For all those Corvette owners who’d like to follow in the footsteps (more or less) of the Sundowner’s sizzle on the Salt, a twin-turbo setup is still available from Banks Power for small-block V8s. “If a guy wants to hot rod a Corvette, we’ve got a streetable, 1100-plus hp, fuel-injected small-block Chevy,” he notes.

The Banks name is synonymous with high-performance turbocharging. Since the late Sixties, Banks has been engineering and producing leading-edge turbocharged engines that are known for their outstanding performance and endurance. Most of the early work was for marine applications and special automotive prototypes, but in 1978, Banks introduced its first twin-turbo small-block Chevrolet V8 systems, which were followed a few years later by the innovative Banks Twin-Turbo Camaro GT, Firebird GT, and Corvette GT. 

Ask any automotive performance enthusiast about those revolutionary turbocharged Banks machines of the mid-Eighties and you’re likely to get the same response, something like “Wow! Those cars were faaast! Few were built, but they set the standard for high-performance street machines and were actually the first tuner cars. They offered tons of power ahead of anything else on the road.

While several versions of the Banks Twin-Turbo package were offered, varying between 500 and 700 horsepower, there was even one “super” Firebird that was built for a customer in South Africa that produced over 1100 hp. It was clocked at over 239 mph and held the South African passenger-car speed record!The Banks Twin-Turbo packages became legendary.

Banks Power still offers TwinTurbo small-block Chevrolet V8s, with updates that make it better than ever before. The new packages are designed to work with state-of-the-art electronic fuel injection, computerized engine management, and continued research and refinement has further improved airflow, response, power and durability.