Base Camaro has higher expectations

When Zac VanDeWater picked up his 1967 Chevy Camaro from Lincoln, Neb., rust was creeping into the body panels and its 327 V-8 had locked up.

But thanks to some sweat equity, Zac was able to get rid of the rust and leave the Camaro with an exterior that rivals any high-dollar restoration.

The Camaro was the next step for a lifelong GM fan who’s owned everything from a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass to a ’63 C-10 to a ’99 and 2000 Camaro SS. Moreover, his father, Greg VanDeWater, owns several first-generation Chevy Blazers. In other words, his family is solidly behind the bow-tie brand.

He always wanted a ’63 split-window Corvette but knew the lofty asking prices dampened the chances of getting one. Moreover, a C-2 Corvette would be a tight squeeze for his 6-foot, 5-inch frame. Because the 26-year-old’s has never kept a car too long, he knew he wanted something he’d be content with in the long run. When he found the car on Craigslist and set off with his father and grandfather Carl Davis to pick up the car, he knew he had a winner.

Zac’s Camaro may not have left the factory with the coveted Z-28 or SS badge, but he got a good price on a base model and plans on using it as a platform for an autocrosser and daily driver with plans to add plenty of power and an upgraded suspension to make things interesting.

“I wanted to make it my own,” he said. “The base model would be fine for what I wanted to do.”

For the moment, it’s using a 307 V-8 from a ’69 Camaro backed by the original two-speed Powerglide transmission. On paper, the 307 makes about 200 horsepower, but Zac will readily admit it doesn’t feel like it. To make the 307 a bit livelier, it has a hotter cam and a four-barrel carb. Still, that’s not enough for Zac, and he’s planning on swapping it to a 6.0-liter V-8 from a truck. He’s also planning on bolting a LS-A supercharger to it, a setup he says should push 500 horsepower. He’s planning on mating that to a 4L80/90E — he wanted a gearbox with overdrive.

The interior is stock, retaining the factory steering wheel and column-mounted shifter. The vinyl interior shows a bit of wear, but nothing that would give away its 50 years.

“It tells a bit of the history of who’s owned it before,” he said.

What’s most striking, of course, is the steel-gray paint job accented with black striping across the front end. It came together thanks to a job Zac had at a body shop he worked at when he lived in Indiana. His boss would let him work on the car when business was a bit slow, and he even had some expert help close by when he needed it.

“I definitely couldn’t have done it by myself,” he said. “I’d like to thank my good friend Ross Fones; my dad, Greg VanDeWater; and my grandpa Carl Davis.”

1967 Chevy Camaro specs*

Engine: 327-cubic-inch (5.4-liter) V-8, OHV
Fuel delivery: Rochester 2 bbl. carburetor
Output: 210 horsepower
Torque: 320 lb./ft.
Transmission: Two-speed Powerglide automatic
Length: 184.7 inches
Wheelbase: 108 inches
Curb weight: 3,069 pounds
0-60 mph: Approximately 9.2 seconds
Top speed: 120 mph

Source: automobile-catalog.com
*specs are for the 1967 327-equipped model with the automatic transmission.

Tiny diesel Rabbit packs huge memories

Ultra-rare classics grab collectors’ attentions, but rarely does a car as once as commonplace as a first-generation Volkswagen Rabbit grace the tarmac these days.

The car that became the successor to the Beetle doesn’t enjoy the same cult following, but it was still the basic transportation for a generation, with the Golf line continuing to this day. An attractive, yet simplistic design, the exterior was penned by ItalDesign and its high-performance GTI derivative became a legend, spawning the hot-hatch genre.

This particular 1978 Rabbit, however, isn’t of the tarted-up GTI variety, but of the miserly, fuel-sipping diesel type. Diesels in compacts have never really caught on in the North American market but were a popular stop-gap measure in the late 1970s following waves of fuel shortages and price spikes.

