In 1968 Penske Racing and Chevrolet Engineering built a 1969 Camaro the upcoming 1969 Trans Am season. Sponsored by Penske Chevrolet and Sun Oil Company (Sunoco), the car was driven by Mark Donohue to 6 wins and 2 second-place finishes out of 12 races to win the 1969 Trans Am championship. Both car and driver are legends in any sense of the word.
Fred Martinez contacted G-Force Design Concepts about building a 1969 Camaro after seeing our work on Fuel and Devious. What started out as a car that "just needed new quarter panels" turned into a full restoration that included replacing virtually everything but the firewall. The original plan to paint the car Velocity Yellow with a black hockey stripe changed when Fred saw the Ben Hermance rendering of our concept for a tribute to Mark Donohue's #6 Sunoco Camaro.
G-Force Design Concepts had plans on the drawing board to build the Sunoco tribute using modern suspension, engin
e, and drive train. Fred's interest worked out nicely. The project could now move forward with full funding and Fred's agreement to allow G-Force Design Concepts to promote the car for one year. The underlying theme of this build is to demonstrate that you can build a high-profile car with a budget in mind. The car is mainly street-drive
n with occasional "track day" events, autocross, and some drag racing thrown in for good measure.
| Powering the Sunoco Twist Camaro is a GM Performance Parts LS2 crate engine rated at 400HP. Engine management is
handled by a Speartech wiring harness using the factory fly-by-wire pedal. AAW supplied the wiring for the electr
ical system. A set of custom full-length headers routes the exhaust through a pair of Corsa mufflers.
We chose a heavy-duty wide-ration GM T56 tranny. ATS (t56kit.com) provided the fabricated crossmember and hydrali
cs for the installation. The 12" Moser rear uses 33-spline axles shortened to accept the 12" wheels that fill up
the huge rear fender wells built using DSE Mini-tubs. Traction is courtesy of a Tru Trac traction unit. BOZE Alloys supplied the wheels wrapped in Michelin PS2 rubber with 335/30-18 rear tires for optimum traction. The front suspension retains springs with Koni Classic shocks at all four corners.
GFDC took Fred's dream for a head-turning Pro-Touring car at a relatively reasonable cost and made it a reality. Starting with a car that needed everything from a rotisserie restoration to show-quality paint, we developed a theme car that Fred has driven cross-country to participate in performance driving events all over while delivering flawless performance. comfort, and reliablility. G-Force Design Concepts would like to thank Fred for the opportunity to build his dream car.
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