The Pro-Touring movement has been a major influence on parts development, events and the hot rodding community at large over the past couple of decades, but it all started with someone who thought a 1969 Camaro that could handle better than a modern Corvette would be the ultimate hot rod. We’re talking about Mark Stielo and the first of his famous Camaro builds, the one he called Tri-Tip.

Watch as Marcel and Jason talk about the history of the Pro Touring movement and how it has grown into something more.

Video Description:

Auto Revolution’s Influence & Impact traces the automotive history of custom car and truck builders.

Muscle cars began as mid-sized cars with full-size V8 engines. But the classic pony cars weren’t even close to the modern cars of the 1980s and 90s. It took a GM engineer inspired by the One Lap Race to apply Corvette performance to his “Tri-Tip” Camaro.

Mark Stielow, Kyle Tucker (Detroit Speed DSE), and Hot Rod/Car Craft Editor Jeff Smith took the Pro Street moniker, adopting it to cover all driving aspects of performance muscle cars and trucks, Pro-Touring.

Since then, high-end classic muscle cars with reliable high horsepower LS swaps, coilover suspension, and all of the creature comforts have become the norm.