When you hear the words Pro Street Camaro, one of the first images that may come to mind is a ’69 SS with 18-inch-wide slicks tucked into the rear quarter-panels, and a 6-71 supercharger peeking out from the hood. Back in the ’80s these were the kinds of cars that Casey Scranton of CGS Motorsports admired as a kid and inspired him and his dad, Ron, to build using a late-model Camaro body and drivetrain as the basis for their company’s project vehicle.
But before you start thinking that the Scrantons were crazy to cut up a perfectly good ’10 Camaro, you need to realize that these guys are serious about the cars they build. Their creative nature has earned them a shelf full of manufacturer’s design awards from Ford, GM, and Chrysler for past project cars they’ve built out of their shop in Chino, California.
Creating a Pro Street version of a ’10 Camaro wasn’t an easy task, but it started with a collaboration of the Scrantons’ ideas and knowledge, with the artistic design skills from automotive designer Luis Tanahara. Tanahara sketched the critical proportions and graphics that the CGS car should have, along with incorporating new aftermarket parts that would inspire other Camaro owners to use in their own vehicles. Once the final design was completed, the car was completely torn down, and the Scrantons had the task of putting the new theme to the body, chassis, and drivetrain.
For their effort and long hours of work, Casey and Ron had to create additional space on their shelf for yet another GM Design award, which was given to them at the 2010 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Not a bad result for what’s probably the only ’10 Pro Street Camaro in existence. While the CGS Camaro has the aggressive DNA from the Pro Street era, it’s great to see how enthusiasts like the Scrantons have the skill and talent to tap into the core of what really inspires Chevy enthusiasts; all in an effort to carry on a tradition of performance and speed.
Since all Pro Street street machines have a supercharged, high-performance engine, the LS powerplant was removed and taken to PPC Customs in Clovis, California. There, a series of upgrades were done, including the addition of a polished Whipple supercharger for added horsepower without major engine modifications. While the Whipple blower significantly pushes more air and fuel into the engine, PPC Customs decided it would be great to mimic the “choppy” idle that many Pro Street cars had back in the day. To do this, the original camshaft was replaced with a COMP Thumper camshaft, which works with modern engine management systems, and provides an idle that’s characteristic of a long-duration camshaft without sacrificing power or fuel efficiency. New COMP lifters and valvesprings were also added, as were ARP fasteners to secure it all in place. With the engine reassembled and generating in excess of 700 hp, a set of MSD ignition coils were added to increase the spark under the extra cylinder pressure, and a set of Hedman Hedders were used to expel the exhaust gases. Because there’s no off-the-shelf exhaust system for a Pro Street fifth-gen, it had to be fabricated from scratch. But for CGS, an exhaust manufacturer, it was probably one of the easier tasks of the entire project. In went a set of the company’s high-flow mufflers to decrease backpressure while delivering a menacing but without an overly obnoxious exhaust tone. The engine’s factory air intake was also replaced with CGS’ air intake system.