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Kindred's 1969 Camaro LT5 Might Just Be Total Restomod Perfection

Will we ever get tired of staring in awe at 1969 Camaros? Well, we'd have to grow bored of puppies, fragrant green grass, rainbows, and waterfalls before that happened. That's because the people who build restomods of these cars tend to try and one-up themselves.
Kindred 1969 Camaro LT 9 photos
Photo: Kindred Motorsports
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This one-upmanship doesn't always translate to raw horsepower but also the overall holistic quality of the build inside and out. By this more esoteric measurement, the Kindred Motorworks 1969 Camaro with a supercharged LT5 V8 from a C7 Corvette ZR1 might top the podium.

For those not in the know, Kindred Motorworks is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most prestigious restomod shops. With notable upgrade kits encompassing a wide range of vehicles like an all Electric Chevy 3100 pickup, a 300-horsepower electric VW T2 Bus, and a Ford Coyote V8 Swapped classic Ford Bronco. But their 1969  Camaro LT Edition build is GM through and through.

Needless to say, a build of this caliber doesn't finish overnight. Instead, it begins with a 1969 Camaro rolling chassis with whichever six or eight-cylinder dinosaur engine was in it originally. Then, with the drivetrain fully removed, it's promptly replaced with the engine most famous for its application in the swansong C7 ZR1 Corvette.

It's a 6.2-liter unit, or 376 cubic inches in caveman units. But the most important unit, horsepower, is certainly not lacking. Even in an OEM tune, this supercharged LT5 engine jets an eye-watering 700 horsepower. All that oomph is fed to either a Tremec six-speed manual or a T56 Super Magnum eight-speed automatic transmission with the guts to handle that vast wealth of power and torque.

Kindred 1969 Camaro LT
Photo: Kindred Motorsports
At the rear end of the car, a nine-inch rear axle is paired with a Torsen limited-slip differential. With independent suspensions in all corners and Wilwood 14 and 10.5-inch brake rotors in the front and rear, respectively, this 1969-vintage GM product handles, steers, and stops nothing like what American cars from this period are known to do.

That means they're all pretty gosh darn great now. With forged 19-inch aluminum wheels painted in a menacing dark grey color, the wheels and tires accent any one of the five wicked paint colors available on the LT special edition of the Kindred 1969 Camaro upgrade kit.

Speaking of the tires, they're a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s measuring 265/35ZR19 in the front and 315/30ZR19 in the rear. The tires available with this kit alone are worth more than most people's monthly car payments.

It's one thing for a restomod to look like a million dollars and have an engine that'd peak the interests of a NASA engineer with how much power it makes. But for the said restomod to be well equipped with an interior you wouldn't mind spending thousands of hours inside is an entirely different animal. Billion-dollar car companies make a complete meal out of doing something similar with brand-new cars.

Kindred 1969 Camaro LT
Photo: Kindred Motorsports
With materials like Alcantara and plush, high-quality leather that was certainly not present on an OEM 1969 Camaro, there's a wonderful foundation for all the other goodies inside the cabin. Trinkets like Recaro Sportster GT front seats, a MOMO Mod 08 steering wheel, illuminated center console gauges, and a period correct Hurst shifter that looks like something you'd see on an aircraft carrier than inside a car.

No word yet on the pricing for what is perhaps the ultimate 1969 Camaro restomod kit available that isn't hand fabricated in some DIY guru's garage. That said, Kindred restomod kits don't come cheap. The $150,000 to $200,000 ultra-exclusive luxury items for people with deep pockets and an even deeper love for wicked-fast custom cars.
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