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.
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!
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.
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.
When I go to SEMA, I expect to see hot rods that are above and beyond what the average joe is building in his garage. SEMA is sort of like the World Series of Hot Rodding, where the best in the business put their projects on display for all to see. These are guys at the top of their game, building the wildest cars that anyone can dream up.
This car is a perfect example of an “all-star build.” This 1971 Chevrolet Camaro is nicknamed “The ProfeSSor” and was created as a tribute to legendary drag racer Warren Johnson’s pro stock Camaro. The car was done by Lakeside Rods and Rides of Rockwell City, Iowa, with design from Eric Brockmeyer Designs. Dan Weber did the interior and Gemini Technologies did all of the carbon fiber work. The owner of the car is Dave Leisinger of DK Camaros.
Basically, the team set out to build a modern interpretation of a pro stock car. What they created is one of the wildest second-gens I’ve ever seen!
While wandering around the 2013 SEMA Show, I spotted this ’65 Galaxie convertible with its famous stacked headlights hiding out in the Flowmaster booth. The car was built by Kindig-It Customs from Salt Lake City, Utah.
The first thing about this car that caught my eye was simply the fact that it wasn’t another 1st or 2nd-gen Camaro. Don’t get me wrong, I like Camaros as much as the next guy, but you can’t swing a set of spark plug wires at SEMA without hitting dozens of F-bodies. They’re everywhere! This car is something different.
