This year marks a historic event for General Motors: the Chevrolet Camaro 50th anniversary. It's a little hard to believe that a car we've come to love so much has been around for five whole decades, but that's certainly not to say it's washed-up by any means. Far from it, in fact—from first-generation to sixth-generation, the Camaro remains an American icon and an important part of our car culture.

Sometimes, we see classic vehicles restored in one fell swoop—a car rolls into a restoration shop off a flatbed truck or trailer, then roars away under its own power a few months later. However, this night-and-day transformation isn't always possible. In some cases, the vehicle's owner drives it every day, and must gradually work to restore it piece by piece.

The term resto-mod is a portmanteau or blend of the words "restoration" and "modification". As you might imagine, resto-modded vehicles run the gamut from lightly modified classic cars to vehicles which have had almost every component replaced with modern parts. The beauty of a resto-mod is that you may not know which category the vehicle falls into at first glance—it can still look like a classic, even if it performs like a brand-new car.

Whether it's a 1967 or a 2016, we love Camaro models of every model year and generation. So, when we saw this tastefully modified 2011 Camaro convertible pull into our Showroom parking lot, we wanted to get a closer look. It turns out that the owners of this car—Claude and Gayle Lynn, of Rapid City, South Dakota—have driven it over 1,300 miles to end up here in southern California.

Seeing a beautifully-restored classic Camaro always makes us smile, because we know that it took a lot of hard work to get it looking brand new again. That's certainly the case with Jay Arter's white 1969 Camaro convertible, seen here. Jay has owned the car for 23 years, and to say it was rough when he bought it would be an understatement.

This stunning 1969 Camaro convertible rolled up to our Retail Showroom, and its cool blue paint caught our attention immediately, sparkling in the California sun. So, we walked out to chat with the owner, Monte Greenspan, of Anaheim, California. Monte was happy to show us the car, and tell us a little more about its story.

What's bright green, bulging with muscle, and exudes pure aggression? Comic book and movie fans will probably reply "The Incredible Hulk", and they wouldn't be wrong. However, in this case, there's another answer to this question: Mike Williams' 1973 Camaro Z28. This heavily-customized Chevy looks seriously ticked off and ready to smash the opposition.

For younger guys like Andres Vasquez, of Santa Ana, California, the rising value of classic muscle cars can make it difficult to find a project vehicle that's affordable. This is especially true of iconic models like the '70 Camaro Z28. Over the last few decades, the value of these cars has skyrocketed.