Camaro’s Lineage
The Camaro is a pinnacle platform in the muscle car world. Chevrolet watched as Ford released the Mustang in 1965, and could not wait around. The first glimpse of the Camaro was shown in 1966 at a press preview in Detroit, and then shortly after put into production. Since 1966, the Camaro has been a staple in the muscle car community, with many iterations keeping it at the top of it’s class. When the 6th generation of Camaro was released, they didn’t hold back.
From the factory, the ZL1 is a pure-bred track monster, boasting a whopping 650 horsepower, a 6-speed manual transmission, and too many aero components to list that keep you planted down in the corners. With a top speed of 198 mph, and a 0-60 time in around 3.5 seconds, this ZL1 is an all-around performance package. In 2017, the ZL1 1LE laid down a blistering time of 7;16.04 around the Nurburgring, bringing it far ahead of it’s competition. Ever since then, the Camaro continues to be a fan-favorite amongst many enthusiasts. This is Alex Murray’s 2019 Camaro ZL1 1LE.
The Breakdown
This ZL1 is far from ordinary. It bolsters a fully built powertrain built by Katech, located in Clinton Twp, Michigan, to transform this “ordinary” Camaro ZL1 into a 1000 horsepower sophisticated track weapon.
Alex’s ZL1 features a very unique build under the hood. The 6.2 liter V8 was removed, and completely torn down to get a brand new top end. The cylinder heads were ported, decked, and supplied with competition valves. Katech also added a list of their own in-house built upgrades, such as their LT4 “Track Day” camshaft, billet VVT delete front cover kit, 103mm throttle body, and a C5R timing chain. The power doesn’t stop there. Katech included bigger injectors, headers, a full exhaust system, and a Magnuson 2650 supercharger.
Katech then added in a full front-to-back fuel system by DSX. All this power has to get to the ground, so a triple disc clutch by Monster Clutches was clearly necessary, along with a billet steel flywheel. All of this power ran on E-85 put down just over 1,000whp on the chassis dyno. A multitude of fine-tuning was done including an aftermarket boost gauge by P3, an 80mm upper supercharger pulley, a full Roto-Fab Big-Gulp intake, and an oil catch can by MightyMouse.
Obtaining The ZL1
Alex Murray picked up this ZL1 secondhand online with 5000 miles in North Carolina. The car was completely stock besides a full PPF, a catback exhaust, and Roto-Fab intake. He drove it 5 hours back home, “I was about sick of the harsh ride, but absolutely in love with it regardless.” Murray brought the car down to LS Fest in 2024 and at the same time he started collecting parts to do some upgrades to his ZL1. Murray met with Katech at LS Fest for some potential upgrades to his car, and then shortly after made the choice to set up an appointment to have it built.
While calling into Katech, out of pure coincidence, Alex recognized the salesman, Rick Spencer. Rick and Alex have history together in the SXS community. Murray dropped his car off at Katech soon after, and the rest is history.
