World of Wheels: SEMA 2009: Chevy unleashed five custom Camaros in Las Vegas, including a turbo V6 for Jay Leno

Chevrolet rolled into Las Vegas, Nevada for the annual SEMA Convention this week and promptly pulled the covers off of five Camaro concepts.

Chief among them was a version of the reborn muscle car made for TV host and car guy Jay Leno. His car is powered by a twin-turbocharged version of the 3.6L direct injected V6 that is standard on the Camaro.

Blowing through a custom air-to-air intercooler, the turbos force-feed the engine about seven pounds of boost, lifting its horsepower to about 425. GM says that’s “about 40 percent greater than stock and in normal driving (when the turbochargers aren’t making boost), there’s virtually no penalty in fuel economy over the non-turbocharged 3.6L engine.”

“Jay’s Camaro offers style, performance and efficiency in a big way,” said Brent Dewar, vice president, global Chevrolet brand. “It delivers the power of a Camaro SS on demand, but with the fuel economy of a V6.”

The powertrain was bolted together primarily with road racing in mind. Upgrades to support the turbo system include a larger-capacity radiator, a custom exhaust system and a new clutch and pressure plate for the six-speed manual transmission. The tubing for the turbo system is powder-coated blue.

The exterior styling of Leno’s car is the most radical of all the Camaro concepts at SEMA. The front fascia, grilles, hood and ground effects package are one-off creations. Functional brake cooling ducts have been added in front of the rear wheels.

The other Camaro concepts on hand largely showcased customization options available from your local Chev dealer: The Camaro Synergy concept revealed a new, limited-production exterior colour for spring 2010; The Camaro Chroma, is an SS-based concept previewing accessories coming down the pipe; The Camaro Dusk, tries for a contemporary look with high-technology; and finally, the Camaro Graphics shows off six proposed graphics packages, with online voting to gauge interest in their production.

GM is also proud to point out that at SEMA, “the popularity of a new car can be easily judged by the number of ‘tuner’ versions used by various companies to showcase their latest products; and the Camaro is our runaway hit this year, with countless examples displaying everything from mild styling accessories to wild performance modifications.”