This ‘1969 Chevelle’ Made From a 2015 Camaro Isn’t Perfect But Captures the Character
This is far from the first retro design we've seen built on a 5th-gen Camaro, but it may be the cleanest. The post This ‘1969 Chevelle’ Made From a 2015 Camaro Isn’t Perfect But Captures the Character appeared first on The Drive.
We’ve seen our fair share of fifth-generation Chevy Camaros that received the vintage treatment. While there’s an occasional home run, the majority tend to suffer from questionable execution, to put it gently. Fortunately, this 2015 Camaro redone as a ’69 Chevelle is a sterling example of the former—and it’s headed to auction at Mecum Glendale this week.
On paper, this conversion has nothing at all going for it. For starters, it’s based on a modern car. Even if they were just as long, wide and heavy, vintage cars from the 1960s and ’70s lacked the chunky bodies of today’s automobiles. Whenever somebody tries to make modern crumple zones work in a throwback wedge design, the result looks like something that sat bloating in the sun for far too long.
But this? This actually works. The custom body leans into the Camaro’s natural bulk, exaggerating the Chevelle’s features juuuust enough that everything remains proportional. The result is a good-looking automobile, and for the 2,000 hours it supposedly took to put this thing together, it had better be.
The body is a custom job made from carbon-fiber-reinforced fiberglass. Under the hood, you’ll find GM’s 6.2-liter V8 mated to an automatic transmission. Hey, it’s a drop-top Chevelle—not a 911 GT3. We’ll let it slide. You do get a set of adjustable coil-overs, for whatever that’s worth.
What is a bit disappointing, however, is the almost completely stock 2015 Camaro interior. The one nod to the original here is a set of headrests. Considering how much work went into the exterior, that’s kind of a letdown. It is a convertible, after all; people are going to notice what’s inside.
Now, who wants to build me an El Camino on some sort of Holden Ute? Don’t scoff; some of those upside-down GMs will be eligible for import before you know it. Suffice it to say, this custom leaves us wanting more.
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The post This ‘1969 Chevelle’ Made From a 2015 Camaro Isn’t Perfect But Captures the Character appeared first on The Drive.
