Last year at the SEMA Show, we visited our friends at the Centerforce booth and found a Villain hanging out. That Villain was a custom-built 1968 Mustang created by CR Supercars that began life as a bare shell with new composite body panels.
This year, we visited again because we got wind of the second car to come from the gang at CR Supercars, this time a built 1969 Camaro. Now, as ’69 Camaros come and go, some will say they’ve seen everything, and others can’t get enough. One of the most popular classic muscle cars, the ’69 Camaro has had its fair share of fans, as well as those who want for something different. CR Supercars gives both sides of that coin something to drool over — again.
Dubbed the 1969 CR1 Camaro, this beauty-and-the-beast combination puts a respectable 430 horsepower GM Performance LS3 under the hood and backs it up with a Tremec six-speed transmission. Of course, mating the two is none other than a Centerforce DYAD clutch system. For those who find the LS3 a little too wimpy for their tastes, upgrades to an LS7 (505 horsepower) or an LS6 (635 horsepower) will put that grin right back on their faces.
Exhaust is extracted with long-tube stainless steel headers and three-inch mandrel-bent tubing, and kept reasonably muffled by Magnaflow. Up under the back of the car you’ll find a stainless steel fuel cell from our friends at Rick’s Tanks to deliver the fuel to the potent LS.
Putting all that power to the ground is a Strange Engineering 9-inch rearend with 3.89 gears, and of course what custom build would be complete if it didn’t have massive steamrollers to lay down some elevens? The BF Goodrich g-force Rival S tires at the back are a massive 335/ZR30R18, and are slightly wider than the 275/ZR35R18’s up front. Color-matched Forgeline CF3C concave wheels complete the package with 10- and 12-inch widths to keep the Pro-Touring look alive on this Camaro.
Suspension is kept in check with Chris Alston’s Chassisworks gStreet tubular A-arms and a G link four-bar system out back, with coilovers all around. Keeping the chassis stiff for flat cornering is done with Chris Alston’s Chassisworks subframe connectors and an eight-point roll cage. Slowing the Camaro down from speed takes some serious hardware, and Wilwood six-piston calipers and 14-inch slotted and drilled rotors handle that task.
Never Let Them See You Sweat
With all this serious hardware to make the car run like Hell and stop on a dime, the interior had to be just as spectacular, and have all the luxuries of a comfortable ride along with the equipment to let you know you’re driving a beast.
The Sparco Chrono Road seats keep the driver and passenger in place with five-point cam lock harnesses. Keeping things cool inside is an Old Air Products A/C system, while keeping cool under the hood is aided by a Be Cool cross-flow radiator with dual 13-inch electric fans.
The Flaming River rack and pinion steering and polished tilt column add modern touches to the steering. The black leather Flaming River D-Wheel steering wheel is right at home with the interior, as are the Auto-Cross gauges from Classic Instruments — with the 200 mph speedometer — offering a contrasting yellow face and trim to stand out in the black-and-blue interior. A leather option is available for an added markup, as are a few other choices found on the CR1 Camaro page.
We mentioned luxury, right? Part of that means that you have to be able to crank up the tunes when you’re out cruising the winding backroads, and a Kicker-powered audio system from JVC keeps the decibels inside the car right up where you want them. TMI Products interior door panels finish off the fresh look in the rather spartan interior, and if you’re wondering about back seats they’ve been removed making this a pure sports car with some serious intentions.
CR Supercars is selling the all-new 1969 CR1 Camaro for a hefty base price tag at $149,900, with the LS7 adding $7,000 and the LS9 bumping the price $15,000 more. Sure, it’s a good chunk of change, but with the list of components and the fresh, stripped down to bare-metal shell, the CR1 Camaro will compete with some of the best cars out there.
You can find the CR1 Camaro at the CR Supercars website, where you will also find its first creation, the 1968 Villain Mustang. CR Supercars is an offshoot from Classic Recreations, better known for its Shelby continuation cars. CR Supercars handcrafts high-performance, turnkey Pro-Touring cars and builds them with reliability and performance as a basis to recreate the classic lines of yesterdays favorite musclecars.