Lady's came first at the Goodguys 13th PPG Nationals presented by Bridgestone. At least when it came to picking the country's top Street Machine.
Karen Leisinger's radical all steel first-gen 1967 Camaro "Scar", built by Lakeside Rods & Rides in Rockwell City, Iowa took home the Goodguys 2010 Ridetech Street Machine of the Year award. Leisinger, a first-gen Camaro lover wanted a car that featured extreme performance while combining the looks of a 1967 with some of the design and style elements of the new 2010 Camaros.
Working from an Eric Brockmeyer sketch, builders Roger Burman, Marshall Starrett and the entire Lakeside Rods & Rides team did yeoman's work on the PPG hyper orange Camaro nicknamed "Scar" from all the cuts and modifications required to get the desired look. Lakeside completely redesigned the cars aesthetics by extending the wheelbase 2 inches. They then grafted a 2010 Camaro roof skin, raised the rear quarters 2.5 inches, added a custom carbon fiber hood, handmade the front and rear faces and flared the fenders on all four corners.
"Scar's" drive train features a carbureted 600hp LS-X mated to a Gearstar 200R4. The custom Lakeside-built chassis features Detroit Speed front and rear suspension, big brake kit from Baer and Boze 18" & 20" wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport rubber. Weber's Custom Interiors stitched the black leather with orange threads.
Karen and her entire family are devout Camaro enthusiasts. Over the year's they've restored and hot rodded dozens of first-gen Camaros including a pearl white '67 Grumpy Jenkins tribute car that was chosen as a finalist for the Goodguys 2009 Muscle Machine of the Year award.
Karen, her husband Dave and their two sons Josh and Jared are already planning next year's Street Machine of the Year candidate - a 1970 Camaro which will again be hand built by lakeside Rods & Rides.
The top 5 finalists for the Ridetech Street Machine of the Year included: Dale & Stacy Johns, Van Buren, AR, (1967 Ford Mustang), Mike Manning, Belmawr, NJ, (1969 Camaro), Karen Leisinger, Wall Lake, SD, (1967 Camaro), Jeremy Gerber, Mundelein, IL (1970 Dodge Challenger) and Ken Smith, Spring Green, WI, (1964 Ford Fairlane).