As expected the new Chevrolet Camaro will be the star as this year’s SEMA Show. Lingenfelter Performance Engineering in cooperation to Hotchkis Performance will present a customized 750 hp Camaro SS.
The Lingenfelter 750HP Supercharged LS7 2010 Camaro SS is powered by a hand-built 427 CID (7.0L) LS7 engine featuring forged pistons, titanium connecting rods and Inconel exhaust valves. A Magnusson/Eaton TVS2300 supercharger breathes into a custom Lingenfelter intake manifold. The result is 750 hp.
Other highlights include a Hotchkis Total Vehicle System (Sport Springs, Adjustable Sport Sway Bars and ChassisMax Subframe Brace), Brembo brakes, custom LPE 20-inch 10-spoke wheels, an LPE exclusive air management body kit, a custom embroidered interior and a Mito rear view mirror with video display. The Lingenfelter body kit and engine package will also be offered as separate packages.
We are more accustomed to hearing about the classic American tuners from Hurst Performance creating special edition Challengers and Mustangs, however they have teamed up with Chevrolet to auction off the very first preproduction HURST/Camaro on eBay prior to the 2009 SEMA show in order to fund the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Now the auction is already under way, and aside from this 445 HP stunning silver and black pony car, the highest bidder will also walk away with a very special SEMA experience prize package. The package includes two tickets to the show, a two night stay at the Las Vegas Hilton, $1000 worth of American Airlines flight vouchers to get you there and a pair of passes to the eBay party at the Bellagio while in Sin City. The winning bid will ensure that the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund, a program that fosters industry leadership by supporting the education of students pursuing careers in the automotive aftermarket, continues on.
As if the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas isn’t enticing enough, the HURST/Camaro comes complete with plenty of goodies of its own, like a set of 20 inch forged aluminum HURST T-2 wheels, a Hurst Competition Plus short throw pistol grip shifter and a Hurst AIRSPEED rear deck spoiler to complete the aerodynamic modifications. The modified muscle car rides on an aftermarket Eibach suspension to give the Camaro just the right stance, while a Magnaflow stainless steel performance exhaust gives the HURST/Camaro a much more aggressive bark to match the car’s bad boy livery.
Dodge is taking a page out of their Mopar muscle car paint book by bringin back one of Chrysler’s most memorable shades of purple from the 1960s for the 2010 Challenger SRT-8 and R/T models, Plum Crazy. So if you are a sucker for for a bygone era, or just want to feel like you were there, your brand new modern day Mopar muscle car can come straight from the factory with a bit more of a nostalgic feel, not to mention make everyone turn their heads and drop their jaws to the sidewalk when rumble passed them in your Hemi powered Dodge Challenger.
Complimenting the Plum Crazy exterior of the special option Challenger are an optional pair of dual side stripes just like to old car available in either white or black to help that purple paint pop. Mopar has also upgraded the Plum Crazy Challenger’s interior with a full Katzkin leather upholstery that is available in quite a few different colors. Differentiating the men from the boys, the Plum Crazy R/T model will feature color matching Plum stitching on the seats while the 425 HP SRT-8 ground pounders will have a Plum stripe running up the length of the seat back. You would think that this kind of a retro treatment would be a bit hard on your wallet, however the Plum Crazy package adds an additional $225 to the sticker price of an R/T Challenger while the more extensive SRT-8 package is only $500 more than the standard vehicle.
Despite most automakers disbanding their high performance divisions, the gear heads at Mopar, Chrysler’s in house tuner, are hard at work coming up with a true ground pounder that is ready and willing to take on ¼ mile long strips of asphalt for the world’s greatest aftermarket car show SEMA. The Dodge Challenger 1320 is essentially a street legal version of the special order modern day muscle car that comes with over 1,000 pounds of stripped down, lightweight racecar Drag Pak Challenger that is sold specifically to very serious drag racers.
