Earl Newman owns a unique example of the ultimate muscle car, but now it has a twin. The Michigan car collector bought the oldest-known 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LS6 at a Mecum Auctions event in 2024 for $220,000.
The Chevelle LS6 was equipped with a 454-cubic-inch V8 officially rated at 450 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, which made it not just the most powerful muscle car of the era, but the most powerful car in the world.
Newman’s was a pilot car built to test the assembly line before production began. Normally, they’d be scrapped and never sold, but this one slipped through the system and ended up at a dealer in British Columbia.
The fully restored Autumn Gold coupe has a three-Speed Turbo 400 automatic transmission, a 3.31 Positraction differential and power brakes with front discs only, which were high performance items in the day. Needless to say, they don’t make them like this anymore. Well, not exactly.
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Florida’s Trans Am Worldwide has turned the sixth generation Camaro into a modernized reboot of the Chevelle that it calls the 70/SS. It starts with a convertible Camaro, strips it down to the rolling chassis and rebuilds it with a carbon fiber body that’s not exactly the same as the original’s, but captures its essence. Its removable hardtop allows it to be used either as a coupe or convertible.
Newman heard about the cars and decided he wanted one that looked just like his original. Trans Am Worldwide perfectly matched the paint color and black racing stripes.
While the Camaro’s stock 6.2-liter V8 is rated at 455 hp and 455 lb-ft of torque, that’s a net rating compared to the old gross rating that was used in 1970, so it’s actually more powerful than the LS6. Nevertheless, it wasn’t powerful enough for Newman.
Most of Trans Am Worldwide’s builds get engine upgrades and it went all in for this one. It bored out an LS V8 to 454 cubic inches and strapped on a Magnuson 2650 supercharger that cranks it up to 1,500 hp, which is all sent to the rear tires through a Strange 9″ GForce differential that retains the Camaro’s independent suspension.
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Trans Am Worldwide documented the car’s delivery in a video. While Newman didn’t say how much it cost, it’s a safe bet it was in the same ballpark as what he paid for the original, if not way out of it.
Coincidentally, Trans Am Worldwide recently sold its own 70/SS pilot car. It was built in 2022 with a supercharged 396-cubic-inch V8, listed for sale in September with 987 miles on the odometer and already has a new home. It’s interesting to compare it to Newman’s because subtle changes have been made to the body in the years since.
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Now that the Camaro is out of production and new donor cars are getting harder to come by, Trans Am Worldwide is already working on its next model. American Cars And Racing got a sneak peek at it, but we are sworn to secrecy until it is officially revealed. You definitely won’t miss it when it is.
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