Wade Sundeen’s 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Synergy Special Edition is rare.
By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
Wade Sundeen learned at a young age to look for unique cars. Now he is the proud owner of a car that is so unique, someday it may be in a museum.
Sundeen has owned property at Lake Panorama since 2003. He designed and built his current home on a finger of Burchfield Cove and moved into it in 2005. He had started a painting and decorating business in 1990 and retired in September 2023.
Wade Sundeen’s Chevrolet Camaro sports a special gas cap that was a dealer-installed option and is one of only 61 manufactured.
“I practically grew up in a body shop. I’ve worked on a lot of Camaros, Mustangs, Corvettes, Monte Carlos, Chevelles,” Sundeen says. “I used to buy and restore cars, then sell and start on something new. But, this car is different.”
Sundeen says it was a Sunday in November 2023 when he saw this car for sale on a social media site. He was immediately interested because of the striking green color. The owner lived in Omaha. Sundeen made a call and asked a few questions. The next day, he made a visit to Billy Hummel, who owns Hummel Auto Body in Panora.
“I showed Billy the car, and he said I should go get it as fast as I could,” Sundeen says. “My neighbor across the cove, Peg Carr, went with me to get it and drove my truck back home.”
The car is a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Synergy Special Edition. Finished in the distinctive Synergy Green Metallic paint, the limited production model was available in controlled numbers with only 2,425 produced. Yet, Sundeen’s car is even rarer.
“These cars have a V6, 304 horsepower engine that produces more horsepower than most previous V8 engines,” Sundeen says. “Just 465 of the 2,425 produced were made with six-speed manual transmission. Of those, only 227 were equipped with both a manual gearbox and a sunroof.”
The vanity plates on Wade Sundeen’s Chevrolet Camaro indicate the car was built in 2010 and sports Synergy Green Metallic paint.
“I’m just the third owner,” Sundeen says. “The original owners had it for 12 years and put about 4,000 miles on it. The second owner had it for two years. He said the car had never been driven in snow and was in rain only twice. He bought it for his son to drive, but the son didn’t like the manual transmission. They put about 5,000 miles on it.”
At the time of purchase, the car had 9,400 miles on it.
“I drove it 140 miles to get it home, and I made one trip to Boone in it,” Sundeen says. “I haven’t taken it to any car shows, but if I ever do, I’ll put it on a trailer to transport. I want to keep the mileage below 10,000.”
Once Sundeen got the car to his garage, he wanted to do everything possible to bring it back to the same condition it would have been coming off the production line. The car’s “born on” date is April 15, 2010.
“The original owner had bumped a curb and done some damage to the front facia,” Sundeen says. “It had been repaired with a piece that was from a different Camaro model. I knew I wanted it to look original.”
Billy Hummel stepped back in to do the body work.
“It took him many tries to find the perfect color match,” Sundeen says. “The paint features both pearl and metallic particles that combine to make the color so unique and distinctive. It’s a difficult color to match.”
When Hummel’s frontend repair was complete, Sundeen took over.
“I worked on the car in my garage for an entire winter,” he says. “I jacked it up and took out every nut and bolt I could get at to clean and polish before putting it back together. For the body, I spent four weeks just buffing and hand rubbing the finish to get it just right.”
Once a month, Sundeen pulls the car out of its climate-controlled garage and drives up and down his short driveway five or six times. He also turns on the air conditioner once a month.
“Even though I’m not driving it on the road, I still need to keep things in working condition,” he says.
The car has its original battery and tires. It sports a special gas cap that was a dealer-installed option and is one of only 61 manufactured.
Sundeen has two three-ring binders filled with information about both his specific Chevrolet Camaro Synergy and the car in general. In one of the binders, he documents all the time and effort he spent restoring the car plus what he continues to do to maintain its current condition. The second binder is filled with promotional flyers, magazine stories, photos, dealer materials and other information related to this 2010 car.
“I’ve never enjoyed a car as much as this one,” Sundeen says. “I think the main reason is because of the color. It changes all the time, depending on how the light hits it. I don’t want to drive it. I enjoy having it in pristine condition.”
It is interesting to note that two of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Synergy Special Edition cars manufactured are owned by Lake Panorama residents. Bill Kelly, who lives on the lake’s west side, has the same make, model and colored car as Sundeen. Kelly purchased his in 2015 with 30,000 on the odometer and now has 98,000 miles on it. In an interview a year ago, Kelly said, “I just like to drive it.”
Sundeen belongs to a group of Synergy car collectors.
“I’ve talked with other collectors, and I know my car is incredibly rare. That’s because only 227 of this particular model were produced, but also because of its low mileage. I think someday this will be in a museum or a top collector’s display.”
But, for now, Sundeen doesn’t have any plans to sell the car.
“I just love owning this car,” he says. n