Ring Bros bring the goods once again with 1969 RAZOR Camaro

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Ring Brother's RAZOR Camaro

We first heard of the Ring Brothers back in 2006 when they brought their REACTOR Mustang to the ROUSH booth. That car was nothing less than stunning, and we've made sure to check out any of their custom creations since then. On display this year is the RAZOR Camaro that won the Goodguys Street Machine of the Year for 2008, making it the second year in a row that the Ring Brothers have earned the award. The RAZOR features numerous examples of the Ring Bro's custom billet components, a carbon fiber hood and rear deck lid, Budnik wheels, custom paintwork, and a GM ZL1 crate motor. Even if you're not a fan of the car or the styling, it's impossible to not appreciate the workmanship of the car. We've put together a gallery of high resolution photos below so you can inspect said workmanship for yourself.

Gallery: SEMA 2008: Ring Brothers 1969 RAZOR Camaro

Camaro Accessories, Camaro Black, and Earnhardt, Jr. Camaro

2008 SEMA Camaro concepts

You read about them earlier, but GM pulled out every joker it had in the Camaro deck today. One of them was bathed in yellow and filled with a host of GM Accessories options, like contrasting side sills and front spoiler, the hockey stick stripe package, and 21-inch wheels in machined aluminum with black accents. One thing we realized when getting up close and personal is that the inside of the Camaro is as dark as a coffin. It might not be a bad idea to splurge for the interior lighting package if you want to see who's in the car with you.
The Dale Jr. Camaro is something old and something new, with a biofuel V8 that's been tweaked for a little more horsepower, and the monster is shifted with a Hurst short-throw. Outside, gray-over-white goes will all sorts of stripes and emblems, whereas inside the car is black with orange stitching and gets a nice set of white center console gauges. And that ducktail dovetail spoiler? Straight out of '69. The car should come with an 8-track of Bryan Adams' Greatest Hits, which probably wouldn't sound too bad on the Boston Acoustics system.
The Camaro Black Concept is the car this blogger equated to pure badass one year ago, after driving the Camaro Convertible Concept. The blacked-out gloss exterior offset by a matte hood go perfectly with the red halo rings around the headlights. Frankly, we'd lower it even more over the 21-inch wheels, but we wouldn't touch the black interior with red interior lighting. We didn't expect GM to put the 6-cylinder in it, but based on the sound it made rolling by, it's not a problem. The Camaro got its first star turn in Transformers, and if Hollywood ever decides to remake The Car, this one is the star. Until then, you can check out the gallery of high-res photos below.

SEMA 2008: Camaro Concepts LIVE

Camaro GS Race Car Concept LIVE

Camaro GS Race Car Concept

If the 2010 Camaro is, as Ed Peper said, "a 21st century sports car for the young and the young at heart," then this is the race car for those actual and spiritual whippersnappers. The Camaro GS Race Car Concept takes its inspiration from the Trans Am racer of Mark Donohue, but Riley Technologies updates it with a just a few go-fast add-ons. The body is seam-welded, the hood, trunk lid, and doors are swapped for carbon fiber components, and in the front a racing radiator and an upgraded engine cooler are fitted. The production LS3 V8 swaps gears though a Tremec close-ration six-speed gearbox, and all those spent hydrocarbons exit through three-inch dual exhaust pipes. Even better than all that: you can buy it from Riley for the 2009 Grand Am season. Check out the press release after the jump and the live high-res photos below.

SEMA 2008: Camaro GS Race Concept LIVE

Camaro LS7 Concept revealed LIVE

Chevy Camaro LS7 Concept

As the Official Vehicle of SEMA, we knew we'd see several variations of the Chevrolet Camaro on display, but the details had us aching to see them in person. While each has their own unique appeal, the LS7 Concept stood out most. Designed to be something of a throw-back to the glory days of the muscle car era when anyone in the know could walk into their local Chevy dealer and check the COPO box to order up a race-bred, fire-breathing 427 V8 in the engine bay, this LS7 Concept shows what 2010 Camaro shoppers might be able to do with a massive letter-writing campaign. The LS7, as its name implies, features the GM Performance Parts LS7 Crate motor tuned to produce 550 horsepower thanks to a number of GMPP performance accessories. As we told you in the preview, a Tremec six-speed manual handles shifting duties, Brembo brakes make it stop, 20-inch custom wheels help it look the part, and a lowered ride height gives it the final touch. As good as all that sounds, it looks even better in the metal, especially in the concept's Victory Red paint. Check out the press release after the jump and the gallery below for desktop wallpaper-sized shots.

