Robert Downey Jr. Built A Captain America Camaro For Chris Evans

Jay Leno's Garage, the "Steve Rogers" 1967 Camaro

(Image credit: (CNBC screenshot))

Not only has the actor Robert Downey Jr. collected some major cash during his ten years and nine appearance as Iron Man, but RDJ also seems to resemble his alter-ego more and more all the time. Tony Stark is known to roll up in a beautifully badass car, and Downey has a lavish car collection of his own. The Iron Man star shared his love of cars with co-star Chris Evans, by crafting a custom built 1967 Camaro RS for him. With Evans' car soon being featured on an upcoming episode of Jay Leno's Garage, SpeedKore vice president, David Salvaggio, who worked closely with Downey on rebuilding the car, revealed details about Cap's sweet ride. In his words:

We've done three cars for Robert. This was actually the first one. And the whole goal of this vehicle was to give it to Chris Evans as a gift in the end.

The Camaro was shipped to Atlanta, the location where the actors were filming Avengers: Infinity War and was presented to Chris Evans as a gift. David Salvaggio said that Robert Downey Jr. was really involved in the build, with a particular vision about how he wanted the '67 Camaro "Steve Rogers" Special Edition to look. The car is inspired by the iconic character that Evans had played since 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger. The color of the car is what David Salvaggio called a "melted army man green" with a distressed brown leather interior reminiscent of the leather jacket Steve Rogers wears while fighting in World War II. Plus the steering wheel features Captain America's shield in the center. Check out Salvaggio showing off the car to Jay Leno ahead of the episode of Jay Leno's Garage:

As Jay Leno tested the car out, David Salvaggio said that Chris Evans wasn't really a "car guy" before, but this tasteful gift from Robert Downey Jr. is turning him into one. The actor drives the Camaro three to four times a week in his home of Massachusetts. On an episode of Jay Leno's Garage, Chris Evans will be learn some stunt driving in the "Steve Rogers" and do an "epic" burnout in the car.

This thoughtful gift from Robert Downey Jr. comes in part from the actor riding high on a long list of heroes who have helped make the MCU a hugely successful franchise. RDJ played the first hero in the MCU when he debuted his Iron Man in 2008. He was reportedly paid $10 million for his supporting role in Spider-Man: Homecoming, so the star is no doubt swimming in cash. When he spreads the love with gratuities like this, it feels strangely close to when Tony upgraded Peter Parker's suit with state-of-the-art Stark technology.

You can catch Chris Evans with the "Steve Rogers" on Jay Leno's Garage on August 30 at 10pm on CNBC.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.