The Classic Industries Retail Showroom is always busy with customers browsing our catalogs and picking up restoration parts for their project cars and trucks. Many of these customers are Southern California locals, but quite a few others stop by while visiting from other states or even other countries. However, last week our showroom received an extra-special visitor: Dave Kunz from ABC7 Eyewitness News. Dave and his film crew took a look behind the scenes at Classic Industries and interviewed company founder and CEO Jeff Leonard.

Marking the first year of the first generation of the Chevrolet Camaro, 1967 was the year that started it all. More than 50 years later, the Camaro is still a legend, and the appearance of these early examples remains just as elegant as it was back then.

Although you may not think about it, the dashboard in your Camaro takes a beating. It's continually baking in brutal sunlight and heat focused through the windshield. The dash pad is expected to survive decades of continual UV exposure and heat cycles. The polymers used in modern cars are pretty resilient, but today's formulations are much more advanced than they were back in the 1960s and 1970s. This combination of harsh conditions and older polymer construction has led to an inevitable problem: dash pad deterioration. So, today we'll address how to replace a worn-out Camaro dash pad.

The term "shadetree mechanic" is used to refer to a do-it-yourselfer or tinkerer who works on vehicles, often at home in a driveway, garage, or literally under the shade of a tree. We've sometimes heard this term used with a negative connotation, implying that a hobbyist could be under-qualified and might be doing more harm than good by making repairs. However, we've seen firsthand that many of these so-called shadetree classic car restoration projects turn out great. In some cases, the care and attention to detail put into these home builds rivals the work produced by experienced professional shops.

Unassuming "sleeper" cars can be a lot of fun, since it's always entertaining to surprise onlookers by achieving impressive horsepower and performance in an otherwise ordinary-looking vehicle. However, it can be just as much fun to build a vehicle that has no qualms about showing off its potential for the world to see. Much like a venomous snake with brightly-colored stripes that tell predators "don't mess with me", these raucous cars send a loud and clear message about their potential.

As the years pass, many classic cars diverge from their stock form. Often this is due to the inevitable wear and tear on original components from driving or exposure to the elements. Instead of sourcing original-style reproduction parts, some owners will take their cars in a different direction and begin making modifications. While there's certainly nothing wrong with modding a car to make it your own, we also enjoy seeing classics restored to exactly as they looked when they rolled off the assembly line.

Many of the restored classic cars that show up in our Retail Showroom parking lot are driven frequently, and this fact always makes us smile. After all, while these timeless vehicles look great standing still, they're truly at their best in motion. The men and women who originally designed and built them intended them to be driven, so we're glad to play our part in making sure that's still happening several decades after these cars and trucks rolled off the assembly line.

By 1973, the Camaro had long since established itself as a fun and engaging vehicle, but Chevrolet was looking to expand the appeal of this successful model even further. For some drivers, a hardcore track machine was less attractive than one with more focus on comfort and refinement. In pursuit of a trim package that would draw in these buyers, Chevy developed the 1973 Camaro Type LT. This shift in direction was especially relevant considering the increasing emissions restrictions of the early '70s.

Michael Williams, of Ontario, California, has owned this 1969 Camaro RS convertible for more than four decades. He originally bought the car back in 1977, and quickly fell in love with its timeless style and open-air driving experience.

Walking through the SEMA Show in Las Vegas is an overwhelming experience. Each year, the show fills the Las Vegas Convention Center (and its outdoor parking lots) with thousands of custom cars, trucks, and motorcycles of every kind. Whether you're into modern muscle cars, meticulously-restored classics, lowriders, trucks, pro-touring resto-mod builds, or any other subset of the automotive culture, you'll find countless examples of vehicles that fit your favorite theme.