Originally posted by lesmore49 It does look good. Sleek, low and with a hint of mean....but in the good sense of the word 'mean'.
I like this Camaro in the orange, as mentioned before that full look grille with two bumperettes flanking it on either side...that to me, really gives it a bit of a Ferrari look. And speaking of flanking...check out the flanks on that Camaro in your pix...they really stand out...not sure if it's the lighting or....?
Lowering it, as per your picture example, accentuates that performance look . If you're driving it on the street....about the only thing besides bad pavement that could affect it, would be speed bumps in shopping malls. I recall two guys that had really low cars...one a '60's Austin-Healy 3000...used to hit his exhaust pipe/muffler and another guy I knew with a '27 T-body and a 327 Chevy V8...nicely lowered but speed bumps were the scourge of his existence.
As handling would be a priority, I'm guessing that a healthy 350 V8 would be your choice to cut down on extra weight that a big block Chevy Rat motor would add to the front end.
Or...as a lot of guys seem to be doing now, is getting a salvage yard Chevy LS V8...5.3 liter or one of the larger ones. These engines can generate pretty good power...stock and are known to be reliable, although I guess with a modern engine like an LS...there would probably be some electronic computer gimmerky required to mate old and new systems.
Any color is fine with me, except pink.
Here is a Roadster Shop build, they custom made a custom grille opening, and deleted the bumperettes. The car was at SEMA in 2018.
The 2018 SEMA Gran Turismo Awards | Hagerty Media
It began life as a plain Sport Coupe, 350/350 auto.
The complete Roadster Shop build is here:
Archives - Roadster Shop Roadster Shop
Lowering does more than create a more muscular look. It drops the center of gravity. Done right, suspension mods are what make a car handle. Unequal length tubular A arms with coil over shocks on the front with the inner hinge points raised a bit. A 4 link rear end with a Ford 9 inch housing and center section, and coil over shocks, also mounted higher in the chassis.
And weight distribution.
I wouldn't shy away from using a big block, just get an aluminum block and heads, and move it back some.
Or an LS6, with an aluminum case 6 speed manual gearbox. The electronics are a cinch with a standalone engine management system that is programmable from a laptop running Windows (Linux too I think). A lot of people are using these engines, in older GM products, and just about everything else. A lot of go fast stuff is available too.
Piece of cake.
The Roadster Shop also built the ultimate second gen Camaro. A lot of time and thought went into the build, and the result is pretty cool. A lot of ideas for me to consider for mine, but also a few things that I would do different.
Before:
After:
Check out the build pics here:
Archives - Roadster Shop Roadster Shop