Since opening its doors in 1995, Nelson Racing Engines of Chatsworth has earned a reputation here in the West San Fernando Valley of building some of the Valley’s most radical, high-horsepower applications; their unique twin-injector-per-cylinder and twin-turbo configurations are unmatched. Because of their expansive knowledge and resources, shop owner Tom Nelson and the NRE team are able to build any application from 1500 to 2000+bhp, applications that are built for the street and the strip.
Nelson’s most radical creation, by far, is this twin-turbo ’69 Camaro SS, which features a high-tech performance package that is unique to NRE. This package includes a 427 small block with twin turbos and twin fuel injectors per cylinder, an engine design that has become an NRE trademark. NRE’s twin-turbo 427 produced around 730bhp on pump gas, with the twin turbos producing a total of 6psi, the lowest boost level at which the turbos can possibly be set. The twin-turbo mill, however, is capable of producing around 1750bhp with the turbos tweaked on race fuel.
Not only this, but NRE’s turbo rat was able to create this kind of “streetable” horsepower while maintaining a street-legal muscle car that can be used for the street or the strip, and whether on pump gas or race, the Camaro is outrageous. The advantage of this setup from NRE is that it offers manageable horsepower, and it does so without nearly tearing the motor’s valvetrain apart. The twin turbos are responsive, and the quick-building boost makes the 427 rev so fast that it bounces off of the rev limiter.
In this video from NRE, the Camaro is running uncorked, but is still relatively quiet and smooth for a car of its build. Tom Nelson and company built the ’69 Camaro, which they call “Split Personality,” for a client in Denmark, and we’re sure that they will have way too much fun in this twin-turbo pony, if they haven’t done so already!