Each year, the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevrolet dealer group has a custom Chevrolet Camaro done up, which they then give away to a lucky raffle winner.
This year, the Blackhawks Camaro was based on a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible with the GM 10-speed automatic transmission. The winner of the car was Tim Caldwell, a 64-year-old Downers Grove, Illinois Blackhawks fan, who took possession of the car after the 2018-2019 NHL season ended.
Caldwell recently spoke to local publication My Suburban Life about his special Blackhawks-themed convertible, which he entered to win after seeing an ad for the giveaway during commercials for the Blackhawks game.
“It’s a 10-speed automatic,” Caldwell told the website. “It has a 6.2-liter engine, 454 horses. It does zero to 60 in just over four seconds.”
“It’s fast,” he added. “It’s very, very fast. I’m glad I didn’t win when I was 20-some years old.”
In a video for the dealer group, Caldwell explained that he didn’t want to fill out the contest form when he was busy watching the Blackhawks play, so he left himself a memo in his phone and forgot about it. When he woke up the next morning, he remembered that he had intended to enter the contest and filled the form out. Not long after that, he received a message on his answering machine that he had won the car.
This year’s Blackhawks Camaro, customized by Gurnee, Illinois-based aftermarket shop Real Wheels, the same shop that has always built the cars, features a custom, hand-stitched red leather interior with Blackhawks logos throughout, along with the numbers 19 (for Jonathan Toews) and 88 (for Patrick Kane) on the front bumpers.
“I’ve taken it to car shows,” Caldwell said. “Guys with nice cars say, ‘I think you’re crazy for taking it out. This needs to stay in your garage.’”
“Well,” he replies, “what fun is that?”
The car arrived in Caldwell’s life at a perfect time. He recently retired from his job teaching Fire Science at the College of Du Page. Prior to that, he was a 36-year veteran of the Bolingbrook Fire Department.
“I feel very blessed,” he told My Suburban Life. “It’s something you don’t expect.”
You can hear what Caldwell has to say about his car in the video embedded below.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevrolet Camaro news, Chevrolet news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Source: My Suburban Life
Comments
“I think you’re crazy for taking it out. This needs to stay in your garage.”
Those are the absolute worst people in the enthusiast community. It’s an inanimate object built to drive and enjoy, if you bought/acquired it to look at it for 30 years in a garage and then sell it, I pity you. Get a model car hobby.
It’s his to do what he pleases. Why should that matter to you.
Try to focus on positive things.