1973 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray / Mud Bogger Hey, if Jesse and his team are going to create a souped-up, mud-spitting off-road dragster, they're going to start it off right: with a 1973 Corvette whose engine is nothing other than a 454 Chevy big block.

• Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • John Best, Corvette mechanic, Brea, Calif. • Dave Collier, electrician/desert racer, San Marcos, Calif. • Chuck Courty Jr., national mud-bogging champ, Pittsburgh, Pa. • Dick Guldstrand, race-car racer/builder/designer and Corvette expert, Guldstrand Engineering, Burbank, Calif. • Bobby McCurdy, fabricator, Henderson, Nev. • Mike Stapleton, head mechanic, Wilson Motor Sports, Bellflower, Calif. • Don Vierstra, freelance artist, Buena Park, Calif.