Motor Trend’s reporter Jessi Lang, still recovering from a horrific accident that happened to her last year, decided to celebrate her return to work with one serious – and potentially dangerous – drive. She went to Laguna Seca to sample an original 1969 Camaro Z/28 Trans Am race car.

This is a brutal, loud and fast machine with 500 horsepower and no electronic safety system to harness it. But Jessi handles this bad boy like a boss. You could say she puts the ‘hot’ in these hot laps!

The spirit of this 1969 Camaro Z/28 Trans Am lives on in the 2014 Camaro Z/28 which is the first muscle car capable of holding its own against European sports cars. The new Z/28 has already beaten cars like Porsche 911 and Audi R8 at the Nurbugring, and it has a lot of potential for getting better and better.