Gallery: SEMA 2008: Chevy Camaro LS7 Concept LIVE

2010 Chevy Camaro Black Concept

The Camaro Black is one of the four 2010 Camaro-based concepts that made their way to the Las Vegas convention center for this year's SEMA show. As its name suggests, this Camaro has been totally "blacked" out - from the black paint and the matte black-finished hood to the 21-inch alloy wheels, the tinted RS tail lamps, the darker grille finish and the color-matched exterior badging. The coupe's sinister looks are complemented by a ground effects kit that includes a rear diffuser, a SS rear spoiler and red-glowing HID headlamp halo rings.

Inside, the Camaro Black Concept features a Chevy Accessories' premium audio upgrade package along with MTX speakers, red LED instrument lighting and red footwell ambient lighting, black chrome trim accents, dark-finished accents and leather-covered seats with grey accent stitching.

There are no mechanical upgrades as under the hood lurks the Camaro's standard production 3.6-liter V6 engine producing an output of 300HP.

Chevrolet debuts quartet of custom Camaros

Despite the fact that it's the Official Vehicle of SEMA, the Chevy Camaro will not be present in large numbers this week at the largest automotive aftermarket show in the world. That's because, unlike the Dodge Challenger, the Camaro is still a few months off from being delivered to showrooms (though orders are being accepted). Because of this, Chevy itself will be carrying the custom banner on behalf of the Camaro and has debuted four concepts today we'll see in person on Tuesday at the show.
The first is the Camaro LS7 Concept inspired by the COPO Camaros of the late '60s. It features the GM Performance Parts LS7 Crate engine tuned to produce 550 horsepower thanks to a number of GMPP performance accessories. A Tremec six-speed manual handles shifting duties and is backed by Brembo brakes, 20-inch custom wheels and a lowered ride height.
Next up is the Camaro Dale Earnhardt Jr. Concept, which was actually produced with input from Jr. himself. The base car is a Camaro SS tuned to drink higher-octane E85. The exterior is a nostalgic gray-over-white paint scheme with 21-inch five-spoke wheels, a dovetail spoiler and other Chevy Accessories exterior mods.
For real race fans, the Camaro GS Racecar Concept should conjure memories of Mark Donahue's blue-and-yellow Trans Am Series Camaro. This modern interpretation features a carbon fiber hood, trunk lid, doors and fenders to keep weight down and is powered by a production LS3 V8 mated to a Tremec 6060 six-speed. A 3-inch exhaust with Coast Fab mufflers, C&R racing aluminum radiator and coolers for the engine oil, transmission and differential round out the racing pedigree.
Last and perhaps the fiercest is the Camaro Black Concept. The stealthy exterior is comprised of a matte black hood, tinted glass, HID headlamps with red "halo rings", a darker grille, dark-tinted taillight lenses and... you get the idea. The interior has likewise been blacked out and even the 21-inch wheels feature a darker finish. Unlike the others, this Camaro is powered by GM's 300-hp 3.6L V6.
Check out all four concepts in our gallery below, as well as a range of new Camaro accessories and performance parts that will debut this week at SEMA.

SEMA 2008: Chevy Camaro Concepts and Accessories

[Source: GM]

What's in a Name: Chilean and Brazilian Chevy Vectras

In the beginning we wanted to write about the new Chilean market Chevrolet Vectra but for no particular reason we decided to spend some time looking into GM's global crate of nameplates. Now, pay attention because you may get lost in translation: in Europe, GM's execs scraped the Vectra name as it was considered synonymous with "boring" in favor for the more snazzy "Insignia". In Chili, the current Chevy Vectra which is the same car as the outgoing European Opel / Vauxhall Vectra will be physically replaced by the Insignia but for some reason, the new mid-size sedan will retain the same name as before.

Moving east to Brazil and Argentina, GM thought it would be a good idea to patch the Vectra nameplate on the Chevy branded, third-generation Opel Astra sedan and hatchback models. However, in the same two South American countries, Chevrolet continues to sell Opel's previous, second-generation subcompact model as the Astra! And just for the record, the Omega nameplate that once decorated Opel's last, range-topping RWD sedan, is now used on Chevrolet's Brazilian market Holden Commodore aka the Pontiac G8... Don't you just love GM's name-sharing bin; nothing ever goes wasted!