It’s a real treat when you get up close and personal with a piece of automotive history. George Poteet didn’t know it, but when he had Chip Foose design and Troy Trepanier build his 1954 Savoy, he was creating history. The “Sniper” changed the landscape of custom cars, and earned a home in the Peterson Auto Museum.

The Sniper is a mixture of a 1954 Savoy, and a 1997 Viper, that’s also how it got its name. Trepanier started the build by gutting the Savoy and building a custom chassis for the body to sit on. The first injection of Viper DNA was to the suspension grafted from the ’97 donor car.

You can’t cut up a Viper for a build and not use the engine. So, Trepanier stuffed the 488 cubic-inch V10 mill in between the fenders of the Savoy and backed it with a six-speed transmission. To keep the sleek lines flowing, Trepanier fabricated a custom air intake for the V10, and color-matched everything under the hood to the body of the Savoy.

The Savoy’s body was massaged and worked over to create a sleek profile. A set of headlights from an E320 Mercedes were skillfully added to the car. The Savoy started life as a convertible, but Trepanier changed that by fabricating his own custom steel roof. A reimagined hood and grille give the Sniper a unique look. Once all of the bodywork was finished, Bob Tanner sprayed the PPG Deep Moss Green over the Spanish Oilve Green paint.

Inside the Savoy, the interior was transformed into a modern masterpiece. The Viper gauges and steering wheel were used to pay homage to where many of the car’s parts came from. A set of Recaro seats were modified to fit the feel of the interior. A mixture of olive green leather, suede material, and carbon fiber provides a futuristic feel for the driver and passengers.

You know that you’ve built an iconic car when it still looks good nearly 30 years after its debut. The Sniper fooled many people at SEMA into thinking it was a fresh build. This car didn’t end up in the Peterson Auto Museum by accident, it’s truly a rolling work of art.