This past Saturday, July 17th, was a gorgeous day in Southern California. At 84 degrees and clear blue skies overhead, it was almost mandatory to get out the car and go cruising. But, instead of rolling around the usual spots, the SoCal Family chapter of
Camaro5 rumbled into Hurst Performance Vehicles' facility in Irvine, CA for a BBQ, shop tour and special once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hailing from as far north as the San Fernando Valley, as far west as the South Bay, as far east as the Inland Empire, and as far south as San Diego, 39 of us came to check out the Special Edition Hurst Camaro. Hosted by Hurst's Regis Finn, Nate Shelton, and Tony Baumgartner, there were hamburgers and hot dogs and plenty of beverages available to all the people who showed up.
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Welcomed by Nate, the owner of Hurst Performance Vehicles and Tony from Sales and Marketing, they gave us an overview of the Hurst Performance Vehicle program, and introduced us not only to the new 5th generation Camaro SS, but also their new Mustang and Challenger. This appeared to be a standard "Meet & Greet" until they let everyone in attendance (with a driver’s license, of course) test drive the Special Edition Hurst Camaro, producing an estimated 600hp and 550 lbs. of torque and goes from 0-to-60 in 4.1 seconds. The black and gold special edition Super Sport comes complete with a Magnuson Magnacharger, Eibach coil-over suspension, upgraded wheels (11-inch rears), high performance exhaust, and of course, a signature Hurst shifter.
The cosmetic enhancements are just as impressive, with a unique stripe package, Hurst badging, leather seats with the Hurst logo by Katskin and custom rear deck spoiler. Anyone who wanted to take a lap around the block was given a chance with a Hurst employee. It doesn’t get much better than that for a bunch of gearheads! “I need to get me one of those!” was the common response after the Family Members reluctantly got out of the Hurst Camaro. Even some more “inexperienced” drivers got a chance to drive it.
Once everyone got their fill, we were given a tour of the the highly-guarded ARIA design center. ARIA, builds prototypes for not only the Automotive Industry but the entertainment industry including Virgin and Disney, including Disney's "Carsland" at Disney’s California Adventure expansion. We were not allowed to take pictures within the studios for obvious reasons. ARIA is their partner in designing the Hurst Camaro SS, Challenger and Mustang projects. The cars are painted there (the stripes are painted on, not vinyl) and the installation is done once the cars arrive from the dealership for transformation.
Prizes of various Hurst merchandise were given out and everyone won something at the end of the afternoon. All in all, it was a great day. We got to hang out with the Family again and enjoy an experience that most of us won’t ever forget. Special thanks goes out to the guys at Hurst Performance Vehicles for the great Saturday!
(co-written with John Coy) Pictures Courtesy of Tribone and Camaro5.com
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