David Bailor’s 2010 Camaro SS is the fifth generation of Chevrolet’s famous model it began production on in 1967. When the new Camaro was introduced, it exploded onto the scene as the blockbuster movie star of contemporary muscle cars: Bumblebee in the Transformers franchise. Make no mistake, Bailor’s Camaro is no cheesy, yellow, special-edition, production-line model with a $1,000 package of racing stripes and decals.
Tell us about the car?
It’s a 2010 Camaro SS. It's heavily modified, has a supercharged LS3 motor in it, a 6.2-litre V8 pushing out about 650 horsepower and a six-speed manual transmission.
As a mechanic, did you do the modifications yourself?
I bought it this way; I've done very little to it. I've tinkered around with the motor a little bit to make it run smoother but I haven't done any heavy modifications. I would have but this car has $75,000 into it and I bought it for $30,000. I would have rather built it up myself, but someone put a lot of dedication into it and attention to detail. It was the right car for me.
Why is this the right car for you?
I searched for a couple of months. I was looking for this exact car. They make the ZL1 version, which is quite similar. It's a supercharged base-model Camaro that they put out from the factory but it didn't have as much power as this one. I pondered the idea of a black or a red one. Those are the only two colours I'd own. They put a lot of yellow ones out. I hate the yellow.
Have you always wanted a muscle car?
Of course, absolutely. I thought about getting a new Challenger because I've owned Dodge trucks all of my life, but the Chevy Camaro always stood out to me. It was a no-brainer.
Do you think this will be a collector’s car just like the older-model muscle cars?
I think so. This is the 2010 so this is the first version of the newer, old-body-style of Camaros. This was the first year. This particular model and a couple of years after are really going to stand out in the future. They're something to definitely be collected. To find a ’67 Camaro in good shape, you're going to pay $60,000. Back then, you could buy it brand new for $6,000. If I keep it long enough it's only going to go up in value.