Ben Reed, who’s owned the car for more than a year now, has come from a family who’s embraced the often-quirky brand — they once owned a 21-window Bus — for its engineering simplicity. While his car wears a shade of green that wouldn’t be out of place in a bowl of Trix, its simplicity belies its paint shade.

“That’s the car I learned how to drive stick in,” he said.

“Everybody’s got a story about a Rabbit.”

The four-speed equipped Rabbit is powered by a 1.5-liter OHC four — a tiny unit that fits loosely in the engine bay allowing for plenty of repair access. The diminutive powerplant’s size is also matched by its tiny output — just 49 horsepower and 59 lb./ft. of torque. Even with the car’s 2,145 curb weight, it’s not much to move the car. However, Reed says the relatively low torque output can make the car feel more spry than the numbers suggest. Zero to 62 mph in the car is quoted as a leisurely 19 seconds on the way to a top speed of nearly 88 mph.

But Reed wasn’t into the numbers when he got this car. It was owned by his grandfather who bought it brand-new from Howard Volkswagen in Beaufort, S.C. His grandfather bought it for his grandmother, with the car having joined a nearly identical gas-powered Rabbit. His grandfather took over driving the car when she didn’t like the car’s smoky exhaust.

His grandfather racked up more than 85,000 miles over the next few years of ownership, using the car as his commuter until he retired. Reed said he found a notebook showing details as minute as refuelings. When his grandfather retired, the car went largely unused; the odometer didn’t tick up much after that.

“I just assumed it was going to have a ton of miles,” Reed said. “It’s pretty incredible, really.”

When Reed grew to driving age, his grandfather offered him the car, but Reed declined. Reed’s interest for the car grew, and when he was in his 20s, Reed asked if he could have the car. This time, his grandfather refused. He wouldn’t get the car until his grandfather passed away a year and a half ago — nearly a decade and a half after he was first given the opportunity to have it.

Reed has kept the car largely stock, save for a few small modifications like a manual glow plug switch that helps it on cold days. In fact, the car wears a surface-level amount of rust and patina on the lime-green paint job that he’s not willing to repaint. It even has the original dealer sticker on the rear hatch.

Despite its family history and sentimental value, Reed’s not afraid to drive it. He’s taken it on a couple trips to Charlotte, N.C., and he’s even used it on trips to the dump. With the car’s prodigious cargo capacity, it’s easy to see why it’d be a good choice for a utility vehicle.

Of course, Reed’s not planning on selling the car. He has decades worth of memories stored up in it, like trips to his grandparents’ homes and trips to the hardware store.

“Everybody’s got a story about a Rabbit,” he said.

VW Rabbit Diesel specs

Type: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, five-door hatchback
Length: 155.3 inches
Wheelbase: 94.5 inches
Curb weight: 1,750 pounds − 2,145 pounds
Engine: 1.5-liter single overhead cam diesel inline four
Output: 49.6 horsepower @ 5,000 rpm
Torque: 59 lb./ft. @ 3,000 rpm
0-62 mph: 19 seconds
Top speed: 87.6 mph
Observed fuel economy: 36.2 mpg

This Monte Carlo gets a bit racy

One look at Kevin Wiles’ 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo, and you’d swear it had no business being on the streets. The Monte, nicknamed the Coke Machine, is a faithful reproduction of a stock car driven by Bobby Allison for the 1972 NASCAR season.

If highway patrol were to stop him, however, they’d find out it’s perfectly street legal while maintaining a race car look that leaves no detail out.

The story of this Monte Carlo starts back when Wiles was 5 years old. His uncle gave him a 1970 Monte Carlo, of which he’s still the proud owner. It was a car that got him through high school as his daily driver, but one that he keeps safely in his garage most of the time.

Meanwhile, about 15 years ago, he bought a complete 1972 Monte for just $300 from an owner in Dallas, Georgia. Originally bought as a parts car, he mulled what to do with it.

“For a while, I played with the idea of restoring it into a regular street car,” Wiles said.

Before long, he had a vision of building it into a tribute of Allison’s 1972 Grand National Series Monte Carlo.

