Celebrity Chevys at 2012 SEMA

Most JUST CARS fans will have heard of NASCAR star, Tony Stewart. Guy Fieri, however, may be a lot less familiar. If you've never heard of him, Fieri is a celebrity chef and TV presenter in the US - think our own George Calombaris or Gary Mehigan, but with the enthusiasm and intensity turned up to 11!

Both are big time celebrities, and have been honoured by Chevrolet at this year's SEMA show in Las Vegas, with a Camaro ZL1 created for Stewart and a Corvette 427 Convertible in honour of Fieri to exemplify the personalization possibilities of each vehicle. Each car features styling enhancements reflective of the celebrity they were created for.

"Chevrolet's performance cars have always been among the most personalized vehicles in the industry and it's rare to find a Camaro or Corvette that hasn't been enhanced by its owner," said Jim Campbell, GM U.S. vice president of Performance Vehicles & Motorsports. "We celebrate that passion and creativity at the SEMA Show and our concepts are designed to inspire the high-performance dreams of enthusiastic customers."
Tony Stewart's Camaro ZL1

Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ Tony Stewart enjoys driving on the street as well as the track and his sinister-looking Camaro ZL1 reflects the personality of a man nicknamed "Smoke".

Stewart visited the GM Design Centre, in Warren, Michigan, to work with Chevrolet Design Manager Dave Ross to imbue his personality and tastes on the supercharged sports car. The collaboration delivered a custom grey metallic exterior accented with tribal and 'Smoke' graphics in flat red and silver pinstripes. The headlamp lenses were tinted and feature red halo lighting. Custom wheels feature a Piano Black finish and red accents.

Inside, Stewart's ZL1 features Jet Black leather seats with suede inserts and scarlet accent stitching, as well as:
_ Embroidered Tony Stewart signatures on the seats
_ Suede leather door panel inserts and instrument panel wrapping with laser-etched details
_ Jet Black leather door armrests with French stitching and white piping
_ Jet Black suede leather-wrapped steering wheel with scarlet accent stitching
_ Piano Black trim plates and gauge cluster bezel.

The heart of the car is the supercharged 6.2L LSA engine, rated at 580 horsepower, that makes the ZL1 the fastest, most capable Camaro ever, with performance credentials that include:
_ 0-60 mph in four seconds
_ Top speed of 184 mph
_ 11-second quarter-mile ETs (11.93 with the automatic / 11.96 with the manual transmission)
_ Lapped the Nurburgring in 7:41.27.

Guy Fieri's Corvette 427 Convertible Collector Edition
The spiky-haired host of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" in the US has an affinity for Chevy convertibles - he owns a 1968 and 2011 Camaro SS convertible - so his new, personalized soft top just had to come from the Chevy stable, too. Chevrolet selected a 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible Collector Edition.

The 427 Convertible Collector Edition blends elements of the Z06 and ZR1 models to create the fastest and most-capable convertible in Corvette's history. Its heart is the 427-cubic-inch (7.0L) LS7 engine from the Corvette Z06. Rated at 505 horsepower (377 kW) and 470 lb.-ft. of torque (637 Nm), it is the most powerful engine ever installed in a production Corvette convertible - and, like the Z06, the 427 Convertible is only available with a six-speed manual transmission. It also features a dry-sump oiling system.

Fieri's 427 Convertible is finished in black with custom yellow stripes - a twist on the trademark yellow-and-black colour scheme of his other Chevys. The car also features embroidered seat headrests and front guard badges for the Guy Fieri Foundation. It rides on black Cup wheels (19x10-inch front/20x12-inch rear) wrapped in Michelin PS2 tires.

The Stewart Camaro and Fieri Corvette will share space at SEMA with two special Hot Wheels Camaros, one 1967 model created in the style of the 'Custom Camaro' Hot Wheels toy car from 1968 (the debut year for Hot Wheels), and a 2013 Camaro 'Hot Wheels Edition', which will be a limited production upgrade package available in the US. A Camaro ZL1 Touring convertible concept, COPO convertible and a pair of Camaro Performance concepts will also be showcased on the Chevy stand at SEMA.