The 1320, named for the length of a quarter mile drag strip is powered by a 426 cubic inch all aluminum Hemi V8 crate motor that starts off making a total of 556 HP and 540 lb-ft of torque thanks to a set of Mopar long tube headers and free flowing exhaust system complete with remote operating cutouts that let the stop light drag racing Challenger spit flames at the competition if not deafen the other driver with the roar of a fuel injected 426 Hemi. Power is sent through a bulletproof six speed manual transmission and ends up at an equally proven rear end with a locking differential that ensure that every pony makes it to the ground evenly across the rear axle.
Adding to the Challenger 1320’s serious appeal, the Mopar boys have fitted the street legal NHRA Pro Stock drag car with a set of basic police wheels, widened in the back and wrapped with sticky Mickey Thompson street legal drag radials to provide as hard a launch as possible that you can get from the factory as well as a fully adjustable coil over suspension to dial in the ride and make sure that the car tracks straight pass after pass down the 1320.
After seeing what it was like to get a first-hand view of what goes on behind the scenes inside the making of a Lamborghini Murcielago SV and a Rolls-Royce Phantom, National Geographic’s “Ultimate Factories” heads over to the Oshawa GM plant – at over 8 million square feet, this plant is widely considered as one of the largest auto plants in the world - to give us an in-depth look towards the making of one of America’s most iconic muscle cars, the 2010 Camaro SS.
The Camaro episode will air tonight on Nat Geo starting at 8 pm ET. Be sure not to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge on the inner workings of how Chevrolet creates the popular muscle car.
If you’re the type that already has your TiVo’s locked and loaded, we’re giving you a sneak preview of tonight’s episode.
After many years of similarly shaped economy cars tearing up the high banked ovals of the NASCAR circuit, there will now be a real sports car on track to lead the pack. Ford’s in house high performance division, Ford Racing, and the NASCAR specialists at Roush Fenway Racing have just unveiled the new 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Mustang. The 21st century thoroughbred will have no problem catching up with the competition when the new car makes its racing debut next July. This will not only add a bit of enthusiasm into the NASCAR circuit but it should undoubtedly help the blue oval move a few more units. Despite contemporary automaker’s reluctance to spend money on competitive racing programs, the old adage “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” still holds true today.
The Ford Mustang has a storied history in motor sports contests and can claim more than 2,000 professional race wins ranging from Trans Am to Funny Car and even D1 professional drifting titles. Jack Roush should know, not only has his aftermarket parts company been tuning Mustangs since 1995 and racing since the 1960s. Roush Racing fields no less than 10 racing vehicles in all three forms of NASCAR competition including the Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and the Craftsman Truck Series as well. Since turning a wheel in NASCAR competition, Roush has earned over 250 wins which all look good for this car of tomorrow spec Mustang.
For all those brands that have decided to skip the Tokyo Motor Show, it looks like they’re already prepping up for the next one on the calendar: the Los Angeles Auto Show in December.
One of the brands that have booked their ticket for Los Angeles is Ford, which is using the event to officially unveil the new Ford Fiesta to its American clientele. In addition to the introduction of the Fiesta, Ford is also set to use Los Angeles for an equally important revelation: the powertrain behind the 2011 Mustang.
In a recent interview with foxnews.com’s Fox Car Report, Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s head of global product development, confirmed that questions surrounding the 2011 Mustang will all be answered in December at Los Angeles.
It’s been a prevalent rumor that’s dragged on for a couple of months now and while earlier reports have said that the 2011 Mustang comes with a base V6 engine along with a souped-up 5.0-liter V8 variant. In addition to that, rampant speculation of an even more powerful aluminum-block version of the 5.4-liter supercharged V8 for the 2011 Shelby GT500 has also become a powerful water cooler topic among car enthusiasts waiting with baited breath to see exactly what Ford’s plans are for the retooled 2011 Mustangs.
