Unveiled in late 2015, the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro brought many improvements to GM'->ke1024s iconic muscle car.->ke507 The design is fresh, yet still retains the classic Camaro->ke248 cues, while the architecture is significantly lighter, which basically turns the muscle car into a full-fledged sports coupe.->ke141 The revised interior, the more powerful V-6 and V-8 engines and the brand-new, turbocharged four-cylinder also helped bring the Camaro into the 21st century. As usual, the standard model serves as a base for a range of performance-oriented versions such as the supercharged ZL1, the track-ready Z/28, and the tire-burning COPO.

Although not exactly related to the street-legal Camaro in terms of platform, drivetrain, and technology,->ke1701 the sixth-gen coupe also served as inspiration for a new Funny Car. Created for the 2016 National Hot Rod Association racing season, the new Camaro SS Funny Car was just unveiled by Chevrolet->ke199 and 16-time NHRA champion John Force ahead of the Kansas Nationals in Topeka on May 21st and 22nd.

Force's new Funny Car body is the first based on the sixth-generation Camaro SS and features new aerodynamic elements, as well as a more powerful supercharged engine. The body is also lighter, which in conjunction with the revised drivetrains, will result in quicker quarter-mile sprints.

“I started my career in a Chevrolet and I couldn’t be more excited to put this new Camaro SS Funny Car on the track,” said John Force. “With all the assistance from Chevrolet, it not only looks great, it’s designed to perform better than anything we’ve had before, with a shape that should help us get down the track quicker and with greater stability.”

The Camaro SS Funny Car joins the 2016 NHRA in the Pro class and is the second Camaro-based model to race in this year's season. The first one is the COPO Camaro, which competes in the Sportsman class and was introduced by Courtney Force, one of John's daughters and also a drag racer, at the 2015 SEMA Show.->ke216 Unlike the SS Funny Car, the COPO shares actual body panels and chassis components with the standard Camaro SS.

Continue reading to learn more about the Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car.

What makes the Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car special

Although it bears the Camaro name, this Funny Car has nothing in common with Chevy's street legal muscle cars except for the headlamps and grilles painted on the nose and the taillights illustrated on the rear fascia. Other than that, the SS Funny Car is a typical, extreme drag racing machine with a lightweight, aerodynamic body, a canopy-like cockpit, and two massive fins atop the rear fenders. The skinny front wheels and the meaty rear tires are almost completely hidden underneath the body, while the large exhaust pipes pop out from under the side skirts. The long, sloping front hood allows the massive blower to peek out just in front of the windscreen, signaling that this race car is extremely powerful and lightning fast. As with most Funny Cars, the body sports several sponsors alongside the traditional "Chevrolet" and "Camaro" logos. Most of the car is painted a bright, metallic blue, which will make the SS Funny Car stand out at NHRA events.

As always, there aren't any official photos of the interior, but it's not like we have much to see inside. Typical Funny Car cockpits are usually cramped and have just enough room for a racing seat wrapped in an NHRA-approved roll cage, a small steering wheel, and a few gauges to provide the driver with vital information about the race car from start to finish. A quarter-mile run usually takes only a few seconds in a Funny Car so drivers don't have a lot of time to glance at them, but they can provide crucial info just before the run.

Drivetrain information is also scarce, as Chevy had nothing to say about the drivetrain motivating this beast. However, the company did say that the supercharged engine cranks out a whopping 10,000 horsepower. For reference, that's about 22 times more than what the 6.2-liter V-8 in the stock SS produces for the 2017 model year. With the tremendous output also comes insanely quick sprints. Chevy claims that the SS Funny Car needs only four seconds to 330 mph. And, it all happens in around 1,000 feet, meaning that the race car probably runs the quarter-mile in around five seconds and at over 350 mph. If that's not impressive, I don't know what is!

Chevrolet Camaro SS

The sixth-generation Camaro was launched in 2015 for the 2016 model year. It replaced the fifth-generation model, introduced in 2010 after eight years with no Camaro in dealerships. Much like the Mustang, the new Camaro sports an evolutionary design that blends styling cues seen on the previous generation with some classic features. About two inches shorter and no fewer than 294 pounds lighter than its predecessor, the sixth-gen pony is also quicker thanks to its new V-6 and V-8 engines. The newly developed 3.6-liter V-6 is the most powerful naturally aspirated V-6 in the segment at 355 horsepower and 284 pound-feet of twist, while the Corvette-sourced, 6.2-liter, LT1 V-8 makes the Camaro quicker than the V-8-powered Mustang thanks to its 455 horses and 445 pound-feet of torque. The Camaro also received a four-cylinder engine for the first time since 1992. The unit in question is a 2.0-liter turbo-four similar to the one found in the Cadillac ATS and CTS. It generates 275 horsepower and 295 pound-feet and returns more than 30 mpg on the highway. Pricing for 2016 starts from $25,700, two grand more than the previous model.

Read our full review on the Chevrolet Camaro SS here.