SEMA 2009: Gran Turismo Best in Show is the Trans-Cammer Mustang

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Got any SEMA 2009 goss or pictures, post them here.

To get the ball rolling, a Corvette article of course

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SEMA 2009: 1962 Corvette C1-RS is a worthy Goodguys Street Machine of the Year




It takes a lot to win the the Goodguys Street Machine of the Year award, but this custom 1962 Corvette convertible you see here easily deserves the honor. The car not only looks incredible, but it posted the fastest time at the Goodguys autocross track as well! Every single one of the body panels on the car has been modified, and the majority of the components are constructed either of aluminum or carbon fiber.

Powering the C1-RS is an LS7 V8 putting out more than 600 horsepower, but we were most impressed with the eight carbon fiber intake trumpets on either side of the engine that bring air into the intake manifold. The interior was beautifully crafted as well, with a custom fabricated aluminum dash and console and Alcantara and leather seats. Check out the high-res gallery by clicking the above image to see all the details yourself, or read on to read more about the car.

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Press Release

Columbus, OH - In the world of custom automobiles a car comes along every five to ten years that represents a sea change, raising the bar to seemingly unreachable new heights. It happened again in Columbus, Ohio at the Goodguys 12th PPG Nationals when Phil and Jeremy Gerber and the Roadster Shop team debuted their "C1RS" '62 Corvette for customer Barry Blomquist. From the moment the car was uncovered gasps and gawks came over the masses. The performance automotive scene hasn't seen a car quite like this. Both Blomquist and the Gerber's beamed proudly as the car was unanimously named 2009 Goodguys/Air Ride Technologies "Street Machine of the Year."

Designed by the Roadster shop and artist Eric Brockmeyer, Blomquists's "C1RS" Corvette is a striking blend of hand formed aluminum and carbon fiber built in step with today's F-1 race cars. It also served as the launch platform for The Roadster Shop's new C1 line of Corvette chassis. Mated with Detroit Speed & Engineering suspension components, Brembo 14 ½" 6-piston brakes and one off custom spindle mount Forgeline wheels, the car's ground hugging underpinnings served it well in the mandatory Autocross competition at the Goodguys PPG Nationals (Street Machine of the Year award criteria calls for all participants to log at least 3 laps on the Autocross course). With Phil Gerber doing the driving the 'Vette posted the fastest lap of the event in 32.222 effortless seconds. Onlookers claimed it looked like the car was merely out for a Sunday drive while blowing the doors off the other 31 Street Machine of the Year competitors.

Under the hand-formed hood lies the heart of the beast – a 618 horsepower LS7 by Turnkey Engines producing 640ft lbs of torque. Custom stainless 2-inch primary headers emit a throaty roar and the Bowler T-56 transmission gets it flying in a hurry.

Aesthetically, the cars low, smooth lines give it spectacular curb appeal. Everything on the 'Vette has been changed, massaged, smoothed and redesigned by The Roadster Shop staying true to Brockmeyer's original design. The entire front end is custom formed from sixty-thousandths sheet aluminum including all grills, grille surrounds, front bumper and grille bar. One off headlights with billet trim rings, carbon fiber side louvers, a recessed cove and a completely restyled rear end would make even Zora Arkus Duntov envious.

Being a roadster, the car's interior plays a dominant roll in its overall look and feel. The custom formed seats are adorned in Italian red leather with Alcantara suede accents. The aluminum dash is hand-sculpted to perfection housing Classic Instruments carbon fiber gauges. The waterfall center console was also made by hand and the F-1 inspired foot pedals would make former Ferrari team driver Michael Schumacher feel right at home.

The C1RS Corvette not only won the world's biggest award for a performance Street Machine, it allowed The Roadster Shop team to realize their full potential. "We've had this car in our minds for a long time," Jeremy Gerber smiled. "Our guys at the shop worked tirelessly over an entire year getting this car to Columbus. Barry Blonquist gave us the resources and opportunity to build our vision. We're thankful to win this award for Barry and the Roadster Shop."

