Cleetus McFarland’s $9,900 ’57 Chevy limo is now a 1,500hp powerhouse and the engine is in the most unexpected place

Cleetus McFarland spotted a stretched Chevy limo on Facebook Marketplace for just $9,900.

For most people, that would already be a pretty crazy project car.

But if you know Cleetus, you also know normal builds are never really his thing.

Sure enough, the finished limo ended up with 1,500hp and an engine in a place nobody expected.

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The engine ended up in the most ridiculous place possible

The limo started life as a regular 1957 Chevy Bel Air before someone stretched it into a massive limousine. 

The previous owner added around 140 inches to the body, but the project eventually stalled, and the car ended up for sale online.

When Cleetus bought it, restoring it to factory condition was never part of the plan.

Instead, he and his team decided to turn the oddball limo into something completely unhinged.

First, they removed whatever engine it had before. 

Then they installed a gigantic 10.3-liter big-block V8 with a supercharger that runs on alcohol fuel and makes around 1,500hp.

However, the truly outrageous part isn’t the engine itself.

It’s where they put it.

Instead of sitting under the hood like normal, the engine now sits right in the middle of the passenger cabin. 

Wooden bench seats were built around it, meaning anyone riding in the limo is basically sharing the space with a roaring race motor.

From the outside, though, the car still looks like a classic ’57 Bel Air limo. 

It wears a two-tone red and white paint job with plenty of chrome, and those iconic 1957 Chevy taillights are still there.

The Chevy limo test drive went about as smoothly as you’d expect

The Chevy limo’s first outing was exactly as chaotic as you’d imagine.

At one point, the car ran out of fuel mid-trip. 

Later, the pair accidentally hit the kill switch while sitting in the middle of an intersection, bringing the entire spectacle to a sudden stop.

Eventually, the night wrapped up with steak and lobster, which feels oddly fitting for a limousine that now has a 1,500hp race engine sitting between the seats.

Cleetus even joked about getting his friends to invest in a limo business built around the car. 

They all declined.

The business idea may be dead, but the Chevy limo definitely isn’t.

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