‘It’s a street-legal rocket sled that goes around corners like a Shifter Kart,’ says Sarasota Café Racer Mario Parker, describing his 1,550-pound, Corvette-powered silver & blue Stalker.
Mario Parker has spent his career in the automotive industry, first as an engineer, followed by senior management gigs at carmakers including Roush Performance. He knows fast cars and is an experienced weekend warrior. A Ferrari owner, Parker was looking for a serious four-wheeled adrenaline rush that he could track on weekends as well as drive around town. Long a fan of the original Lotus 7, he had been searching for a car that offered iconic Lotus styling with updated mechanicals and, most importantly, a modern, powerful V8 engine. It never fails to draw a crowd, below.
Enter the Stalker, locally built by Brunton Auto, incredibly fast, and best of all, available with a V8. Not just any V8, a modern fuel-injected Corvette powerplant. Parker’s caged Corvette-powered (all-aluminum Corvette LS V8) Stalker has been engineered to go fast on the track and designed to be street legal! His pal Bob Berube owns a graphite & yellow Stalker SS, below, fitted with a supercharged 90-degree Buick V6, an engine popular in late-model Buick Park Avenues and Regal Gran Sports.
In 2001, Dennis Brunton started Brunton Auto with a single tube-framed prototype he designed and engineered, dubbed Stalker. Since then the Lotus 7-influenced Stalker and now SuperStalkers powered by supercharged GM V6s and V8s have been rolling out of the modest St Petersburg, FL shop. In July of 2010 Scott Minehart, the Stalker’s chassis engineer, took over running the business.
Brunton has marketed more than 150 Stalkers - basic and roller kits to ready-to-run turnkey models . The keys to the Stalker’s success: A high-level of quality and outstanding performance at an affordable price. Basic kits start at approximately $10,000 and turnkey cars can run from mid-$30,000 to mid-$40,000.
Dennis Brunton’s original Stalker Classic is Lotus 7-styled, showcasing vintage styling cues with old-fashioned hot rod ingenuity. It uses widely available and affordable parts from popular GM vehicles. The spindles and rear axles are sourced from Chevy S10s trucks and then modified. Most of the components not manufactured by Brunton Auto can be purchased from local auto parts stores or speed shops.
What makes the Stalker unique is that you can build or buy one with a variety of powertrains, all easily accessible and affordable. In its most economical form, a Stalker can be built with a GM 2.8/3.4-Liter 60-degree V6, fitted with an aftermarket intake manifold and carburetor for typically 160 horsepower. Next up is GM’s supercharged 3.8-Liter (3800) 90-degree V6, below, that originally came in Buicks, Pontiac GTP and Monte Carlo SS models. When fitted with Brunton’s EFI, these engines generate 260 rear wheel horsepower and close to 300 pound-feet of torque over a broad rpm range.
Stalker buyers/builders who believe that there’s no substitute for cubic inches, can opt for the modern Corvette/Camaro aluminum LS1 to LS7 series V8s, above. Stock horsepower ratings go all the way up to over 500 with ground-pounding torque. A variety of new crate engines are available from GM. Large displacement LS-engined Stalkers are not for the faint of heart!
Stalkers are true road & track machines: Bob Berube in his Stalker SS on the road and Christian Banker, Sneaky Cat Racing in his E/Modified Stalker V6 at speed, above! The Stalker’s front suspension is double wishbone with adjustable coil-over shocks and GM rack and pinion steering. Front brakes can either use stock GM or a Wilwood aluminum hub and four-piston caliper upgrade. Rear suspension is a five-link live axle with adjustable coil-over shocks and choice of drum or disc brakes.
The Classic Stalker R was engineered for those who covet Lotus 7 styling but want modern racecar-level suspension with desirable street-ride qualities. A more comfortable Stalker XL model is four-inches wider than the Classic, yet shares Brunton M-Spec chassis-suspension.
For the complete Stalker story, please visit http://www.bruntonauto.com/
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