Photos By: Daniel Yubeta

As children, most of us dream of owning amazing cars. Whether inspired by toys, movies, or our environment, the initial fire of automotive enthusiasm is ignited in our formative years. Generally, those dream cars are unencumbered by grown-up considerations like cost or time to build, so those dream cars become compromised to better-fit reality, or not achieved until late in life.

Neither of those are the case with Derrick Torres and his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro.

Checking Off the Bucket List Early

“Owning a first-generation Camaro was a bucket list item of mine ever since I was 12 years-old,” Torres said. “After going for a ride in my friend’s dad’s ’67, I knew I had to have one.” While it might seem like a pre-teen fantasy if you heard that come from the mouth of a kid, it was far more serious for Torres, who kept his eye on the prize for the next 15 years.

While some guys don’t get to start looking for their dream projects until much later in life, Torres was ready to embark on his classic Camaro journey at only 27 years-old. “In the winter of 2012 I had saved up enough money to finally start looking for one,” Torres recalled. “I knew that I would be buying a project though, because my budget wasn’t big and I knew what first-generation Camaros were going for.”

Unlike the movies, there was no magical deal that fell into Torres’ lap as soon as he had the money saved up. However, his search was far from arduous. “After going through Craigslist every single day for weeks looking for the right deal I finally found the one. It was a standard model ’68 Camaro that was in rough shape but was running and driving,” explained Torres.

“The guy had it listed for $12,500. I shot the guy a text message and offered him every single penny I had, which was $10,500. I fully expected the guy to turn down the offer before even sending it. Twenty minutes later, the seller texted me back with, ‘When can you come get it?’ I still remember the overwhelming feeling of disbelief I had when I read his message,” Torres said.

“I dropped everything I was doing, cancelled family plans that evening, didn’t return to work, and immediately went straight to the bank.”

Getting the Project Started

It takes a special kind of person to see through a car’s current condition and not only the realize potential, but to have a vision of what it will be in the future. Torres had that vision in spades as he picked up his 1968 Camaro.

“When I first saw the car the interior was really rough and torn up, and it ran really bad. The transmission slipped, the exhaust fumes made my eyes burn, and I immediately loved every single thing about it,” Torres recalled.

“I picked up the car with a trailer and the entire drive home I just kept looking in the rear view mirror and would just smile. After getting the car home and into my garage it hit me that I finally had my dream car.”

With the start of his project in his possession, now it was time to get the project rolling. There was a plan in place before the car ever hit the concrete floor of his garage.

“The original plan for the car was to spend around $15,000 to $20,000 and just make it a fun, cool car to drive and take out on weekends,” Torres explained. Unfortunately, like most plans, this one didn’t survive first contact and was quickly altered.

“After meeting Mike Dusold at a local autocross event and riding along around the autocross course in his ‘67 Camaro, my original plans took a very hard and violent turn. I was hooked, and immediately knew that I wanted to race my car,” laughed Torres.

“I had my Camaro for three weeks and only drove it twice before totally stripping it down and sending it off to Mike D. at Dusold Designs to be rebuilt into an autocross racecar. I was completely unaware that for the next three years I’d be going through the biggest and toughest financial and emotional rollercoaster I’ve ever been on in my life. The end result was more than worth the struggle.”

The Build of the Beast

Aiming to have a purpose-built track car that was also completely street-legal, Torres end goal was to still have a car he could cruise, like his original goal, but also one to satiate his newfound hunger for carving up the corners. While it wasn’t fast or cheap, the build process left Torres happier than he could have imagined.

Starting under the hood, a boost-ready Chevrolet Performance LSX 376 crate engine was used that produced 473-horsepower out of the box, but it wasn’t enough for Torres, and a GM ZL1 supercharger system was added. The Eaton TVS 1900 supercharger forces enough air to put 760 horsepower and 695 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels.

To back up the potent engine combination, Torres decided that six gears were better than five, and at that power level, there is really only one option for a six-speed: the Tremec T56 Magnum. Power goes from the box through a McLeod Racing RXT clutch, back to a Detroit Speed 9-inch axle fitted with a Strange Engineering aluminum third member.

The car’s suspension features a Detroit Speed coilovers with QA1 shocks up front, with a Detroit Speed QuadraLink suspension in the rear. The four-link setup is designed specifically for handling and plays a large part in the car’s ability to get around the track in a hurry.

Reigning in all the speed are Wilwood brakes all around. Beefy six-piston calipers up front and four-piston calipers in the rear clamp down on 14.25-inch diameter rotors at all four corners.

Eighteen-inch CCW LM20 wheels – 11 inches wide in front and 12 inches wide in the rear – are wrapped in BFGoodrich Rival S tires: 315/30s up front and 335/30s in the rear. The aggressive wheel and tire combination really sets off the custom wrap on the car for one mean looking ’68 Camaro.

The interior is a no-nonsense affair. Dakota Digital gauges keep Torres informed of the car’s vitals, while Sparco Evo III seats keep him firmly planted, and a Sparco steering wheel keeps him firmly in control of the car.

“The wheels were definitely the hardest choice to make. I’m very particular on wheels and tires and felt like it could really make or break the appearance of the whole build,” Torres admitted. “It took me a whole year to choose my wheels. In the end, I am extremely happy with my choice.”

Putting the Camaro Through Its Paces

Three-and-a-half years from first acquiring the car, it was doing what it was designed to do. Over the last two and a half years, Torres has thrashed the car like a rockstar, not babying it like a show car.

“I’ll take the car out probably two or three times a month and drive it around the streets,” said Torres. “I try to do at least three to five race events per month, too.”

Torres doesn’t simply go out and beat the car, he drives it with considerable skill and success. “I’ve taken first place in over 20 Equipe Rapide Autocross events, which led to 2016 and 2017 series championships,” Torres recounted. “I won the 2015 Goodguys Autocross Street Machine event and was the overall shootout winner, and qualified for the Goodguys national Autocross championship in 2015 and 2016.”

In true car-guy fashion, Torres isn’t finished with the project yet, as he’s constantly finding ways to improve his dream car. “The car is definitely not finished. My near future plans are to put a full and complete interior in it to make it a more comfortable street car,” revealed Torres.

From a humble start to a place on the podium, Derrick Torres and his 1968 Camaro are proof that through hard work and perseverance, your dream car doesn’t have to be just a dream.

He is quick to thank Dusold Designs and Detroit Speed for their help along the way to prove that you can make a dual-purpose car that does more than one thing very well.