BUILD SPECS
1968 Chevy Camaro owned by Aaron Clippinger, built by Gearhead Garage.
Equipped with TCI Engineering complete Stage Two suspension system covering the front and rear, along with a set of 12-inch Wilwood brakes.
A Tremec TKO 600 was connected to the existing LS3 through a McLeod Street Pro clutch system with the torque being delivered to a 9-inch rear with 3.42 gears.
BUILD STORY
Hot rods are similar to tattoos, pets, and potato chips in that once you have one, you want another. Aaron Clippinger, our Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine finalist from the Meguiar’s Del Mar Nationals, understands this theory firsthand. Aaron’s first muscle car, a clean and largely original ’68 Camaro, has proven to be great cruiser, but lately he’s had a vision of more of a pro touring ride. However, since his Camaro has been such a reliable driver, not to mention a solid survivor, he just couldn’t bring himself to start modifying the car in such a big way. The logical option (in hot rodder terms) was to find another car to build, though this one would be LS powered, have a few more gears, handle on rails, and stop on a dime. A search commenced and finally ended with another ’68 Camaro. The car was a stalled project that had been painted but was mostly apart and even had a newer LS3 sitting under the hood. Aaron jumped at the opportunity and set his plan in motion on January 4 of this year and called upon Jason Walroth and his team at Gearhead Garage for the build. There was one catch, though: it had to be ready for Del Mar, which was only three months away. At first Jason was a bit skeptical about the deadline, but Aaron persisted and helped track down new parts and pieces. A call was made to Californiabased Total Cost Involved for their complete Stage Two suspension system covering the front and rear, along with a set of 12-inch Wilwood brakes. A Tremec TKO 600 was connected to the existing LS3 through a McLeod Street Pro clutch system with the torque being delivered to a 9-inch rear with 3.42 gears. A pair of 18x9.5-inch Forgelines was tucked under the front fenders with a slightly larger 19x11.5-inch set in the rear wrapped in Pilot Cup 2 rubber. On the Tuesday before the Del Mar Nationals, Aaron flew up to Sacramento to pick up his pro touring Camaro with the plan to drive it home, about a seven-hour drive. It rained the entire drive, but with no mechanical issues whatsoever. An immediate clean-up commenced, and then it was on to the show for the Camaro’s, and Aaron’s, debut on the AutoCross course. After a slow-paced first lap to overcome the intimidation factor and to understand the course, Aaron started to find his groove and eventually improved his lap time by over eight seconds! The icing on the cake, of course, was being named a finalist for the Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year! - AARON CLIPPINGER • LA MESA, CALIFORNIA • 1968 CAMARO • WORDS: TODD RYDEN • PHOTOS: JOHN JACKSON
