Muscle cars are a product of the American car maker between late 60’s and the oil crisis in the 70’s. Those car featured enormous gas hungry engines producing over 500 horse power. Handling was poor but price was cheap and design was agressive. Those cars are now worth over million dollar and they are the symbol of the bold American cars forever. To name a few iconic muscle cars: Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, Pontiac GTO, Chrysler Hemi Cuda...
The perks of being a successful NASCAR outfit is having top-tier companies lining up to serve as your sponsor. That’s pretty much how you can describe the partnership between Tony Stewart and his boys at Stewart-Haas Racing and Mobil 1, the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand.
A few months ago, the two companies joined forces to hold a contest where the grand prize would be a special one-off Chevrolet Camaro Convertible SHR that was customized by the man himself, Tony Stewart.
Dressed in a swanky silver paint finish, the Stewart-tuned Camaro Convertible was the grand prize in the ’Mobil 1 Sweepstakes’ and befitting a (muscle) car of its stature, Stewart and the rest of Stewart-Haas Racing went all out in turning this muscle car into a one-of-a-kind piece of work. On top of getting what we can only assume is a unique custom touch from Stewart himself, the Camaro SHR was also given a list of ’aesthetic improvements,’ including a DUB body kit, flame decals on the side of the Chevrolet emblem, smoked logos on the taillights, a custom Mobil 1 interior, and a set of 22" wheels with state-of-the-art Brembo brakes.
We haven’t heard yet about the lucky dude that will go home with a very special Camaro courtesy of Tony Stewart, but we figure that whoever it is, he’s going to be have to take out those giant horseshoes in his pocket to be able to take his newly-won one-off muscle car out for a spin.
Richard Petty - better known for his incredible results in NASCAR - launched "Petty’s Garage" back in 2008, a high performance speed shop that produces vehicle such as the Signature Series based on the 2010 Dodge Challenger. This vehicle made an appearance in Jay Leno’s Garage where the talk show host had his way with it, against “The King’s” orders, but we’re thinking he may regret his little rebellion if Petty decides to not let him near his latest creation. Petty’s entry into the 2011 SEMA Auto Show is a new Signature Series based on a Ford Mustang which will be displayed at the BASF booth at the show.
As with any prominent tuning figure, Petty has released little to no details on his latest creation, but the images that were released show an extreme body kit that immediately stands out, as does that electric blue paint job. The bump on the hood hides a Whipple supercharger that will increase the total output to an impressive 650 HP. The car will also be equipped with an upgraded suspension system, bigger brakes, and an updated interior.
It’s a good thing SEMA is just a few days away because the wait is excruciating!
When John Hennessey points to a car and says he wants to make a performance program for it, magic usually happens.
There was no doubt that when Ford brought back the Mustang Boss 302 for the first time since 1969 - that’s a span of 42 years - Hennessey would be getting his picking finger ready. It just became a question of when the American tuning company would have a program ready for it.
Hennessey just introduced the HPE650 package for the Boss 302 and today, they’ve upped the ante with the release of the HPE700. Like most of Hennessey’s tuning programs, you won’t see a whole lot of extra decorations on the car. There are badges here and plaques there, but for the most part, what you see with the car is what you get. But when you open the hood, that’s when all hell breaks loose.
Just like the HPE650 program, Hennessey’s HPE700 program offers a mammoth horsepower improvement, which might seem over-the-top considering the Boss 302 already has 440 ponies in tow. However, anytime you can take that 440 and turn it into 700, we’re pretty sure that you won’t find a whole lot of people to complain about it.
UPDATE 10/24/2011: The 2012 Ford Mustang Boss HPE700 by Hennessey is all kinds of awesome and it just proved it by running the quarter mile in 10.9 seconds at 130 mph! Check out the video of the run by clicking on the image above!
More on the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss HPE700 after the jump
If you thought the Transformers movie franchise did wonders for the Chevrolet Camaro’s marketing appeal, then you best be ready to watch this video because it’s going to blow you away.
We don’t mean that as a kind of hyperbole because that would do a disservice to the people behind this production. The video, which is titled ’Camaro: Heritage’ was made as a collaboration between Camaro5 and Camaro Generations members, to showcase a tribute of sorts for the Camaro heritage.
Over 10 current generation Camaros were featured in the video, as well as one of each past generation Camaro, in what can only be described as one of the most masterful and well-executed non-commercial fan projects we’ve ever seen.
We say that without a hint of exaggeration because this video is better than the hype we’re giving it. It doesn’t even matter if you’re not a fan of the Camaro. There’s actually a good chance that if you’re not, all you need to do is watch this video to turn into one.
One of the most popular cars to attend SEMA last year was the Chevrolet Camaro thanks to countless tuning companies that brought their iteration of the popular Chevrolet muscle car to the world’s biggest auto aftermarket show.
The Camaro’s mass showing last year earned it the title of being the "hottest car" of the event and from the looks of things, it appears that the Camaro will be back in force this year, ready to defend its crown.
One of the first to reveal their plans of bringing a Camaro to SEMA comes from Whiteside Customs, Inc, a Texas-based aftermarket tuning company that will finally present their long-awaited program for the Chevy muscle car. We say ’long-awaited’ because the whole program is two years in the making, giving Whiteside Customs plenty of time to not only prepare to show the car off at SEMA, but to also ready it to take down the Nissan GT-R. After all those months of laborious work, the folks over at Whiteside Customs are now finally ready to reveal their Camaro program.
Full details behind the project are still being kept under wraps, although Mike White of Whiteside Customs did say that the Camaro will carry in excess of 500 horsepower, courtesy of a twin-turbo kit from RX Performance. Other tidbits about the project that have been revealed include a new exhaust system from ARK Performance, a custom suede steering wheel from Ace Custom Steering, and a custom suede interior from Katzkin Leather, among other things.
While it appears that there’s more to this car than meets the eye, the good news is that we won’t have to wait long to find out what it is. SEMA’s coming next week, and for Whiteside Customs, that two-year wait is about to end.