The top five finalists for this year's Goodguys/Air Ride Technologies Street Machine of the Year included Nathan Powell, Birmingham, AL 1969 Camaro, Devan Glissmeyer, Salt Lake City, UT 1968 Mustang, Barry Blomquist, Onalaska, WI 1962 Corvette, Bryan Frank, Scotts Bluff, NE 1969 Pontiac Trans Am and Tom Boldry, Kansas City, MO 1969 Dodge Charger.

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Hers is another for you all

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1970 Duramax Chevrolet Chevelle custom - Click image for image gallery.


The clean exterior of this 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle hides a wicked little secret – if you take a look at the photo above, you'll see what we mean. The bundle of plumbing you see spilling out of the engine bay tells only part of the story – that's no overworked Chevy small block in there, it's a Duramax diesel that has been pushed to new heights thanks to an outrageous custom twin-turbo setup. The stripped-out interior and racing slicks out back show the true purpose of this ride.

The Chevelle was built by Mike Racke and was recognized as one of Popular Hot Rodding magazine's Top Ten Builds this year. We couldn't agree more.


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After seeing some pretty incredible cars built by Ringbrothers over the past few years at SEMA, we couldn't have had higher expectations for their newest vehicle dubbed "Afterburner". Even so, we were absolutely floored by this latest creation after seeing it in person on the show floor.

Based on a 2-door 1964 Ford Fairlane, Afterburner received a full makeover from the Ringbrothers including a carbon fiber hood, fenders, front and rear bumpers, side intakes, and deck lid spoiler. Billet aluminum can be found pretty much everywhere on the car, from the engine bay to the tail lamps to the gas cap. Even the prop rods that hold up the sunshades inside the car are machined 6061 aluminum. The exterior even features three different colors of BASF R-M Diamont paint - Afterburner Red, Agent Orange and Mission Brown. The look is finished off with a set of Forgeline 3-piece wheels.

Under the hood of Afterburner is a Roush 427 IR crate motor, and it's one of the prettiest motors we have ever seen. Listed at 560 horsepower and 540 lb-ft of torque, the 7.0-liter V8 is mated to a Bowler AOD transmission.

Click the above image to see more.

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This One Especially For SUTPO



Click the picture to see the gallery images

Okay, this is so awesome it hurts. The guys at Legacy Innovations took a perfectly lovely but woefully underpowered 1959 Fiat 500 and turned it into a Fiat 7,000. The Fiat 500 is an iconic car, one with tremendous nostalgic charm, but it was never really much good as a car until they redid it a few years ago. So although we might love the little 500, it doesn't provide a very good platform for what the Legacy Innovations guys had in mind for it – namely drag racing.

Easy fix though. They broke out the torches and gutted it. They basically removed all of the weak stuff and replaced it with a full-on 4130 chrome molly tube chassis, hinged the body in true Funny Car fashion and dropped in a 725-HP 427 small block. The body was kept relatively stock, save for the hood cutout, but they still managed to mount a pair of Hoosier slicks in back and still had room for wheelie bars that extend out far enough to effectively double the length of their little 500.

No word on how quick this baby is in the quarter, but we bet it's quick enough to embarrass just about anything else coming out of Italy. It's cars like this that make the trip to SEMA totally worthwhile.


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Sorry luv vettes but that sucker at the top looks like A KIT CAR organised by Batman

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Sorry luv vettes but that sucker at the top looks like A KIT CAR organised by Batman

I agree, but with this under the hood it has got to get your heart pumping

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Click the picture to see the gallery images



It's always somewhat dark and murky down at the Mopar booth at SEMA, but this year Chrysler managed to bring out some pretty cool concepts. One of our favorites is this Dodge Challenger 1320 (if you don't know the reference, channel you inner Vin Diesel), which started as a Drag Pak Challenger and even has a cool Christmas tree lights logo on the front fender.

The heart of the Challenger 1320 is an all-aluminum Gen III 426ci crate engine putting out 556 horsepower and 540 lb-ft torque. The folks at Mopar gave the engine bay a few unique touches including custom valve covers, intake manifold, fuel rails, and long tube headers. The body, although it looks relatively stock, has been upgraded too and features a carbon fiber hood, front spoiler, and headlight surround. If you look closely you can see that the inside headlights have been removed and ducted to the cold air intake system. Other upgrades include a Dynatrac rear end, ARB locking differential, Mopar police wheels, adjustable coilover suspension system and Mickey Thompson street-legal drag radials on all four corners

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Click the picture to see the gallery images


Here's what we know: Caccia Custom Cars took a 2002 Chevy Camaro and a 2002 Chevy Corvette and created the Ghepardo. The car uses the Camaro's frame and the Corvette's motor and suspension. The motor is mounted amidships, albeit backwards (note the throttle body). And the House of Kolor paint is called Pagan Gold. Also, you should not confuse this SEMA all-star Ghepardo with the 2006 Bizzarrini Ghepardo concept.

