This 1971 Camaro was built by Gap Racing [2] and is a stunning example of what can be done when the ingenuity of great minds meets the skill of a craftsman’s hands. Back in 2016, when the car was unveiled at SEMA, it won the GM design award. Just recently, at the Goodguys [3] event in Fort Worth, Texas, it won the builders’ Choice award. In addition, it also garnered a top-five award at Goodguys meet in Columbus, Ohio, and was a Muscle Machine finalist.
With its list of awards and ridiculously awesome build from both a mechanical and an aesthetic viewpoint, we knew we were going to have to find out more. To that end, we got in touch with the folks that put the car together and talked to Tim Palazzolo over at Gap Racing to get the low-down on this high-end build.
“We built this car for a good friend, Rob Roberts,” Tim explained. “He wanted a car that he and his son could take to Cruise the Coast and the Hot Rod Power Tour. They wanted a car they could drive and enjoy. Rob had a Corvette ZR1, and wanted something that would drive like that and have the incredible classic style of a 1971 Camaro.”
“The theme of the car was to refine its body and looks,” Tim continued. “We did a lot of work on the tail panel, and sucked the rear bumper in toward the valance.” They also did a lot of work on the trunk lid to get everything to line up, and added metal to the doors to tighten the gaps. “We welded in the additional metal, blended it, and filled the void.”
The drivetrain is made-up of a Chevrolet Performance [11] LS9 engine built with a Brian Tooley [12] stage-three camshaft, a Bowler [13] six-speed transmission, 15-inch Baer [14] brakes, and Detroit Speed [15] suspension all the way around. With the current setup, it makes 720-horsepower and 680 lb./ft. of torque.
They also moved the frame rails in the back so they could move the four-link inward to allow the larger wheels to fit and the car to sit lower to the ground. In an effort to keep things clean, the dry-sump and intercooler have been moved to the trunk.
During the build, the team at Gap Racing focused on refining the car to get the look that they wanted. They added quite a bit of carbon fiber detailing to a stunning custom interior that’s really well designed. The carbon fiber shows itself on the rear view mirrors, spoiler, and front splitter. “The firewall is carbon, the fenders wells are carbon, and the engine cover is carbon,” Tim said. “Everything that looks like carbon is real carbon.”
The interior is back-seat delete and the front seats are Recaro [25] racing seats that have been recovered for a perfect match to the other upholstery work. Other interior features include a set of Racepak [26] gauges, Restomod A/C [27], and custom switches from Ironworks.
Overall, this is one of the cleanest, and straightest 1971 Camaro builds that we’ve seen. All of the gaps are super tight and the depth of the paint is absolutely stunning. We love this thing and can’t wait to see what Gap Racing comes out with next year.