With some of GM’s factory performance programs on the back burner, a Chevrolet dealer and a performance tuning shop in upstate New York have taken it upon themselves to turn up the heat.
DeNooyer Chevrolet in Albany, N.Y. and Redline Motorsports in nearby Schenectady have joined forces to build what muscle car enthusiasts might call the modern interpretation of the Baldwin-Motion SS 427 Camaros — but these fuel-injected, emissions-friendly street, strip and track-day terrors are pumping out in the neighborhood of 600hp and plans are in the works for even larger power gains using turbochargers and superchargers.
Though a number of different engine and suspension packages are in the works and on the drawing board, the car that intrigued us most was the HTR 600, because of its nostalgic nod to the Motion cars, its muscle car manners and its ability to make tire shredding horsepower without power adders.
Starting with a 2010 Camaro SS, Howard Tanner of Redline Motorsports (HTR stands for Howard Tanner Redline) yanks the original 426hp 6.2-liter V-8 and transplants a new LS7 427 crate engine, the 505hp engine currently offered in the Z06 Corvette.
The dry-sump oil system, native to the LS7 in the Z06, is reconfigured into a conventional system, and a custom-ground roller lifter cam is slipped in. Custom stainless headers, a 3-inch stainless exhaust with an X-pipe, high-flow cats and GM Performance mufflers are added as is a cold-air intake and special PCM calibrating. The whole package conspires to pump out an honest 600hp in the HTR 600.
The Camaro we drove also sported some Rally stripes and old-school 427 badges and retailed in the neighborhood of $65,000. Pricey yes, but when you consider that an SS starts at $30,995 (good luck buying one for that) and the LS7 crate engine has a street price of $13,643, the price becomes more palatable. Add in the cost of Tanner’s upgrades and labor plus the 3 year/36,000 mile powertrain warranty that DeNooyer is offering on the car (if you performed this swap you’d have a 0-year/0-mile warranty) and it suddenly starts to look like a bargain.
The cars are all numbered and badged for future collectibility — which seems almost inevitable given the current climate for factory performance. Look for more in the November issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines’ Production Line column.
To order yours or buy the one we drove, call Dan Carlton at DeNooyer Performance at (518) 526-0412 or send him an email at topgun1ice@aol.com.
Related posts:
- Honda Fit Wins MotorWeek Best of Year Award
- Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger face bad timing
- Top 10 Least Expensive Cars to Own in 2008
- Chicago 2008: 2009 Chevy Traverse Unveiled...Chevy Gets a New Crossover
- GM Looks in the Face of Liability and Laughs
Related posts:
- Lutz Leaving GM: End of an Era
- GM may rebuild Saturn rather than kill it
- Money and Cars, Drinking in Bars
- Two 1950's show cars up for grabs at January RM auction
- 2007 Detroit Auto Show: Concept Car Winners and Losers
