’71 Chevrolet Camaro Wins 2011 GT Awards’ Best in Show, Coming to Gran Turismo
The 2011 Gran Turismo Awards were held last Thursday night in Las Vegas, and Kazunori Yamauchi himself selected this year’s “Best in Show” winner: a 1971 Chevrolet Camaro, customized and tuned by Mary Pozzi of Salinas, California.
The Camaro beat out an impressive and diverse set of GT Awards finalists in the other categories, including:
- Best Truck/SUV: Casey Scranton’s CGS Performance Ford F150
- Best Domestic Car: Filip Trojanek’s 1966 Widebody Ford Mustang
- Best Asian Import: Mike Mixon’s custom Nissan 370Z
- Best European Import: Mark Arcenal’s custom 1990 Porsche 911 C4
- Best Hot Rod: Marry Pozzi’s custom 1971 Chevrolet Camaro
Mary has been involved with motorsports for many years, and actually drives the car in competitive events. Take a look at this video for more background on Mary’s accomplishments, her thoughts on suspension tuning, and a look at the car in action:
As with previous award winners, the Camaro will be included in the GT franchise at some point in the future, though Kazunori didn’t yet know exactly when that would be when I asked him.
I was personally on hand for the event and toured the SEMA show floor with Kazunori Yamauchi, where he had a surprise encounter with the legendary Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima – the real-world pilot of Gran Turismo’s Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak, and the current world record holder of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, set earlier this year (here’s a video of his 9:51 run).
The GT Awards party was held at the Marquee Nightclub in Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan Hotel, with a special performance by the Stone Temple Pilots. It was an incredible event, and it was great meeting so many GTPlanet readers and community members, North American GT Academy champion Bryan Heitkotter, and GT super-fan Adam Barrera (known in the forums as HondaKid86).
Congratulations to Mary and all the category winners, and thanks to Sony for providing me the opportunity to attend this event!
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Newest comments are displayed first.
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November 14th, 2011 at 10:36 pm - #playnthru
Well I’m wondering, how the suspension will work..Being that car has AirRide ie, bags instead of springs..
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November 14th, 2011 at 1:29 pm - #Badasp5.0
Why not the Production 2012 Ford BOSS 302 it would be a EPIC giant killer in GT5. Or since its SEMA the Ford turn key BOSS302S race cars?
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November 11th, 2011 at 11:07 am - #MasterGT
Jordan: it was a pleasure to meet you and Bryan at SEMA, and I hope to see you there next year, too.
Quite a show, eh?
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November 8th, 2011 at 9:55 pm - #70hemi
i hope they include all of these Award Winners into the game! The custom F-150 would be AWESOME!!!!
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November 8th, 2011 at 9:56 pm - #70hemi
so would the 65 Mustang!
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November 8th, 2011 at 5:19 pm - #Drag Labs 101
I like the Camaro an all but if older American Muscle is possible I’d like to see these…..1977 Oldsmobile 442
1964 Chevy TWO
1968 Chevy Nova SS
1977Trans Am & 1997Trans Am WS6
1972 Ford Gran Torino
1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass
1986 Mustang SVO- 1993 Mustang Cobra- 1970 Mustang Boss………-
November 8th, 2011 at 9:57 pm - #70hemi
don’t forget the Oldest Pony! The 64 1/2 – 65 Mustang GT!!!
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November 8th, 2011 at 4:15 pm - #GT5 X1
If GT5 got Porshe, i would like to drive that carerra( Spelled? ) that has that high pitch engine.
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November 8th, 2011 at 12:05 pm - #hondaryderz
we want some high power FWD drag cars ex… 700-1,200hp Hondas ;)
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November 7th, 2011 at 11:26 pm - #killler526
Nice choice! at least its a Chevy! lol. One question though, Will it be 725,000 CR?
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November 8th, 2011 at 9:58 pm - #70hemi
a few laps on the Ferarri Circuit De La Sarthe Seasonal event would make that money and more in no time!
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November 7th, 2011 at 10:39 pm - #70chevelle8
great choice! Thats my favorite body style camaro, and i love pro touring cars!
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November 7th, 2011 at 6:54 pm - #Chad D.
Well that makes it official, there will be all generations of camaros in Gran Turismo, the only 2 that’ll need to be premium-ized will be the 3rd gen and the 4th gen camaros, of course I couldn’t care less about the 4th gen camaro (I hate the design, it looks nothing like a muscle car), the 3rd gen camaro on the other hand, well, most people have already heard me preach about how much I want that car premium-ized, lol
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November 7th, 2011 at 3:38 pm - #TokoTurismo
I like this camaro. :) Reminds me of “Sega GT 2002″.
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November 7th, 2011 at 10:29 am - #SmileyOr1
That wide bodied Mustang looks good. Take two!
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November 7th, 2011 at 10:04 am - #ohnoitsmeagain
We need more british cars please, i would love to see the old aston’s as premium’s, as well as that car no 1 can spell the Kerningzeg, the car that tryed to kill the stig on british Top Gear ( not british but would love to see it in game ). No aston Race cars whats going on there :(
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November 7th, 2011 at 11:15 am - #tika
The car you try to spell is the Koenigsegg A creation of the mind from the Swede: Christian.V Koenigsegg .
a company how has already three models, the CCX from 2006, the CCXR from 2007 and this years model the Agera.
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November 7th, 2011 at 10:04 am - #A_Higher_Place
Awaiting that interview, Jordan! Haha :)
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November 7th, 2011 at 7:46 am - #TurboProp
Congratulations Mary, can’t wait to drive that Camaro! This would be great in more DLC…
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November 8th, 2011 at 10:01 pm - #70hemi
or if they just add it in like they did with the 2011 NASCARs and the 2011 Schulze Motorsport GT-R.
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November 7th, 2011 at 6:57 am - #FLX1981
Congrats to Mary on the trophy and on her nice ride! I personally would have preferred that ultraincredible widebody Mustang tho…
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November 6th, 2011 at 11:36 pm - #Jamaicangmah
Damn those are some awwsome cars loving that mustang too, it’s a shame they only choose 1. Couldn’t they like take the top 10? Come on Kaz make it happen. :D
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November 6th, 2011 at 11:32 pm - #JVH1982
Hmm, I got a little chuckle when I saw the 1966 Mustang is powered by a GM LS7. Make a nice combo, but I agree, not a fan of the spoiler.
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November 6th, 2011 at 10:19 pm - #hokiefan8686
Man, I sure hope we turn on GT5 one day, go to GT Life, the little music plays for your login and it says the Camaro has been added to the garage.
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how cool will it be if they got all the cars from the awards show ever and put them in the game, just a thought