Santa Fe Springs, Calif. (Nov, 2011) – Hotchkis Suspension is well known for choosing the best materials for its components and the best cars and drivers to test those parts, so it came as no surprise when H-Team member Mary Pozzi and her Hotchkis-equipped Camaro drew a crowd to the Hotchkis booth during the jam-packed 2011 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas.
Hotchkis chose the orange and carbon fiber 1972 Camaro to display its new 3-link rear suspension system after working with Mary and David Pozzi during the R&D process. Mary’s Camaro caught the eye of Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of the legendary racing simulator Gran Turismo, and the Hotchkis “H-Team” was on hand the next day during the ninth annual Gran Turismo Awards at the Marquee Nightclub in the Cosmopolitan Hotel when Mary’s car was chosen as “Best in Show,” which means the Camaro will be a playable car in the game and driven virtually by millions of fans across the globe.
“We have been working with Mary for years now, and we are consistently blown away by her automotive knowledge, skill behind the wheel, and her craftsmanship during the build process,” says Hotchkis founder, John Hotchkis. “We can’t think of a better representative for Hotchkis and the whole Pro-Touring movement than Mary’s ’73 Camaro and we can’t wait to see the car in Gran Turismo.”
The accolades didn’t end for Mary and Hotchkis after the awards ceremony. The weekend after SEMA was the famed Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, in which very best SEMA show cars compete on track at Spring Mountain Raceway in four distinct arenas (autocross, speed/stop, road course and engineering) for the title of Ultimate Street Car. Mary finished 5th out of 52 cars overall and took 2nd place behind a highly modified new Corvette Z06 in the Autocross portion of the event, an incredible result against many purpose-built racecars.
The Optima Event will be shown this coming spring and fans of Gran Turismo should be able to get behind the wheel of Mary’s Camaro in the later part of 2012.
About Hotchkis Performance
Founded by former professional racecar drivers and national champions, Hotchkis Performance was one of the first to design and track test performance suspension for muscle cars. Nearly two decades later, Hotchkis remains dedicated to high-quality, track-tested, suspension that is Made in the USA with domestic materials. Dare to Compare: Hotchkis offers complete bolt-on systems that are designed in-house and rigorously track tested for maximum performance, strength and value. Each system is tuned for high performance handling, a sporty yet comfortable ride and improved traction on the street and track. Don’t settle for pieced-together systems or foreign sourced parts. The Hotchkis Philosophy is simple: Buy it once, bolt it on, and have fun! To preview the entire line of Hotchkis Sport Suspension parts and components, please visit www.Hotchkis.net, email sales@hotchkis.net, or contact Hotchkis Performance, 8633 Sorensen Ave, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670, 877-4-NOROLL.