Florida’s most-blinged Camaro ZL1 brings out the haters in force

To paraphrase Rene Magritte, this is not a car. Yes, it is a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 convertible, and it has an engine which can turn those 30-inch Forgiato gold saucers into forward motion. But the transformation by a Tampa tuning shop into what it calls the King ZL1 has placed the Camaro into the kind of debate heard around avant-garde galleries: Is it a piece of art, or a piece of garbage?

Built and shown by 813 Customs, the King ZL1 follows a similar effort on a less-powerful King Camaro unveiled earlier this year. Both required a near-complete teardown and reassembly, with bespoke fiberglass dash and door pieces to handle a Radio Shack's worth of speakers and monitors, including the three 23-inch TVs that pop up from the back seat. The outside gets a gold-chrome vinyl wrap, and the 6.2-liter V-8 also gets a brace of upgrades, such as a Whipple supercharger, that can never be used in anger thanks to custom-painted 30-inch Forgiato Maschili wheels that make the Camaro like Lolo Jones running hurdles in spike heels.