Dale Earnhardt Jr's 2nd Gen Camaro
 

Mooresville, NC - While Dale Earnhardt Jr. tries to win the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway the weekend of July 13-15, his freshly-built 1972 Camaro will try to win the Goodguys 2007 Street Machine of the Year award presented by Air Ride Technologies. The talented crew at Detroit Speed and Engineering built Earnhardt Jr’s “Bitchin’ Camaro” and recently announced it will make its official debut at the Goodguys 10th PPG Nationals in Columbus, OH. Don’t miss your chance to be one of the first to see the car unveiled Friday morning, July 13th at the Detroit Speed & Engineering booth.

The car was built from the ground up this past winter and spring at DSE. The Camaro was brought into their North Carolina shop as a complete vehicle. It was stripped, media blasted it, and completely overhauled including all the body work. The object of this build was to complete the vehicle with a vintage Trans Am road race look while still remaining all business and pure function.

Features include DSE’s new 2nd Generation Hydroformed Subframe, DSE’s 2nd Generation QUADRA Link,™ with 2nd Generation Mini-Tubs. Also included are Subframe Connectors, a customized Roll Cage, and a custom T-56 crossmember. For cooling the car features a Be Cool radiator with Stewart electric fans with a DSE custom shroud. The engine is a GM LS2 engine with a T-56 6-speed transmission that rides on Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires and custom two tone wheels.

Don’t miss the unveiling of Little E’s new super car Friday morning, July 13th at the Detroit Speed and Engineering Booth. The booth is located on the main vendor midway right in front of the Bricker Building.

For more information on Detroit Speed and Engineering, visit www.detroitspeed.com

http://www.lateral-g.org/jr.JPG

um...nicest car I've ever seen. Rates a 12 on a 1-10. Or course, it would rate a 45 if it was black/grey and had an LS7 vs. the LS2.

I can't wait to see this thing in person.

I didn't notice at first, but it has the RS front end (round parking lights), RS bumpers, but they used the standard grill, not the RS grill with the urethane nose piece - I like it! I've always liked 2nd Gen Camaros. I think this car takes 2nd Gens to a new level. I can't wait to see it in person at Columbus. I'm considering getting up at the crack of dawn to be there first thing Friday for the unveiling.

Awesome car! The fact that it is every bit as functional as it is beautiful makes it even cooler!

Later,

Brandon

The car is sweet, My dad was down their for about 8 weeks doing the body and paint work on it, the amount of fab work on this car is crazy. they now have Dan Holahan from troys place working down their now.

Those vents are brake ducts...very cool

Paul VanNus

thats a very VERY nice 2nd gen. makes me want one :cool:

PT is definitely gaining popularity... Cool Stuff.
Nice ride.

WOW!! I think we have discussed doing one of these before, right Scott!!:yes:

Gorgeous car, simply breathtaking!!!!:D

Awesome. Looking forward to seeing it in person.

Are both sets of parkiling lights just that, lights, or are the bottom ones cooling ducts for the brakes or air intake for the motor. I like that idea.

It is nice to see some of the nascar guys, with an interest in nice cars. I know Tony Stewart was trying to buy some cars at Barret Jackson and Jimmie Johnson has a few, and now Dale Jr. I'm sure there are more I have not heard about.

Sweet camaro. I like the gas cap on the body.

Rodger

I didn't realize those were brake ducts - that's pretty sweet. They keep adding talent to their shop too. They seem to be growing like crazy. That's awesome.

It's now my new background on my work computer. Whenever I get bogged down in work - I'll just look at it and think happy thoughts
:)

Hopefully some of us will be able to get together at Columbus and put some faces to the usernames! - share some drooling moments over cars like this one.

:cheers:

Drool on it a little for me, would ya Brandon. I don't think I'm gonna make it, never did get a room.

Rubes

Wow
 

dse

some of the nicest people in the industry..1st class work .
very cool that junior had them do this car....and they didnt post it on their website or tell anyone ..?
CAR LOOKS GREAT....id drive it...:cool:

radrambler

The car has been a secret - more or less - for a few months now. Some of our members were in the loop, like Paul, as his Dad painted it. And did an AWESOME job!

Kyle has shown me fabrication pictures and it's awesome. We'll be seeing more of this car soon. :thumbsup:

It's also really handy that DSE is a few doors down from JR Motorsports.

Looks like a standard nose with RS park lights grafted on... the nose doesn't stick out like the RS's do.

