From Roadster Shop: With this ’69 Camaro, we wanted to create a car that held true to its original aesthetic, yet felt very modern without distracting from the classic lines and good looks of the ’69 body. The owner came to us looking for a car that he could take to shows and events, win best of show, turn the fastest time on the autocross and drive a thousand miles home again.
A contemporary feel was achieved on the car by refining, tweaking and improving many of the smaller details on the car like the new handmade side quarter ‘gills’, hood louvers and front and rear spoilers. The color combination used was a very ‘traditional’ scheme of red and black, but we deviated from the factory color arrangement to add a new twist and feel to the car.
Tricky to do with only two colors but with the right placement and appropriate amount of the red accent color on a sleek black canvass, a fresh look can be created. If the car was to sit next to another black and red Camaro, the two would look surprisingly different.
The red accents also lend themselves perfectly to the interior, where they are used as a contrast to the dark and minimalist feel. We wanted the interior to pick up on some of the trick touches and elements of road race/ rally cars but without the bare-bones, ‘rawness’ of a full on race car. Elements like the rotary switches on the dash were derived from a Formula 1 steering wheel. Red flip switches, canvass door pulls, suede and carbon fiber further add to the functional elegance of the interior. Very little was added for the sake of ‘prettiness’ to the interior, yet when these elements are combined the result is a purposeful, minimalist elegance.
With the debut of the car at the 2012 Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus, OH, it was selected as part of the winners circle and received a Goodguys ‘Innovation Award’. Equipped with one of our Roadster Shop FAST TRACK chassis, the car also ran the fastest time of the ‘Street Machine’ category in the autocross portion of the competition. The new owner is delighted with his ’69 Camaro and plans on racking up the miles over the coming years: on the road and the track!