Classic muscle cars have always had a loyal following, and the F-Body Chevrolet Camaro is no exception. Despite this, it can be difficult to find one that is significantly more unique than the rest. On display today though there is a dedicated example of a mid-engineer who would dare dream about what it would have been if he had falsely turned his affection towards the Camaro.
At first glance, it might be easy to wonder why someone on Earth would have trouble building a mid-engined Camaro when the original FR design is so well-respected. Fortunately, the makers of this car, Centerline Vehicle Designs in Boone, North Carolina, weren’t bothered by such philosophical questions. Instead, they just focused on making a rolling piece of art and they succeeded.
This obviously isn’t close to the 1968 Camaro, in fact, it only shares door frames, roof rails, front fenders, rear fenders and window panes with the original. The new body is 5 inches wider by 10 inches and has a 3.5 inch longer wheelbase.
Despite these dramatic changes, the Camaro’s still looks very esque – until you open the hood, but not the front. Under the boot lid is a 455ci Oldsmobile V8 naturally aspirated, which is good at 486 hp (362 kW) and 509 lb-ft (689 Nm) of torque. However, this isn’t a speed demon in old-school muscle car clothing.
The dyno chart, which was included in the sale, shows peak power is at around 6000 rpm and then drops faster than the Tesla stock after a bad tweet from Elon. Even if there’s a lot of power under the curve, this thing only has a Toronado three-speed automatic transmission.
Honestly, it’s amazing to delve deeper into how faithfully this design was built. It was easy to use the LS instead and make everything more modern. However, the builders created a car not much different from what could have been built back when this car was new. They have demonstrated arduous experience in implementation.
The packaging, fit, and finish look top notch throughout the entire build from the custom exhaust to the engine bay to the interior with the premium switchgear. This thing even has air conditioning, power windows, and ceiling-mounted speakers. As of this writing, the car is already sitting at $73,000 and has three days before it finishes on Bring A Trailer. We look forward to seeing what happens when bidding ends.
