The 1,000-HP 1970 Chevrolet Suburban Restomod Looks Stunning on Matching HREs

One of the most quintessential American aftermarket wheel producers, HRE Performance Wheels, has been trying to set the industry standard since 1978 – but you wouldn’t expect to see one of their products on a 1970s Suburban, right?

10 photosPhoto: hre_wheels / Instagram

Offered since the 1935 model year, the Chevrolet Suburban is the world’s longest-used automobile nameplate. Currently in its twelfth generation, nowadays it’s the pinnacle of GM’s truck-based full-size SUVs alongside the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon plus Yukon XL. It was also recently updated for the 2025 model year, its ninetieth!With cool upgrades for the design of both Tahoe and Suburban and a more powerful Duramax diesel under the hood, you would think the Suburban is ready to take on foes like the Ford Expedition and Expedition Max. But General Motors wanted to be sure it would keep its customers happy, and now the Tahoe and Suburban feature one of the most prominent digital ambiances.

However, I bet that anyone would trade ten Suburbans for a chance of owning an older 1970 Chevy Suburban. Of course, it’s not your average kind of old-school SUV – it’s not even your average kind of restomod. Instead, it’s the one that would make even a Singer Porsche pale at the sight of the project’s cost – more than one million dollars. Yep, this piece of art cost as much.

The story is pretty straightforward – it seems the client wanted the most expensive and great-looking Suburban in history, and Icon 4×4 was sure to oblige. So, they took a sixth-generation Chevrolet Suburban, a three-door wagon, restored it, fitted it on a one-off Art Morrison four-wheel independent chassis, made it a five-door, and also packed inside the engine bay a 1,000-horsepower and 900 lb-ft of torque 7.0-liter (427 cubic inch) NRE Alien LS twin-turbo V8 engine!

Obviously, it sounds much easier said than done, hence the astronomic price tag. Naturally, the creation has been making the rounds ever since it was unveiled upon its completion – and it’s quite a treat to know that it wasn’t immediately tucked away in an air-conditioned garage and never driven after being locked safely and securely. Instead, it has been tagged and shared by all parties involved, including – last but not least – HRE Wheels.

Indeed, the Vista, California-based custom forged wheel producer is responsible for part of the 1970 Suburban’s incredible appearance – the classic lines and the sparkling gray paintwork combine majestically with the HRE Vintage 935 wheels, which have staggered widths for the front and rear axle, the latter being responsible for translating the 1,000 galloping ponies to the tarmac via a four-speed automatic transmission.

Now, I know that this majestically crazy 1970 Chevrolet Suburban has already appeared here and there – we also wrote about it back in November 2023 when it was officially unveiled – but the photos shared by HRE were too beautiful not to give them another shout-out. Besides, this Suburban project needs to be remembered – it’s as close to perfection as humanely possible!