Casper 1 was a 2wd Chevy that IIRC was sold to someone at PPE? but that might be incorrect. After that then they bought the current Casper
Correct mostly. We traded in Casper 1 in Las Vegas when we picked up Casper 2.
My thoughts were a 2wd would be a better platform, and an EC would be best for putting in a rollbar while still keeping weight down.
But I had poor luck trying to launch Casper #1 so I swapped for a 4x4. Didn't lose much due to the GM incentives at the time.
Later when we took a look, the biggest reason for the poor 2WD performance was the ATS clutches in the trans weren't manufactured correctly. Later on, I understand they fixed the problem, but it was too late.