The Chevrolet Camaro is an iconic muscle car. It’s survived through multiple generations, getting by on brawn and presence while staying true to its classic two-door body style. But what if the classic Camaro was a shooting brake? What would that even look like?
We might soon know, thanks to the efforts of one man in New York. Adam Benini loves the Camaro, but he also loves wagons. He decided to combine those passions into one vehicle, with remarkably promising results. Chevrolet may have never considered building a more practical Camaro, but they might have if they’d known it could look this good.
Of course, a project like this is no mean feat. I spoke to Adam, who told me all about the challenges involved in bringing this glorious beast to fruition.
“I got the car back in 2000 … it was one of my first cars,” Adam told me. “I wanted a Camaro convertible ’cause they were rare.” While the drop-top did have its charms, his feelings eventually shifted. “Getting old I now know that a sports car should be a hard top,” he laughs. Thus, a project was born. “I’ve wanted to make a removable hardtop for a while,” he says. “My dad has a ’91 Corvette with a hardtop and it looks sick, like a notch back, but also, I love wagons … so a removable wagon hard top challenge was accepted.”
It’s every bit a homebrew build, right across the board. “The body was hand-fabbed by me, true steel all around with notched frame and mini tubs,” he says. “Custom-made strut mounts and air suspension, CNC ground effects from aluminum and carbon fiber, all done myself with no experience really.” All of those mods help to create the mean, menacing stance of the vehicle as it sits today.
At a glance, it might look like the work of someone with plenty of experience, but Adam is picking up many of the necessary skills as he needs them. “I’m learning as I go … I have never worked with fiberglass, but I never let no experience stop me,” he explains. “Like, other people can do these things, why can’t I?”
That’s not to say there aren’t challenges involved, though. “The hardest part so far is the shape, I have to make the shape perfect first,” he says. “Because that’s what determines the final aesthetic and it can’t be changed after the fact.” He’s put a great deal of time into shaping the foam plug which will then be covered in fiberglass and resin to form the hard top itself. He’ll then fit Lexan panels cut out on a CNC machine to create the windows in the removable hard-top shell.
Amongst this, Adam found out what so many others have when it comes to working with fiberglass. “I’m personally an artist, but I have never really sculpted much, and this is all about sculpting,” he says. “The amount of sanding to get the slight slope of the roof … ugh! Make it end! I’ve had pink shavings in my socks for weeks.”
It’s not just a cosmetic build, either. Adam has serious plans to beef the Camaro up under the hood. “I currently have an LS2 turbo for a motor, mated to a built six-speed T56 [transmission],” he says. The end result promises to have the speed to match its aggressive looks.
Adam’s Camaro looks tight with the widebody kit and the beginnings of the removable hardtop. But he’s not the only one playing in this space. “Recently I have been getting sent posts from Liberty Walk, who is doing a third gen,” he says. They’re not necessarily going the shooting brake route, but the styling looks to be going down similar lines to Adam’s plans. “I gotta beat that build,” he says.
The general message to take away from Adam’s Camaro? If you want something, go out and build it. You might not know how to do it yet, but tools can be bought and skills can be obtained. Making the real thing sure beats dreaming about it, after all. Worst case, you end up with a hilarious pile of jagged fiberglass that gets passed around Craigslist and car blogs for decades to come. Best case, you end up with something truly legendary that turns heads at car shows for the rest of your days.
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With those odds, it’s worth taking a punt on your dreams, especially if they involve turning a classic muscle car into a steroid-pumped shooting brake. Go hard out there.
Image credits: Adam Benini, supplied
Came here for the box flares but the garage space and that color (is it tractor supply gray or a modern audi color??)
2 door wagon Camaro with box flares and that stance- cant wait to see it done! The garage setup is pretty dang nice too.
Came here for the car, left appreciating that garage space.
Same, that garage is fantastic!
Bad
ass…“… tools can be bought…”
Hey Lewin, do you mind having a chat with my wife please?
That totally reminds me of the Kammback prototypes from the 70’s and 80’s.
Reminds me of the Trans Am Type K wagon making the show circuits in 78,79, and 80. Swet ass looking shooting break once it’s finished.
Thought of that as well. Then remembered the Jaguar shooting brakes, especially the XJS ones. Then the Aston Martin ones. Screw it, shooting brake all the cars, why not.
I like the box flares. I’m not sold on the top yet.
Looks like crap. Taped together parts.
so in other words, same quality as OE 😛
It’s a foam mold that’s not even done yet. What do you expect?
When I was in art school, I did a 3D sculptural representation of Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending A Stair. I made it out of foam that I covered in… something, I don’t remember what.
Anyway, there was a lot of sanding involved in that, too. Covered a tarp in pink foam dust. My cat, Ralph, sat in it, and all the fur on his butt fell out.
Not, like, IMMEDIATELY, but over a few days.
And it did grow back.
But he looked kinda funny for a while.
You go to CalArts? That sounds familiar.
Nah, Savannah College of Art and Design.
Then there’s the Mustang/Volvo shooting brake. Like a golden doodle with a leather jacket.
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1091156_1966-ford-mustang-meets-volvo-wagon-a-marriage-of-convenience
Just needs a big decal of Dwight in the back with “Shruting Brake” below it.
Bonus if you can get the tag FALSE
Beet me to it!
Way to take it to the next level, that’s freaking awesome! And I would rather eat my foot than do that much freaking sanding.
The nicest looking F body shooting brake remains the Firebird Type K designed by GM and built on a second generation body
https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/pontiacs-sporty-wagon-concept-firebird-type-k/
Pontiac made a prototype Trans Am Shooting Brake on a 2nd gen car.
Learning how to make things out of fiberglass or any composite is both very easy and enough to convince you to never do that again.
The gap between doing it at all and doing it it well is quite broad.
Also in the 1980s I knew a few artists that were pioneers in working with resin, ruined their livers, and were the old, sober, really grouchy guys at the art bar.
It is definitely not my cup of tea, but good on the builder for jumping in and learning new skills.
Yeah, lets just say this build is not to my aesthetic tastes. I do, however, think its awesome that he jumped in with both feet to build something that he loves. I can’t think poorly of a person who’s doing that, following a passion. I’ve made some pretty serious body mods on projects myself that weren’t to other’s tastes, but man those are some fun projects to build.