Every now and again, we get an email that presents a great looking car for us to share with our readers. We recently got one from Lester at Precision Restorations in St. Louis. Lester started his email with, “We just finished a 1968 Camaro for our client. If you went by the very first picture of this Pro Touring hot-rod, you would ask “why”? It really didn’t look bad to the naked eye. But, by the end of the metalwork stage, we had replace almost every piece of sheetmetal.”
Under the hood is an LS7 built by Mast Motorsports. It is delivering 650 horsepower and features Mast Motorsports Black Label heads, Callies crankshaft and connecting rods, a Mast Motorsports camshaft, and a Billet Specialties accessory drive. Behind that is a Monster Transmission’s-built 4L80E, and the rearend is a 9-inch with 3.73 gears.
By looking under this ’68 Camaro hot rod, you’ll find the entire suspension is by Heidts, which includes a Mustang II front suspension and an independent rear suspension. Wilwood brakes are mounted on all four corners, and surrounding those binders are wheels by Rocket Racing that measure 18×7.5 on the front and 20×9 on the rear.
The ’68 Camaro’s interior is where the owner will spend most of his time, and the list of customizations is nearly endless. The shop used TMI Products’ door panels, and Lester covered them in a design created in-house at Precision. The dash is from a C1 Corvette, upgraded with Dakota Digital HDX gauges. You’ll also find other countless custom touches like push-button start, stereo-bass control, and overhead map lights. The trunk is also custom outfitted and is equipped with JL audio 10-inch subs and amps.
Restomodding classics has become the norm, and why not? Upgrading a car with all the amenities of a late-model commuter can make the the car much more fun to drive, handle better, and deliver much more performance than engineers could have ever imagined.