“I didn’t want to stick some stickers on a street car and call it a NASCAR replica,” Wiles said. “I wanted to go all the way.”

And he sweated nearly every detail.

From the front, the headlights are hidden behind a couple of steel plates and can be removed to make it street legal. The turn signals are mounted behind the grille. The car was lowered to race specs, which necessitated him cutting into the fenders so the huge tires could fit into the wheel wells.

“I worked slowly and methodically,” he said.

Underneath the body is a roll cage that stretches the entire length of the vehicle, even wrapping around the engine up front.

Since the doors would have been welded shut and the windows would have been removed on the race version, Wiles had to get creative. He was able to keep the original windows behind a steel door panel that uses the stock window frame at the top of the door. Even though the door opens normally, getting in and out requires a bit of flexibility since the roll cage is nearly as tall as the door. Picture the Dukes of Hazard, and you get the idea.

Out front is a Chevy 427-cubic-inch V-8 backed by a four-speed manual sourced from a Chevelle. The car was originally a 350 with a three-speed auto, so he had to look around to find a period-correct displacement that would work with his budget. The engine breathes mufflers to keep things street legal.

The car is completely devoid of any creature comforts — no air conditioning, heat or radio. There are just two racing seats — he didn’t want to build a street car with just one — and the necessary gauges and switches.

“It’s about as basic a setup as you can get,” he said.

He spent years finding the right decals, and one graphics shop even donated several. Wiles even called Allison himself to find out what shade of red was used in the car. In the end, he went with a shade he found on a 1970s Coca-Cola machine.

Bobby Allison signs Wiles’ Monte Carlo.

Bobby Allison signs Wiles’ Monte Carlo.What really caps this project off nicely is it bears the signature of both Allison and his crew chief, Junior Johnson.

He found both NASCAR legends at the Mountain Moonshine Festival in Dawsonville, Georgia. It’s all the more unlikely an occurrence since both men have nursed a public feud for decades going back to the 1972 season, the only one where they worked together.

Wiles chatted with Allison about his memories from that year, but Johnson was conspicuously silent about the car and his memories. Fortunately, he was able to get a signature from both men.

“(Johnson) didn’t say much and disappeared into the crowd,” Wiles said.

At the festival, Allison was the grand marshall and led a parade with his 1983 Buick championship car. Wiles was invited to roll behind him with the Monte Carlo. Behind the Monte was Johnson in his 1940 Ford.

“I was sandwiched between two NASCAR legends,” Wiles said. “I felt like a superstar.”

As for the 1970 Monte Carlo, it’s a car Wiles tries to keep as original as possible. It was painted years ago, but he said it’s due for another paint job soon.

“This one I keep as original as possible,” he said. “I want it to be like it rolled off the assembly line.”

It’s a car that he never wants to sell. As for his ’72 Monte Carlo, he’s not sure if he’ll keep it.

“If I ever mention the prospect of selling it, (my children) get defensive,” he said.

1970 & 1972 CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO FACTS

Base price (1970): $3,123 ($19,077 today)
Base price (1972): $3,362 ($19,063 today)
Curb weight: 3,400-3,500 pounds
Wheelbase: 116 inches
Length: 205.8 inches
Engine: 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) V-8, OHV
Output: 300 horsepower (1970), 175 horsepower (1972)
Torque: 380 lb./ft. (1970), 280 lb./ft (1972)
0-60 mph: 7.5 seconds (1970), 10.3 (1972)
Quarter-mile: 16.1 seconds (1970), 17.6 (1972)

Source: Classic Car Database, automobile-catalog.com

2018 Blue Ridge Fest

The 2018 Blue Ridge Fest is one of my favorite cruise-ins, notably because the number and variety of cars that show up. Everyone loves a ’67-’69 Camaro, Tri-Five Chevy or Mustang, but how often do you see an AMC Ambassador or ’40 Ford Woodie?

In that spirit, here are a few photos from the fest; click here for a lot more! Be sure to like The Motor Mouth’s Facebook page for all the updates.