Turning a road car into a race car isn’t easy, and it isn’t cheap. First, you’ve got to strip the car of bit of excess metal and equipment, lightening your racing weight as much as possible. Then you need a strong suspension, long-lasting brakes, a powerful motor, and a reliable transmission. Even with all of that, you now need a team, a trailer, and lots of talent to even hope to compete with the big boys.

But all that time, money, and effort is worth it to see a car like the Camaro GT3 come together. Competing on some of Europe’s oldest and most famous race tracks, a big American brute like the Camaro stands out…and yet,  somehow, it fits right in.

This dramatic and awesome video captures some of the passion and power of these cars, and the men destined to race them. Normally, racing series like GT3 call for smaller, less powerful engines. However, these Camaro GT3s sport massive 7.9 liter Katech V8 engines that, without forced induction, produce 650 horsepower and 627 ft-lbs of torque.

That’s an incredible level of horsepower, and the Camaro GT3s need every bit of it. The competition comes from equally-motivated cars and drivers the world over. This epic video is worth watching, classical music and all, as it conveys just a slice of the emotion these guys leave on the racetrack as they compete for the checkered flag.