They're almost shrouded in mystery, which is a bit strange when you consider the stature of a donk. Questions like what does donk mean, and what is it named after? Who originated this restomod sort of highly customized machine? Where were they first created, gain popularity, and spread to for achieving an ever-growing sort of following? As impossible as it may be to believe, none of these queries yield definitive, matter of fact answers. With one exception... the vast majority of donk enthusiasts cite South Florida in the latter 1980's into the 1990's as the birthplace of the donk.
Donks were first named for the full-size 1971-1976 Chevrolet Impala and the Chevrolet Caprice that had custom immense hooptie wheels shod with low profile tires. If you're looking at a Caprice or Impala from this era that has 24", or 26", or 30" and beyond, there's a reasonable chance that you're in the midst of a donk. To accept these way oversize wheels and tires, donks ride on custom raised suspension systems.
Donks also usually have extremely colorful and artistic custom exterior paint schemes. There will typically be a naturally aspirated or supercharged engine under the hood that yields all sorts of highs - including horsepower, torque, polished aluminum, carbon, and/or titanium components, a nitrous system, in other words all sorts of high-tech components precisely put together and polished to perfection that will produce some real high performance.
The interior is apt to be equipped with a high watt, high dollar car audio system, and aftermarket analog or digital instrument cluster, some custom carbon, aluminum, or other material polished or anodized trim items, and a bespoke trimmed interior for the seats and the door panels, comprised of Italian leather and perhaps some suede. Multi-hued LED lights might accent the dash and/or the door panels. With these full-size Chevrolets there's quite an expansive canvas to customize to your taste. So long as you have car building/creation abilities and/or sufficient funds in your bank account to hire out the restomodding work, you're good to go.
Sac Speed Shop owner, Alex Hernandez, premiered his 1971 Caprice donk at the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The photos don't lie. His Rose Gold ride is a work of running and roaring art. It has the stance, the performance, the creativity, the engineering, and the outright artistry that epitomizes the best of the donks that enthusiasts and shops have built for show and go.
Alex and his talented team of GM performance custom car builders took 3.5 years to create this frame-off, over the moon 1971 Caprice. Of course, some of the components came from Classic Industries.
Whether you're restoring a full size Chevrolet Impala or Caprice or restomodding it to the hilt, you can find the parts you need at Classic Industries. Start shopping online here for the 1966-1996 Caprice. If you have an Impala, online shopping is right here for the 1958-1996 Impala. You can also get a free Impala/Full Size Chevy Parts and Accessories Catalog by clicking on the button below.