***SuperSport***

[0rion]

Every Car has a story…

This starts as a sappy one. I was ready to pop the question to my girlfriend of 3 years and wanted a slick ride to drive to her the beach to ask her at sundown. A friend worked for one of the big rental car companies set me up with a green ’97 V6 convertible Camaro. After a weekend with that car, both my fiancé and I were hooked. After 11 years, my ‘87 V6 Grand Am coupe was done. Just out of college, I couldn’t afford a new Camaro convertible, but the rental car company I rented the green one from also sold cars from their fleet. A few phone calls and I had two ’97 red V6 verts to choose from with full service records and factory warranty. I picked what I thought was the best of the two and I was a Camaro owner at the end of ‘97.

I loved the car. After a few years, I had been thinking of stepping up to a V8. Then the official announcement came out in '01 that '02 was the last year, it was time to make my move. I hit the web message boards (including this one) and did my homework, and I spent a month staring at the ’02 brochure to pick out my color combo and options. This was going to be my first brand-new car, so I was going to have it exactly the way I wanted it. I was looking to put together a Camaro that showed how classy a ride it could be. I wanted to bust the mullet wearing "up on blocks" stereotype.

I love the SS styling and the opened up option list it provided. It had to be a convertible. Already had red, so time for another color. Pewter just is such a rich and warm color, and I knew it would be easer to keep than black or NBM. For the seats, leather. Ebony was the safe popular choice, but I wanted something different, so I opted for the Neutral. The stock front grille would not do, so SLP SS grille was on the list. My Father-In-Law talked me into the chrome 10-spoke wheels and I am glad he did. The car was ordered in Oct of 2001, and I took delivery on Dec 26th, 2001.

From there, the obsession and mods began…

Exterior Modifications:
Painted calipers w/ brushed aluminum decals
Color matched Smoothlock door and trunk lock covers
RKSport CAMARO rear fascia debossing emblems
Custom SLP Engineering decal on rear fascia
SS chrome/red logo tire stem caps
OEM 'YELLOW' rear side markers to replace the traditional 'RED' markers
8" ZO6 "shorty" antenna
Gloss Black and clear painted SS Hood scoop grille
Silverstar headlights
FormulaONE window tinting on sides and rear windows.
Polished AC evaporator
Gloss black painted front radiator support
OEM 35th anniversary badging under hood
brushed aluminum decal for shock tower brace
Magnaflow dual polished exhaust tips.
Corvette Fuel Rail Covers.
Finish protected by Zaino Bros. products

Interior Modifications:
Oris Windstop convertible wind deflector with SS badging
SS spec embroidered neutral floor mats
Custom SS console badging
35th Anniversary badging door sills
35th Anniversary embroidered rear decklid cover
Custom SS Billet Aluminum Pedals from DynoPro
Silver Gauge Face Overlays w/ LED lighting and Trans Am Gauge bezel

Performance:
Dual-outlet Magnaflow cat-back performance exhaust system
SLP Smooth Bellow
Donaldson Blackwing High Flow air lid and filter.
Crane Cams PowerTune tuning
Suspension/Chassis:
SLP Bolt-On Sub frame Connectors.
Shock Tower Brace.
SLP Bilstein/Eibach Shock/Spring Package

Drivetrain:
Crane Cams PowerTune Transmission tune

Some of the Stats:
Build #3988
ONE of only 88 Pewter SS Convertibles with an A4 built for 2002.
Statistically, possibly only ONE of 7 or fewer in this interior/exterior/model combo

Showing Off
Some recent Awards: - 1st place 2007 Chevy Winter Nationals 2/07.
- Awarded Platinum certification (999 out of 1000) by Worldwide Camaro Association 2/07.
- 1st place in class, Beat the Heat Longwood, FL car show 4/07.

[0rion]

[0rion]

[0rion]

Congrats SuperSport on being the first COTM winner. Awesome looking ride, very nice write up, and some nicely taken pictures. Very deserving of COTM.

[third_shift|studios]

HELL YA! very cool story, great ride and congradulations!

[DanWS6]

Awesome car man and great writeup.

[SSwt00SS]

great looking car, and good history to go along with it!

[SuperSport]

Thanks for the comments and to Orion for putting this together!

[djvaly]

SuperSport you have a very nice ride!

[Y2KPewterSS]

I have always liked and respected your car Brian. Congrats on the honor and hopefully you hang on to that SS vert for a very long time

[Speedy_Gonzales]

awesome car ! congrads well deserved

[Mr. Luos]

Nice write-up and beautiful car. Congrats!

[greatwhiteZ28]

great story, and long modifactions to car, nice ride,