Forget 50/50, how about 70/80? If this number doesn't make sense, ask Shawn Wells and he'll lay down the rhyme and reason behind the statement.Shawn's first car was an '80 Camaro, which he always planned on restoring but instead it was rotting away in the backyard--at least until a certain conversation. Shawn's longtime friend, Derrick Maurer, has an extracurricular activity of building cars at night and on the weekends. Derrick's original intent for this '80 was to make a quick buck, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized the car was worthwhile to keep and go all out on. Derrick explained to Shawn that he was to give the car a hot rod-musclecar feel by ditching the post-Disco Era '80 front end for a '70 Camaro front clip. On top of that, plans were laid to rework the engine compartment and interior with a unique custom style. When Shawn heard this, he immediately called dibs on the '80, meaning that Derrick couldn't own it, but he could build it.
First order of business was to strip the car down and start from the ground up. True to form, the first thing to go was the busy snowplow front end. Maurer wanted more of musclecar feel and decided that installing a '70 Camaro front clip with RS bumpers would give him that. He also shaved off the marker lights on the '70 front end and reworked the firewall and cowl. All bolted up, the new front end gives the car a stylishly mean look. Hiding amongst the new sheetmetal is a built 350, which Derrick assembled, as well. The 350 is made up of a COMP Cams camshaft, an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold, and a Holley 750 carburetor. Flowtech headers and exhaust allow the 350/350hp engine to breathe. To add to the aggressive look, Eagle 17x8 and 20x8 rims were added. But without the 3-inch drop in the front and 4-inch drop in the rear, the rim/tire combination wouldn't stand out as much. Wilwood brakes were also added to the mix.
Although the '80's unique '70 clip is more than cool, what really sets the car off is the inside of the Camaro. To complement the early front end, Derrick wanted to bring the interior back in time and ditch the rubber vinyl scheme of the '80s. He started with a '66 Chevelle dash insert and went from there. Derrick fabbed a complete custom dash, and threw out the '80s OE dash. The dash was handbuilt from sheetmetal and highlighted with billet aluminum trim. All of the dashpanel instruments, along with two Auto Meter gauges, are mounted on the underside of the dash to keep a clean look. Down the middle is a handbuilt center console that runs from dash to rear seat and houses two JVC 6.5-inch DVD monitors. Once the dash and console were finished, Derrick built a rear package tray to match the theme of the interior. With the metalwork finished, the interior was covered in black vinyl; everything else was painted PPG Long Beach Blue to match the exterior paint. Whether it's the exterior or interior, the bottom line is the 70/80 Camaro is one wicked machine, inside and out.