Introducing the Mud-Maro, the dirtiest, muddiest monster truck Camaro conversion we’ve ever seen.
Mud bogging isn’t exactly something we see a whole lot of here on Hot Cars, but sometimes have to acknowledge that this dirty sect of off-road enthusiasts can create some amazing vehicles.
This particular model is from Chris Highman of Olivers, California. He showed it off to Hoonigans AutoFocus at this year’s LS Fest, a festival which celebrates GM’s range of LS crate engines and the insane things one can do with them.
As you can see, Highman’s creation is not designed for the open road where cleanliness is close to godliness. Instead, it’s designed to get down in the mud with the rest of the speed demons for a good old side-by-side mud drag race, kicking up filth for hundreds of feet in every direction.
It took Highman 30 days to build the Mud-Maro, also known as the Honky Donk. To start, he purchased an old H1 chassis for roughly $1,500. Then a rusted out ‘69 Camaro body for about 50 bucks. Slap the two together and you’re basically halfway there.
Next came the LS1 V8 engine, which when combined with a Precision turbo and a 100cc-shot of nitrous produces about 650 horsepower. The real trick is under the chassis, where a custom suspension and chassis gives this Camaro a few feet of lift. A PFC rear-steer kit gives this car manual all-wheel-steering that's controlled by a joystick mounted in the cabin where you'd normally see a drift machine's handbrake. The nitrous button is mounted right in the middle of that stick.
The back has been mostly stripped out save for a roll cage and a rusty back seat covered in mud and garbage. You get the sense that Highman leaves it that way just because it completes the Mud-Maro’s rusted-out look.
Thanks to the all-wheel-steering, the Mud-Maro is very capable of performing some tight donuts and maneuvering in deep mud like it was nothing. Check out the video above for some insane footage of this car in action.