PRO CURING

“I DRIVE IT LIKE I STOLE IT!” admits Larry Atwood, regarding his Pro Touring 1969 Camaro. Another owner might be tempted, at least initially, to go easy on his recently completed build after considering the expenditure required to realize his LT4-powered Gen V Bowtie dream.

With all the labor and parts, and the expertise mustered by the crew at the V8 Speed & Resto Shop in Red Bud, Illinois, to not only swap the modern supercharged engine into the classic chassis, but to dial it in to behave like Chevrolet intended all along, you wouldn’t want to risk breaking something right out of the gate, right? Then there’s the Detroit Speed subframe and suspension upgrades, the big Baer brakes… the list goes on and on. Nevertheless, Larry reasons, “We used all high-end components in the build and the Camaro came together well, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be able to withstand how I drive it.”

So, how does it run? “The LT4 is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” its Arkansas-based owner relates. “Around town it’s pretty docile, and even the 3-inch exhaust system is