Can you imagine being the man in charge of one of the most iconic nameplates on the planet? Sounds awesome and stressful all at the same time, but Chief Engineer for the Camaro, Al Oppenheiser gets to live out that scenario every day. The Block recently interviewed Oppenheiser about his job, his hobby, and his passion – all of which happen to bear the Camaro moniker.

I actually had the chance to meet Oppenheiser last spring when we were invited to drag test the ZL1 in Indianapolis. What I took away from my conversations with him is the exact same thing that The Block’s interview reflects –Oppenheiser is a car-guy to the core.  

One of the best lines from the interview is when Oppenheiser talks about when he was working on developing the 5^th Gen at the same time he was restoring his own ’68 Camaro convertible. He tells the reporters from The Block, “You know, there was a time I was working on the 2010 Camaro, during the day, and I’d come home and work on the ’68 at night. So I was working on Camaros ’round the clock. Occasionally I’d fall asleep on the garage floor about 2 o’clock in the morning. My wife had a series of shoes at the back door she’d throw to wake me up. She’d say “You gotta get up and go to work on the new one!” I live and breathe it. And that’s why I’ve got a dream job.”

Read The Block’s full interview with Oppenheiser here.