WILD MASH-UP

Built to long-haul the 2023 HOT ROD Power Tour, this 1984 Monte Carlo’s facade hides a performance secret!

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Hot-rodders aren't bound by phrases like "you can't do that" or "that doesn't seem possible. They are creative, and this creativity leads to some very cool builds. Maybe you really dig the supercar-like performance of a 2023 ZL1 Camaro, but you want that in the style of something retro like an '80s Monte Carlo. Well, many gearheads would opt to do an LT swap and call it a day, but there's a lot more to a modern muscle car like the ZL1 Camaro than just its supercharged LT4 drivetrain and 10-speed automatic transmission. If you have a whole salvaged ZL1 Camaro to pillage, you might start thinking that it's a shame to yank the drivetrain and throw away all that ZL1 technological goodness. This is when good ideas turn into great ideas if you're willing to take a chance and roll those automotive dice.

Anthony Robertson owns West Side Custom and Collision and came across a wrecked 2023 ZL1 Camaro for a smokin' deal. He thought it would be a great drivetrain donor for a 1984 Monte Carlo SS project he was working on with his son Dylan. The more Anthony stared at the salvaged Camaro, the more he hated to throw so much of it away after the swap.

His '84 Monte Carlo wasn't just any 39-year-old car either. As Dylan told HOT ROD, "Dad bought the Monte Carlo when he was in 10th grade, in 1987. It was his first car as well as the car he took on his honeymoon, but it had been sitting for the last 20-plus years." They wanted to build it out for the 2023 Hot Rod Power Tour (HRPT), but the more the pair thought about it the more they wanted to do something completely different.