CLP Motorsports 1967 “Hybrid” Camaro: Up Close and Personal

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CLP Motorsports 1967 “Hybrid” Camaro: Up Close and Personal

Story Credit: Justin Banner
of ls1tech.com

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This “Hybrid Camaro” ain’t no Toyota Prius, that’s for sure.

Think back to the early era of Trans Am, when Camaros were running down the best on the road courses of North America. Nowadays, Trans Am race cars are very modern, tube-chassis cars. However, what if we could take the classic ‘60s style that we love and modernize it underneath to make what could have been the ultimate Trans Am Camaro? You’re pretty much describing the CLP Motorsports ’67 Camaro driven by Pat O’Keefe.

So, why did we title this “Hybrid Camaro?” Well, it’s all about what’s underneath. That chassis is nothing that came out of that Chevrolet factory back in the ‘60s. The front is a full conversion to a C5 Corvette, including the subframe. The arms, rack, and QA1 coil overs are all C5. Going the back is a little bit C6 and a little bit C5, with the subframe coming from the newer car but the control arms and QA1 coil overs from the latter. Why the change in the rear as well? Besides going IRS, it also allows the team to use the MTI TR6060 sequential dogbox transmission and Stage 5 C6 differential. In combination with the Lingenfelter timing retard box, this Camaro can shift like its modern Indy car brethren. A Centerforce Dyad twin-disk clutch transfers torque from the engine to the C5 torque tube and into that gearbox.

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Wheels & Brakes

The wheels and brakes are also updated with the latest technology. To get this fast Camaro to a stop are Wilwood Brakes eight-piston front, six-piston rear calipers. Lightweight, CCW three-piece wheels are sized 18×11 front and 18×12 rear with Toyo Proxes R888 295/30R18 front and 335/30R18 rear. The LG Motorsports sway bars control body roll front and rear.

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What's Inside

Inside is a full roll cage with NASCAR style door bars on the driver’s side for maximum protection while the Safecraft fire suppression system is installed in case a fire ever breaks out in the cabin. A Tilton full manual pedal assembly allows brake bias changing at the pedal rather than trying to adjust line pressure going to the rear brake calipers. A Sparco seat, steering wheel, and six-point safety harness keep Pat in the seat while the passenger side has a Cobra seat.

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Under the Hood

The engine is a Mast Motorsports LS7 427 with a Daily Engineering billet dry sump oiling system. Feeding air to the sixty-five-pound-per-hour Holley injectors is a Sniper intake and throttle body. Those injectors are fed by a set of Holley Sniper fuel rails with a Holley EFI ECU and LS-Harness sending signals to them and the OE style round coils. Fuel is sent from the ATL fuel cell by an Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump. Kooks longtube headers send the spent gasses out the custom side exhausts that exit just in front of the rear wheels. A second Safecraft fire suppression system handles anything that happens underhood.

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A Class Act

Looking at the CLP Motorsports Camaro, it makes you wonder if there isn’t an alternative universe where Trans Am cars retained the classic bodies from the ‘60s. We’re pretty sure if they did but kept up with modernizing the cars, this would be a shining example of what that would be like. One can dream and wonder, but, at least this Camaro is running in our reality.

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