In any case, all the questions will be answered when the LA Auto Show goes up and running in December.
The American tuner Steve Saleen has a very hard time keeping his hands off of Ford Mustangs. Somehow whatever Mr. Saleen touches ends up not only looking better, but also has a lot more horsepower, goes faster and handles better as well. Saleen’s bread and butter for the past decade has been modifying Ford’s 4.6 Liter modular V8 powered Mustangs and transforming them into special edition individually numbered Saleen S281s. It looks like the red, white and blue tuner is getting back into the swing of things after reopening their doors as Saleen Performance Vehicles with the upcoming debut of the 2010 S281 Ford Mustang at the SEMA show this November.
Saleen isn’t releasing too much information about the new turn key tuner car, only releasing a few of these teaser images. However we have seen what Steve can do when he puts his mind to it, like the more recent 2010 Signature Series SMS 460 Mustang that made as much as 650 HP depending on the owners wishes and the more mundane Saleen 435S that made 435 HP, both based on the 2010 pony car from the blue oval. If those cars are any indication of what Saleen’s plan is for the new 281 cubic inch Mustang, then the new S281 will feature a few aerodynamically designed body parts, a set of lightweight wheels to go along with a high performance lowered suspension and of course no Saleen muscle car would be complete without a supercharger under the hood. Saleen needs to move as many of these 281 cubic inch hot rods before Ford introduces the new 5.0 Liter Coyote V8 and they have to buy a whole new inventory of S302 stickers.
There’s nothing like cruising America’s highways on a top-down muscle car galloping at speeds that drives the wind straight to your face. For the longest time, Joseph Cram and his father Ralph Cram have dreamt of taking a road trip across the US in a Ford Mustang.
With a fully-restored ‘68 Mustang sitting in their garage, the Crams were well on their way to living out their dream and it seemed like it was just a matter of time before father and son embarked on their journey of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the high cost of maintaining such a vehicle reared its ugly head on the two and to escape the financial bind the family found itself in, the two were forced to part ways with their beloved stallion.
16 years later, the Joseph and Ralph Cram have yet to embark on their journey and with resigned exasperation, were ready to hang up their dream; that is until an unexpected turn of fortune steered them back to fulfilling the elusive joyride.
When Ford released its “The 10 Unleashed” program, which encouraged consumers to submit their ultimate Mustang dream in 250 words or less, the Crams seized the opportunity and described their dream Mustang joyride across the US. Lo and behold, the Crams’ story was one of those chosen by Ford and, as a result, the two were given the chance to finally fulfill their long-overdue road trip. As a reward for their entry, Joseph and Ralph Cram were given the keys to a Mustang so they could get the chance to drive from Houston to Detroit and participate in the Woodward Dream Cruise – one of the largest automotive gatherings in the world.
Check out the video after the jump to see father and son galloping into the sunset 16 years too late. Then again, better late than never, right?
Despite the fact that General Motors has continuously delayed the launch of a drop top pony car once again you can’t stop automotive enthusiasts from chopping the roofs off of 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. It would be a difficult job to tell this yellow Camaro from Drop Top Customs apart from what will eventually roll off the line at GM’s Oshawa assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. Now they aren’t showing any close ups of the welds and that large convertible cover offers a lot of room to hide some unsightly craftsmanship, but if it never breaks then there will be no need to open it up. We will just have to take a closer look at the car when we see it at this year’s SEMA show where Drop Top Customs will most likely have more than one Camaro convertible on display.
Now Drop Top is asking for a solid $18,000 to give Camaro owners the opportunity to experience the wind in their hair at least a year and a half before the general market will be able to. The question you have to ask yourself is a $40,000 V6 Camaro really worth it? Perhaps as more and more of these modern muscle cars appear on the streets of the U.S. owners will be more inclined to pony up for the extra appeal, and when they do the Florida based shop will be waiting to help a few Camaro owners stay ahead of the pack.
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