As for this Ghepadro... it's not that bad looking. In fact, the longer we stare at the exterior, the more we like what we see. Obviously we can't get past the gaudy chainmail armor covering up every single vent and opening. And we'd prefer if the five-slot wheels weren't chromed. That said, in profile, it's a nice looking mid-engine coupe and the rear is quite muscular. The front even has a touch of new Lexus, which while sacriligious for a Chevy-on-Chevy mashup like this, ain't bad at all.

The interior, on the other hand, is a house of horrors. Everything is covered over in prison-grade Alcantara or carbon fiber-look fiberglass. Even the fire extinguisher!! Also, we're pretty sure a 15/16" cutting tool isn't the smartest Dremel attachment to use for a show car. In fact, in this Autoblogger's mind, the Ghepardo is now in the running neck-and-neck with the Masonry Vitesse Rose for having the worst interior ever, quite a distinction! Additionally, the Ghepardo fills our minds with the delightful image of Corvette and Camaro fans/owners beating each other to pulps with giant oversized cartoon hammers. Perhaps that's just the food around here talking...

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You might think that we're talking about the overall design of this shockingly orange scissor-door/scissor-trunk Dodge Charger R/T. Or the build quality, what with panel gaps that you can insert your index finger into, wheels so large the tie-rods can't hold them and the world's saddest piece of vinyl covering the trunk's goofy hinge. You might even be under the impression that we're referring to the poor Charger's taillights, which set a new SEMA low. But you'd be mistaken. While this poor, 26-inch dubbed Charger has no doubt been beaten to death with the SEMA stick, we're actually talking about its odor. Quite literally, it smells like synthetic cat urine.

The why and the how of this particular example of aftermarket hubris and wretched, mindless – and let's not forget pointless – excess don't really matter now, as the poor thing will spend the next 15 years quietly rotting in the side yard of some shop in Joliet, Illinois waiting to either shrug off this mortal coil or get turned into a fine LeMons car right around 2025 – whichever comes first. Despite the poor design and execution, the pointy end of our query-arrow is pointed straight at the heart of where the offending aroma came from. Did they finish off the interior with a nice shellacking of formaldehyde? Or, is this rough, slouching-towards-Bethlehem beast already sleeping outside, doors scissored up with cats as tenants? Who knows. But it's easily the Worst of Show; a sad, unfortunate offering at an otherwise entertaining and action-packed event.

If you must, you can click on the above image to see more pictures :pat:

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From the worst of show to the best of show......


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Phillip Koenen brought a really gorgeous, miles-deep-black, 1970 Mustang to SEMA and came away with another fine piece of hardware:The Gran Turismo Best in Show award. For the past several years, Sony Computer Entertainment America has hosted these awards, which honor some of the coolest cars at SEMA.

Koenen's SOHC 427-powered "Trans-Cammer" snagged the Best Hot Rod award in addition to winning Best in Show. Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi awarded the trophy himself at the awards ceremony, which rocked The Palms' Rain nightclub Wednesday night. In addition to the the trophy, Koenen's beloved "Trans-Cammer" Mustang wins the right to be featured in a future installment of the Gran Turismo series.

Other Gran Turismo Award winners included Scott Bailey and Tony Vanillo's Ford F-250 Unlimited 2 Class short-course race truck in the Best Truck/SUV category; Chris Rado's World Racing Unlimited front-wheel-drive time attack Scion TC as Best Asian Import; KC Howet's 2009 Underground Racing Lamborghini LP560-4TT in Best European Import; and Nicholas Ashby's Moment Carbon Camaro for Best Domestic Automobile. Sounds like a dream garage to us.

Don't forget to check out the gallery by clicking the above image.


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