Me Time

Taking a break from customers’ cars, this builder created his personal dream ride

- Joe Greeves

For most enthusiasts, building a precisely tailored dream car is normally a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The demands on your time, tools, and talent along with the strain on your checkbook make it as rare as it is exciting. For others however, it happens with some regularity. Builders in the custom car business know that the best way to showcase the talents of the shop is to create a rolling calling card. Their high-performance works of art attract attention everywhere they go and give potential customers a detailed look at both the imagination and craftsmanship of the team. That’s the way it works at Classic Muscle Motor Company (CMMC) in Daytona Beach, Florida. Owner Paul Newman has created numerous automotive works of art over the years, each enjoyed for a while and then sold to fund the next shop project. This elegant Pro Touring 1969 Camaro is the latest example.

Paul found the car locally about four years ago. It needed quarter-panels and a lot of careful sheetmetal work to bring the body to the point where customizing could begin. Paul likes starting with a blank slate. It gives him the opportunity to apply creativity to every inch, whether it’s a distinctive overhead console, an ignition switch concealed in the ashtray, or squeezing in ultra-wide tires without eliminating the back seat. The underlying goal for the Camaro was a combination of subtlety and innovation that displayed the talents of the CMMC team.