Vettro: The $400 International Metro Fajita Truck Hiding a Wrecked C8 Corvette

From the front, it looks like the last food truck you would expect to outrun anything: a rounded International Metro van wearing decades of real rust and faded paint. Walk around back and the stance gives it away. Vettro sits on the chassis of a 2021 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, with the C8's 6.2-liter V8 mounted in the middle, and it still serves food.

On Thursday, Nov. 5, we found it at the SEMA Show under Guinness World Records "Official Attempt" signage, on DR Forged wheels and Hoosier tires, with Esco Optics and Track Attack branding on the display. The record it is chasing is one nobody had ever set, because the category did not exist until its builder asked for it.

Act one: a $400 van and a fajita business

The builder is LJ Koch, a New Jersey restaurateur behind Luc's (@lucs), also known as Luc's Fajita Hut. According to The Drive, Koch found the Metro van behind a building in Pine Brook, New Jersey, and paid $400 for it in July 2018. The plan was modest: restore it while keeping as much of the patina as possible and use it for catering. It made its maiden voyage as a food truck in September 2019, a little over a year later.

The van's exact year depends on who you ask. RealTruck and Supercar Blondie call it a 1952, The Drive says 1950s, and some earlier coverage said 1954. Corvette Blogger's 2023 story may explain the mix-up: it noted a real 1954 Metro van already hangs as decor at the restaurant. Most coverage, and the truck's own placard, say 1952.

Act two: the Corvette

The second life started with a wreck. Corvette Blogger and GM Authority reported in July 2023 on the plan to build a food truck from a wrecked C8 Corvette, and Supercar Blondie identifies the donor as a 2021 C8. The concept started as a rendering by automotive designer Oscar Vargas, who described the layout to Corvette Blogger as "Kitchen on one side and bar on the other," with the C8 engine in the middle. That outlet cited the Stingray's 495-hp rating.

In practice, the middle of the truck belongs to the engine, so there is not much room for cooking. According to The Drive, the rear side panels open to reveal beer taps, sourced from a Snap-on tool chest, on one side and a warming area on the other. That means Vettro is less a rolling kitchen than a rolling serving station that happens to have a mid-engine supercar's drivetrain.

The Drive also lists LED headlights, wheel arch flares, custom side skirts and a rear spoiler it called "large enough to use as a dinner table." The wheels came later. Koch told RealTruck that DR Forged made custom wheels for the project; before that, the truck ran factory Corvette wheels and tires on 6-inch spacers.

How it drives

A tall, boxy body on a low, wide sports car chassis sounds like a handful. Koch says it drives straight and "feels like I've been driving it my whole life," as he told RealTruck in an interview updated in May 2026. He also said that from the driver's seat, "your visibility is better than half the cars in this entire show."

He added a detail that explains it: "I get in it and can see right out over the steering wheel." The Metro's tall cab and upright glass give it a view no low-slung Corvette ever had, even with the Corvette's chassis underneath.

Chasing a record that didn't exist

This is where the truck gets its SEMA signage. The Drive and Supercar Blondie both reported in May 2025 that Guinness World Records created a fastest food truck category for Koch, with a minimum of 130 mph to claim it. "It's never been done before, which opened the category for us last year," Koch told RealTruck. Supercar Blondie, citing the team's website, says the team's own target is 170 mph.

The minimum matters. Without one, The Drive pointed out, a "bone-stock Chevy Corvair Greenbrier running on half of its cylinders" could have claimed a brand-new record. With 130 mph as the floor, the record needs real speed, and Vettro is one of very few food trucks with the hardware to try.

The first plan was Indianapolis. Both outlets reported a timed run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway around the Brickyard 400 weekend, with The Drive giving the date as July 27, 2025. The Drive also said Koch planned to promote the effort at the Indy 500 over Memorial Day weekend that year. We found no report of how the July run went, and in the RealTruck interview Koch said the record was still ahead of them, "hopefully in 2026, either in the summer or fall," while the team looked for a venue. As of Nov. 9, 2026, we could not find a certified Guinness record. For now, Vettro is an official attempt, not a record holder.

It still sells fajitas

The food is the point, and Koch is particular about it. He told RealTruck the menu is built on toasted flour tortillas with cheese, meat and toppings, and that he calls them fajitas, not tacos. The shaved ribeye cheesesteak and Korean pork are the big sellers. The truck books events across North Jersey and New York, and Luc's now has its first brick-and-mortar location in Oak Ridge, New Jersey, per the same interview.

Vettro has also become an auto show regular; Corvette Blogger covered it at the New York International Auto Show in 2025. A Metro van at a car show is not new. One that hides a Corvette, pours beer from a Snap-on tool chest and has a Guinness category with its name on it is.

Why it matters

The custom world loves a sleeper, and this is a sleeper turned all the way up: a $400 patina body, a wrecked supercar under it and a working business on top. Whether Vettro ever clears 130 mph on a timed run is still an open question. As a build, it already answered the one that matters at SEMA, which is whether anyone had done this before. Nobody had.