Born and raised in Philadelphia, Kevin Hart has led a wildly successful career in comedy, with a string of blockbuster roles and stand-up specials that have amassed the 5’ 2” funnyman an impressive net worth of around $450,000,000. Hart’s immense wealth has also enabled him to amass a collection of world-class cars that includes an ever-growing number of elite restomod builds from Wisconsin’s Salvaggio Design — the latest of which is a Buick Grand National T-Top christened the “Dark Knight.”
The project started as an ’87 specimen, though now rests atop a custom laser-cut and TIG-welded chassis with a bolt-in subframe, a Detroit Speed & Engineering X-Gen 595 front suspension package with Ultimate Performance coilovers, and a rear-end with a Panhard bar-equipped DSE four-link set up. Also equipped with Brembo GT six-piston calipers, the Dark Knight rides on a custom set of nickel-plate-finished 19” HRE wheels shod in Toyo Proxes rubber. At the heart of the Buick is a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter LF4 V6 engine taken from a Cadillac ATS-V — what the Salvaggio Design team imagines Buick would drop in the GNX if the car was still being produced today. Adorned in carbon fiber engine covers and fitted with bronze Cerakote plumbing for its custom exhaust system, the build’s engine is mated to an eight-speed Cadillac automatic transmission and good for a whopping 650hp.
Cloaked in a BASF black paint job, the outside of the car has been treated to a one-off carbon fiber front bumper with functional air ducts, plus a carbon hood, carbon chin spoiler, carbon rear spoiler, and carbon mirrors — all courtesy of Brothers Composites. Additional exterior details include reprofiled body lines, billet door handles with carbon inlays, and Sean Smith Grand National badges. The interior’s transformation was no less involved, now sporting blue and grey leather upholstery with bronze stitching and pinstripes, bronze-finished cooling vents, a Salvaggio billet steering wheel, a custom 3D-printed dash with a Holley gauge pack, bronze billet door trim with carbon fiber inlays, and a bespoke machined billet shift knob and shift boot bezel.
Kevin Hart’s Dark Knight build officially broke cover earlier this week at the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, and the vehicle will presumably be making its round on the car show circuit before eventually joining its fellow Salvaggio-built restomods in Hart’s garage.
