The Chevy Camaro is not a rare sight on the drag strip, but this particular example is absolutely outstanding and enjoys the fame of being one of the world’s fastest.
Dubbed the ‘Big Red’, it packs a nine-liter eight-cylinder engine based on aluminum cylinder block and head assembly. A ProCharger supercharger and methanol injection system let it hit the wheels with a force approaching two thousand horsepower.
In fact, the tuned track weapon used to be even more extreme with more engine displacement and power, but a lack of downforce caused the wheels to spin. To avoid this, the tuner put an enormous rear wing on it that reportedly exerted more than 680 kilos (1,500 lbs) of downward force on the rear axle. As a result, power delivery to the tarmac improved considerably – albeit at the expense of wind resistance.
At a recent drag racing event, the extreme racer hit a top speed of 347 km/h, or 216 miles per hour, in a half-mile run. It was not its best result, however: on one account, racing without the wing, it actually hit 428 km/h (266 mph).