Luxury Cars

Emmanuel has done a smashing job of making us crave 60s muscle cars. It was a time of peak drama, performance, and beautiful designs. They don’t make cars like the Buick Wildcat anymore. It is also why we have left the original design language of the 1963 Wildcat virtually untouched here. Our Wildcat has been slammed and given a front fascia redesign with a bumper that literally kisses the tarmac.

These modifications might look purely aesthetic, but there is more to it than meets the eye. To help our 60-year-old Buick with over 1000 hp propel from 0-60 mph in under 1.5 seconds, some serious aerodynamic and chassis upgrades had to be done. The low-slung front bumper is part of the aero package that helps divert airflow around the car and aids in reducing drag.

Our Wildcat Restomod rolls on a heavily modified and stretched version of the Chevrolet Corvette C7 ZO6 platform. The suspension setup and steering are also taken right off the C7 Z06. So, while our Wildcat Restomod looks like a gorgeous land yacht ready for a lousy cross-country trip, it is actually a badass personal luxury car that can give the Demon 170 a serious run on the drag strip and shock the likes of Bugatti and Koenigsegg hypercars, with its lap times.

How Much Does The 1963 Buick Wildcat Cost Today?

The first-gen Buick Wildcat was offered for just two years (1963-64). It was offered as a coupe, sedan, or convertible, with two choices of V8s – a base 325-hp 6.6-Liter and an optional 360-hp 7.0-Liter. Today, a classic first-gen Buick Wildcat sells for an average of around $27,000. This is a bargain amount for the performance and history this car carries. If you want to enjoy the peak 60s fusion of luxury and muscle car performance, the Wildcat is one of the coolest classic cars out there.

Is Buick Bringing Back The Wildcat Muscle Car As An EV?

We were quite excited when Buick came up with the sexy Wildcat EV Concept in 2022. But contrary to what we were dreaming of, the 2022 Wildcat EV is a design showcase of what the all-electric future of Buick would look like. GM has neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of a Buick performance car and if there will be a possible comeback of the “Wildcat” nameplate. For now, Buick continues to focus on SUVs, and its all-electric cars will be prefixed with “Electra”. Buick’s first EV (possibly coming to America) is called the Electra E5 and is a sleek-looking crossover.