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| 2010.04.28 Ebay
Mentor, Ohio This killer 1997 Camaro is more than just a stock SS—it is a special project car built for a large Canadian Chevrolet dealer, packing a 383 cubic inch LT1 engine and a bunch of other tricks to make it stand out from other garden-variety Camaros. Custom built from the ground up, it is one of the more unique late-model Camaros we've featured, and has a ton of history and documentation behind it. But to tell the whole story, I have to start at the beginning. In 1997, John Moss (you know, the guy who was in charge of all the really cool specialty cars that GM would build—affectionately known as the "Toy Box") wanted to show a special 30th Anniversary Camaro SS at the SEMA show in Las Vegas. He contacted SLP Engineering, the company who built the Camaro SS and Firebird Firehawks for General Motors, and asked them to build him a show car that would blow everyone's socks off. He sent over a donor Camaro to Zeke's Automotive (part of SLP Engineering), and they got to work immediately since they were under a tight deadline. The car was gutted and reinforced, and then reassembled and painted with a traditional Hugger Orange with white stripes paint job (in fact, the paint job was so well received that it became a regular production option—code 99U—on 1998 and 1999 Camaro). Because of the unique paint job, the car became known as "Project Pumpkin." Of course, Project Pumpkin wasn't just a pretty face. The original LT1 was stroked and poked to 383 cubic inches and cranked out close to 500 horsepower on the dyno. The suspension was upgraded and giant Brembo brakes were added. The final touch was a set of chrome 17-inch "A-mold" wheels, which also became a regular Camaro option after they were used on this car. At the SEMA show, Mr. Francois Welhelmy, President of Wilhelmy Chevrolet-Oldsmobile-Cadillac saw Project Pumpkin and decided he wanted one of his own. A day later, he delivered a brand new 1997 Camaro 30th Anniversary model to the SLP Engineering facility for the transformation. The car you see in front of you is Mr. Wilhelmy's specially-constructed Camaro, affectionately called "Project Canadian Pumpkin." This car is identical to the SEMA show car in virtually every way, except that this car has the highly desirable T-top option, which the SEMA car did not. Otherwise, everything else is the same, from the built 383 under the hood, to the chrome wheels, to the Hugger Orange paint job. All the receipts for the build are included with it, so it is fully documented in every way, and you can see more information on Zeke's website at www.zekesauto.com/en/proj/proj-pmkn.html. With a little under 8000 miles from new, this car hardly looks 13 years old. The Hugger Orange paint is still show caliber, and according to the owner, has never seen rain. The paint is excellent in every way, and panel gaps are factory or better. Of course, it goes without saying that the car has never been damaged or wrecked, and that the work done to the car was better than OEM in every way. The Hugger Orange looks absolutely killer on the Camaro bodywork, and the custom stripes emphasize the gaping SS hood scoop which force-feeds air to that stroked small block under the hood. This is NOT a factory paint job—there are no mismatched colors between fenders and bumpers. They even had the company that made the original stripes for the anniversary cars make them for this car in white instead of Hugger Orange (you'll recall that the actual anniversary cars were white with Hugger Orange stripes). Mechanically, we have a huge folder stuffed full of the receipts that went into the construction of this car. The 383 under the hood has more than $25,000 in receipts attached to it! All the best stuff went into the build, including ARP bolts throughout, a Cop Cams camshaft, a Lunati stroker crank, Diamond forged pistons, Childs & Albert rods, and a whole bunch of others. The heads were extensively massaged with CNC porting, a race valve job, unshrouded combustion chambers, then rebuilt with items such as new swirl-polished stainless steel valves, Crane stud-mount roller rockers, and LT-4 valve seals. Up top, the intake and throttle body are from Arizona Speed and Marine. The engine also features long tube headers by Kook's and an MSD ignition system. Obviously this was an engine built by guys who specialize in building incredible performance Chevys, so you know no corners were cut and that it is built right. There was also some extensive tuning involved and a custom program has been installed in the ECM. The engine is backed by the Camaro's stock 6-speed transmission and rear, which now features an Auburn limited slip differential in place of the factory piece, and 3.42 gears. The exhaust system is a stainless B&B Tri-Flow cat back setup that sounds awesome. Subframe connectors were installed as part of the upgrades, and there's a note on one of the receipts that the factory seams were all ground and welded to increase torsional rigidity. The suspension is stock, but 13-inch front disc brakes were installed during the conversion process. The final touch, the chrome 17x9 A-mold wheels, were installed and feature 275/40/17 BFGoodrich Comp T/A performance radials. The interior is 100% stock 30th Anniversary equipment, which is a good thing. For this special event, GM put white leather in the Camaro with special embroidery on the headrests, complimenting the rest of the black interior. It's a kind of tribute to the first 1967 pace cars, and in this car, it looks perfect (I thought it was too much white on the original anniversary cars, but that's just me). The leather is in excellent condition, with very little evidence of someone's posterior sitting in the driver's chair for 8000 miles. Door panels are excellent, and 30th Anniversary floor mats protect the original carpet. The car has been immaculately maintained inside, and I would not hesitate to call it factory fresh. Since this was originally a Canadian car, the original speedometer was in KPH, so it was refaced with MPH units and white gauge faces when the car came into the US several years ago. Even the original 30th Anniversary plaque on the dash was retained, and authenticates this as one of the original Anniversary Camaros. Documentation, as I mentioned, is considerable. All the receipts for the build are included, as is the documentation needed to transport the car across the Canadian border. Much of the original dealer paperwork is here from Wilhelmy Chevrolet, plus all the brochures and spec sheets on the parts that went into the construction—they went crazy with the Jet Hot coatings on this car, that's for sure. So not only is this a rare 30th Anniversary Camaro, it is a fully documented project car that was based on a well-known SEMA show piece built for GM, and built by an OEM contractor to OEM standards throughout. It packs a killer 500 horse small block and show-stopping paint. It has been lovingly maintained since new, and is ready for the next owner to enjoy. Opportunities to own project cars are rare (although we're pretty good at finding the good ones), and if you're into that kind of thing, then this is a car that deserves to be in your collection. Call now! |
| SLP Options | |
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| No Options Found |
| GM Options | |
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| RPO | Description |
| R7T | SLP Camaro SS Identifier (1996-1997) |
| 103 | Trim Combination, Leather - Arctic White |
| 10I | Interior Trim - Arctic White |
| 10Q | Molding color artic white |
| 10U | Exterior Color - Arctic White |
| Z4C | Appearance Package, 30th Anniversary (Z28, SS, SS LT4) & 35th Anniversary (SS only) |
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