Richard Childress is a self-made racing icon who has built a legacy as a winning race car driver and team owner. Throughout his 40 year career, he has made more than 190 trips to victory lane, won 12 championships and built cars for some of the most successful drivers of all time. He is dedicated to both winning on the racetrack and establishing trusted race engineered and track proven performance cars for the street. Wearing a familiar black, silver and red color scheme, this custom built 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS/RC1 has a 500 horsepower LS3 V8, is the second of a limited production run from RCR, and is one of the most unique Camaros we’ve ever offered. Read more and see large gallery!

INDIANAPOLIS – When the Chevrolet Camaro Convertible sets the pace for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 this Sunday, it will showcase a top built to last a lifetime, operate worry-free and maintain the appearance of its Coupe sibling.

To assure long-term durability, the convertible top underwent extensive testing during development, being opened and closed more than 22,500 times – three times more than would be expected in a typical 10 years of use. Some of those cycles were performed in extreme conditions; temperatures ranging from minus-22° F to 170° F and humidity of up to 95 percent.

“This past winter we even had our engineers driving 80 of these convertibles back and forth to work every day here in Michigan,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. “They had to open and close the top five times each day no matter what the weather was like.”

Every Camaro Convertible undergoes a water test as it completes assembly in Oshawa, Ontario. In addition, vehicles are randomly chosen to undergo an eight-minute water test at the assembly facility in Oshawa and at an identical facility at the GM Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. More than 7,200 gallons of water are hurled at the car in a hurricane-like downpour at a pace of 900 gallons per minute.  Read more and watch the video!

New cylinder head design combines key parts into single aluminum casting

PONTIAC, Mich. – In auto production, more power, better fuel economy and fewer emissions rarely appear together. But the 2012 Camaro 3.6L direct injection V6 engine achieves all three by combining the exhaust manifold with the cylinder head into a single aluminum casting.

Each integrated exhaust manifold cylinder head – a V6 has two — replaces a cast iron exhaust manifold, six bolts, a gasket and a heat shield and three bolts. By eliminating this joint, the potential for a gasket failure is eliminated. And the change reduces engine weight by 13 lbs. or 6 kg per engine. Reducing mass helps improve fuel economy and the 2012 Camaro 2LS model is EPA estimated at 30 mpg highway. Read more!

Take a behind-the-scenes look at how the GT2 engine is built for the ALMS Chevrolet Corvette. Read more!

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Engine swaps have been around as long as there have been different manufacturers making a variety of models. Whether it’s putting a flathead V8 in your Model A Ford, or injecting some modern power into your aging musclecar, an engine swap can define an entire vehicle. Such is the case with this spectacular 1967 Mustang that’s dressed up like a Shelby GT500 and packs a 2004 Mustang Cobra power plant under the hood. That means 32 valves, a supercharger, and drivability that they couldn’t imagine back in the good old, bad old days.

The rest of the car was updated as well, but the basic goodness of the Mustang shape was retained, along with the very best Shelby upgrades, creating a Pro-Touring fastback that has to be seen to be believed. Built by the guys at Pro Touring Super Cars (a division of Speed, Inc.), this was a cost-no-object car from the beginning. Speed, Inc. specializes in putting late model power into vintage muscle, and bringing the latest technology to bear on the cars of the past. What better way to do that than build a Shelby GT500 tribute with one of Ford’s most potent late-model powertrains? Read more!

Dodge has prepared an extreme, drag strip-orientated incarnation of the 2011 Challenger.

Dubbed the Challenger Drag Pak, the vehicle drops its 6.1-liter V8 engine in order to use the Viper’s 8.4-liter V10 powerplant, which is mated to a drag racing two-speed automatic transmission. The power is sent to the road via a solid rear axle and a set of special tires. The racer can be ordered in Stock Eliminator or Super Stock versions.

Many systems and parts that added weight to the vehicle have been removed. We are talking about the HVAC system, the windshield wiper assembly, the rear seats, the power steering and the underbody heat shields.

The vehicle has been fitted with special parts such as polycarbonate door windows, lightweight racing seats that are six-point harness-ready, custom drag-race only front brakes, manual rack and pinion steering and others.

Mopar (the Chrysler Group’s parts division) will only build 70 units of the car, each one set to retail for a price of $85,512. Read more!