Author Archives: Trevor Freeman

About Trevor Freeman

Trevor is a real gearhead who loves everything from classic American muscle cars to high-performance exotics. When he's not reading about cars or taking photos at a car show, he's probably out cruising around. He is currently working on restoring a 1980 Chevrolet Monza hatchback.

Gil Losi’s 1961 Impala – ‘Under PreSSure’

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There is an old saying that “The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.” That’s particularly true for the owner of this 1961 Chevrolet Impala, Mr. Gil Losi.

Back in the 1980s, Gil started a company called Team Losi. Their family business grew to become a dominant player in the R/C car industry during the boom years of the 1980s and 1990s. Gil later sold the business to Horizon Hobby, but he’s not through playing with cars. These days, he’s tinkering with full size ones!

Gil’s latest toy was built by Steve Cook Creations in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I saw it on display at the Meguiar’s booth at SEMA 2013.

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SEMA 2013: Tim Allen’s 1968 COPO Camaro

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The word “restomod” gets thrown around a lot these days. Most of the resto-modded cars I have seen are closer to the “modified” side than to the “restoration” side. It was refreshing to come across this 1968 Chevrolet COPO Camaro at SEMA, which is more towards the restoration side of things.

The car was on display at the Classic Industries booth and was built by veteran hot rodder Bodie Stroud. The car belongs to actor, comedian, author, and car guy Tim Allen.

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2014 Corvette Stingray Gran Turismo Concept Car

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Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? In this case, it’s both.

Here we have a car that existed first in a video game and was then re-created in real life. The 2014 Corvette Stingray Gran Turismo Concept is based on a playable car from the Gran Turismo 6 video game for PlayStation 3.

Performance wise, this car is identical to any other new Stingray. But this is SEMA, and the car is decked out in lots of appearance and trim pieces. It starts with the custom matte blue paint, which is definitely not a factory color.

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1956 Buick ‘Nailed’ by Troy Trepanier

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One of the premiere builders in the hot rod scene today is Troy Trepanier. From his shop in Manteno, Illinois, Rad Rides by Troy delivers some of the most unique automotive creations on the road today.

I got to check out their 1956 Buick “Nailed” on display at the 2013 SEMA Show and based on the crowd of admirers, I could tell this car was something special. At the risk of sounding cliche, this ain’t your granddaddy’s Buick!

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1969 Camaro Convertible by Goolsby Customs

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Ladies and gentlemen, this is your textbook example of a pro-touring build done right. Start with a classic body style, add modern power and handling, and you’ve got yourself a rockin’ muscle car that turns heads as well as corners.

This 1969 Chevrolet Camaro convertible was built for the Lokar Performance Products booth at SEMA 2013 by Goolsby Customs of Bessemer, Alabama.

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1966 Chrysler Imperial “The Tyrant”

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Automobile manufacturers typically build two types of cars: regular passenger vehicles and wild, tire-squealing, high-revving performance vehicles. The latter is usually done by a company’s in-house performance division.

Mercedes’ in-house performance division is AMG. BMW has their M division. Over at Chrysler, they have the Street and Racing Technology (SRT) team, which grew out of the original “Team Viper” group that was formed in 1989.

Since its inception 25 years ago, SRT has created high performance versions of many Chrysler vehicles including the Neon SRT-4, the Chrysler 300 SRT8 sedan, and the Ram SRT-10 Pickup. But what if SRT had existed back in the 1960s? What kind of cars would they have built? The guys at HPI Customs in Manitoba, Canada decided to try and answer that question.

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