We’re Building a Bitchin’ Camaro – Motor1

Chime in with article commenting.In my mind, a buzzing vision of the ultimate sports car exists. It does not look like a Porsche, Ferrari, or BMW. It certainly doesn’t sound like one either.It’s a pony car, built of iron and sweat. Its silhouette is unmistakable, bold and confident in that American way. Its side pipes spit raunchy Stevie Ray licks as it rips loose and angry through every corner, leaving the sound of some raunchy ancient god in its wake. Welcome to Camaro vs. World, a build series wherein an empty husk becomes a Trans-Am inspired road car for turnin’ laps, burnin’ tires, and haulin’ ass. Amen. Much of this vision is owed to my buddy Zach Bowman. He’s a good man, Zach, with a ’68 Mustang that hits these same high notes. I was never the guy who lusted over Sixties Boomer totems, but after driving the BowStang well… here we are. His Mustang turns. It goes real goodlike. I swore in another column that I’d take this car over any modern supercar, and I mean it.The “BowStang” a vision of scruffy perfection.It’s a black biker jacket on wheels. You feel like a Hollywood star when swinging your heels out of the thing. People treat you like one too. The car is simply that charismatic, beyond rewarding to drive, somehow both relatable and aspirational, devoid of pretension.It’s perfect.Now, I’ve driven the BowStang on a few different trips to Tennessee and come back each time with fresh resolve: to build a car in this spirit. That is, a pony car with road racing chops that holds up on a winding backroad and looks perfect doing it. So, to echo the words of every Millenial who just purchased their first home, We Did A Thing.It looms. I went in fifty-fifty on the shell of a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro last year. The story of the car is much longer and more interesting than that, and I’ll cover it in the next post. My buddy and l will build this shell into something special, a worthy opponent for the BowStang. The car will express our collective taste and priorities as both car enthusiasts and amateur race car drivers. I’ll take you along for the ride, from selecting an engine and dropping it in, to tuning up the chassis, through finishing touches. Finally, we’ll loose the Camaro against the world. It’ll see plenty of adventure, from nearby back roads to America’s temples of racing. To cap the build, an epic world-spanning road trip awaits.Why is this Camaro worth your time? It’s a great question when there’s about 10,000 YouTube channels, endless forum posts, and social media brimming with build content.Yes those are custom stripes. No they’re not going anywhere. (For now). To my mind, almost none of these channels or sources do a very good job of explaining the why of a project. YouTubers screw together mostly disposable vehicles and slap on whichever parts they can beg from a sponsor. There’s a lot of physical process involved, but little examination of which decisions are being made and why. At its endpoint, the project is discarded and another project started. It’s just the way of the algorithm. This Camaro will not be an endpoint, but a beginning. The project will evolve. It’ll be a conduit to adventure and experience, not just furniture in the background of the next project.And while forum build threads are an ultimate pleasure of mine, they’re not terribly fun to read. They’re also slow-moving and incomplete, tinged with forum-bro knowledge, and bereft of much insight to prod along the process.I’m fortunate enough—by virtue of a decade doing this job—to have access to the best minds in the worlds of building, tuning, and perfecting sports cars. I plan to leverage that access in a huge way, learning from these experts at every decision point and sharing their wisdom with you.I am simply an enthusiast with a can-do attitude, not an expert builder, fabricator, or suspension engineer. However, I know the people who are.There’ll be the usual beats of a build thread in our journey, for sure. Things will break. Setbacks will be suffered. We’ll throw our collective stubbornness at the car until it works, and it still won’t be finished as soon as I’d like.Triumphs and tragedies, we’ll show them all.An teaser of the cabin. Much will change. But there’ll also be a good dose of history and personality. We’ll dig into the Camaro’s marquee racing achievements and some of its unturned-glories in Europe. I’ll use the Camaro to test parts, tires, and new ideas until I land on the perfect formula.I’ll share every step here. The next post will cover the state of the car and the North Stars that’ll guide its development. This is only the beginning and I’m happy to have you here. Welcome to Camaro vs. World. More on the CamaroTrendinglatest articlesRECOMMENDED FOR YOUA Few New Camaros Still Exist. This Is Your Last Chance to Buy OnePorsche Is Pivoting Back to Combustion. It Will Cost Them DearlyRIP: These Cars Won’t Make It to 2025Chevy Will Reportedly Kill the Gas-Powered Blazer Next YearYou Can Own the Greatest Camaro of All TimeThe Base Corvette Stingray Is a Revelation: ReviewDriving the Camaro IROC-Z, A Car Too Cool for GM: Retro Review Photos Videos Chime in with article commenting.

Source: https://www.motor1.com/features/746497/camaro-vs-world-project-car/