There are hot rods. There are rat rods. Then there's this: A new Camaro SS that's been speed-rusted and deglossed into junkyard condition while getting a 1,000-hp supercharged engine — and it only cost $150,000.


Long Island hot rodders Dave Sherer and Anthony Musilli often show off their well-restored rides during Hot Rod magazine's annual Power Tour. For this year tour with the 2010 Camaro's owner Bill Rombauts, Sherer said they wanted something no one would expect.

"Because no one else has the balls to do it," Sherer told Jalopnik. "Everyone else is making them clean."


The exterior took about a week of non-stop labor to transform from showcar state to Craigslist concours. Beyond just grinding off paint, the team rubbed salt on the open metal to speed rust, repainted and sanded some areas for better colors, and kicked dents into the trim for that put-away-wet look. The hood is slightly misaligned, the badges are off and the grille's broken.

Rombauts' Camaro already had a tuned engine under the hood, but Sherer said that was insufficient:

"Everyone has Camaros now that make 650. We don't want to be like everyone."

Starting with a GM Performance Parts block bored and stroked to 485 cubic inches, the gang ordered up special heads, exhaust and cams, topped with a Bell supercharger that makes the unit good for at least 1,000 hp. (Monday will be its inaugural trip to a dragstrip.)

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This will enrage some fans of the 5th-generation Camaro, but it's also yet more confirmation that GM's revived muscle car is quietly becoming America's favorite art canvas.