This All-Wheel Drive Chevy Camaro is a SEMA Showstopper

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Posted by Zach Doell

 

Ever since the breed evolved in the mid ‘60s, the pony car recipe has been straightforward: front engine, rear wheel drive, two-door body style. The formula has spawned oodles of zesty Mustangs and Camaros over the years, however that’s not to say recipes shouldn’t be tweaked. 

 

In that sense, this heavily modified Camaro is like adding a cup of cayenne pepper to a tomato bisque. It’s pretty darn hot. Meet Hauk Designs’ “Starken” all-wheel drive Camaro SS.

The Pennsylvania mod shop is best known for giving Jeeps another level of trail-ratedness, but it appears an all-wheel-drive widebody Camaro was too tempting to resist. Now the monster will make an appearance at this week’s annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas, and that ought to merit a closer look if you’re on scene.

Lift up this Camaro SS’s hood and you’ll find a familiar sight—a 6.2-liter V8, which was originally good for 426 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. It is now said to push out 650 horsepower thanks to a Turbonetics turbocharger system and full Flowmaster exhaust.

 That grunt is then sent to a TR6060 “Tranzilla” six-speed manual gearbox, which is in turn pushed to both front and rear wheels through a Chevrolet Trailblazer SS transfer case. A Toyota Tundra front differential handles the power application to the front, while a limited-slip Chevrolet differential turns 4:10 gears in the rear. Talk about a custom job.

Expectedly, the Camaro suspension has been reworked as well. Bilstein coilover shocks replace the standard units at all four corners, and 20-inch TIS Monster wheels are on the receiving end of that turbo V8’s bellow. Somehow off-roading sounds like a bit too much to ask of this low-slung Camaro, nevertheless there’s a full length skid plate bolted underneath.

The outrageous widebody conversion is said to be an in-house job for Hauk Designs, which massaged fiberglass fender flares into the Camaro, and finished off the body with a brushed steel wrap. Performance figures go unmentioned beyond horsepower, but on visuals alone this all-wheel-drive pony car looks the part of a true bruiser.
Like many SEMA Show custom cars, the “Starken” Camaro will eventually find a new home and it appears Hauk Designs is pressing the fast forward button on that process. The Chevrolet recently turned up on eBay, listing for $40,000. What say you, Internets? Is the all-wheel-drive turbo V8 Camaro a good buy?