Hard to believe Dale Jr. couldn't afford a real RS nose. :rofl:

I was lucky enough to see the car a few weeks ago coming home from Atlanta, the car is amazing. Might be this year's smoy winner

very nice car, i absolutly love the color combo

Wow! that is awesome:yes:

THanks

Yea its been a secret for a while now,

I went down their for a couple days and got put to work which was really fun teaming up with my dad and doing some body work, must say I was a pretty proud son

Kyle took me for a ride in the test car out to lunch and wow was that fun! then threw me the keys and told me to go take it for a spin...:woot:

I got to go for a tour of JR Motorsports that was REALLY awsome:yes:

then a couple weeks later kyle takes dad over to DEI.....thanks! lol

Paul

you should be proud your dad did a great job-kyle test car is neat -I drove it one day on the power tour - feels real good at 100-

I had the privledge to see the car in person while it was in a bare metal/ fabrication state. If I remember Kyle said they had ninety days to find the car and complete it. There were multiple guys working on it non-stop.

Very nice. And a good bit flashier than most DSE builds. :thumbsup:

Looks great. Really like the wheels. Not a lot of bling, just business.

dse is first class. would like to see the car.
rick k:thumbsup:

Sweet car, I saw some pics of it sometime ago , DSE is a great company .
I wonder what the build cost was?

I predict 400,000....anyone else?

thats is hands down the best 2nd gen ever!!! this was posted at nastyz28 a couple days ago and lots of them were critizing the car and claiming how horrible the front end was, and the gas filler was ugly, and it was too low,and THAT THEY COPIED THE A PILLARS THE F-BOMB car....there was like three other guy that really loved the car, but then agian those guys are members over here also.

Fab work
 

Anyone know who did most of the fab work on this?? I know Dan H is working for DSE now.

No, not at all. The A-pillar support brackets are right out of Nascar. So F-Bomb copied Nascar... and Jr's IS Nascar, so who copied who. :)

Just wait till you guys seen under the hood!, Dan made a sweet air box deal for it,

And hes making one for me right now, we were going to try and have it for columbus but just didnt work out, so should have it later this summer


Paul

I would thing a little higher. Only because of the time restraints. My understanding is that DSE hired additional help from the outside. You are paying over time and big money for people to come in and get this thing done. My guess around 500,000.

R.P.

Straight Scoop on Dale Jr.'s Camaro
 

Thanks for everyone's interest in Dale Jr.'s Camaro. It has been an exciting project for us and one that has had a really tight time line. We have a total of 18 weeks in this project including locating and purchasing the original car. Dale Jr. gave us alot of room for creativity with the build, he had a few specific requests including the color of paint (orange is his favorite color), the function, and the stereo system. Yes, he can afford any driveline he wants but decided on an easy, reliable, maintenance free combination that also keeps him safe on his days off. We decided on a 70's era Trans Am Road Race theme with a modern twist. Every single person at DSE has had a hand in this car in some way, it is alot more than body work and special fabrication. Our entire team at DSE built this car along with help from the Van Nus family. You will find many build pictures on our website, we will post them before we leave for Columbus GG. We have just returned from a 60 mile run through the North Carolina back roads checking everything out. The car has our new 2nd Gen. Hydroformed subframe and new 2nd Gen QUADRA Link rear suspension. We are anxious to debut the car at Columbus this week, please stop by the DSE booth and see it. I am usually a silent bystander on this site and others but wanted to give everyone a little more insight to the build and thank everyone for your continued support in the modern muscle car era! Keep motoring. - Kyle

(No, it is much less than $500k)

thanks for the info Kyle, and for taking the time to give us some insight on the build. :thumbsup:

Jody

Thanks for chiming in, Kyle. Finding, hauling, stripping, fabricating, prepping, finishing and assembling a car like that in 18 weeks is nothing short of amazing - especially when you consider that you built this car on top of an already extremely busy schedule.

I'd like to see it in person, the pearl orange looks like it would really pop in the sun. I love the stance and everything about it.

The build pics really told the story, I'm looking forward to seeing more. :thumbsup:

That is an awesome car. One of the nicest 2nd Gens I have ever seen.
Good work DSE.
Jeff

This car is really trick. Kyle has been sending me pictures during the build. There is alot of work that most will not see, as usual, everything DSE builds is understated..

congrats to everyone involved..:thumbsup:

SW

If a car could talk, what a story that car could tell. Thanks Kyle for chiming in. You and Stacy are first class and have a first class company.

Good to hear from you Kyle. I can't wait to see the car at Columbus. What time is the unveiling? I may have to get up early on Friday and get there when the gates open.

Short week at work this week - headed to Columbus early on Friday - this will be a fun week! The only thing that would be better is I could finish something to take to the show this year - that's not going to happen.

See you all there!

Must be rough to be one of Jeff Gordon's teamates...next year...and be able to afford a bad a$$ car like that!!:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Kyle, thanks for the info. It's a great car. It's great to see you on the site, like others have said you put out some top quality projects and parts. :thumbsup:

This will be yet another boost for 2nd gen popularity! Very cool......