Model Specific Discussions > Trans-Am Camaros
Street Legal 69 A/S Camaro
exracer29:
Jon,
I have been a member/ lurker since 2011 and have fallen in love with the Trans-Am forum. There is so much awesome history and photos here. I have been wanting to build a Trans-Am style car for the street since the late 1980's early 1990's when Hot Rod magazine did a spread on one of the Penske 68's. This was long before "Pro Touring" came along, but I always thought it would be cool to do.
Around the time I joined I was doing a frame up restomod 1968 Camaro that I bought from my brother. It was built with some vintage Trans-Am influence but in the back of my mind I knew I would end up selling it back to my brother (which I did) so I didnt get too wild with it. The "Pro Touring" thing is now in top gear, but the expense of building one is out of my reach. So, since alot of the PT guys look to Trans-Am as the Grandfather of the trend, I figured building a new car with vintage technology would be a lot cheaper, so that is what I've set out to do.
Before I go much further however, I wanted to know if you would like me to continue here with a new thread, or if you would prefer I reply the the older existing thread on Street Trans Am cars. Also, this is only my fourth post, and I know some forums wont let new members post photos until they have a certain amount of posts.
Anyhoo- let me know if you prefer I continue with the new thread or the existing one and I will post some pics and see what the folks here think.
Thanks
Dean
Jon Mello:
Dean,
Thanks for posting and I'm glad you are a fan of the forum. It sounds like you have a project that many here would enjoy seeing. I appreciate you asking the questions that you did and I think posting your pics and info in this thread is just fine. I look forward to what you have to share.
exracer29:
Jon- thanks for the reply.
As I said I love this forum and as I was born in 1968 the series in its original configuration was long gone by the time I became interested in cars. But since that Hot Rod issue, I have spent considerable time pondering how to build a street legal version of a T/A car. Of course once the internet hit, then-wow, information overload.
So, I went at the project as if I was actually building a privateer car for myself to race had I been in my 20s or 30s in 1972ish. What I ended up doing was going for a circa early '70 era car, maybe '72 or so. A 2-3 year old car from a junkyard at that time would have been cheap and used parts plentiful.
It would be far less expensive to build an independent car than trying to build a factory "clone" as I wouldnt have to mortgage my house for a crossram intake or minilite wheels for example.
Around this time last year I located a '69 Firebird in Montrose, Colorado. It was pretty beat up but the tub itself looked pretty good. The drive train and interior were long gone and the price was substantially less than a '69 Camaro would have been in the same condition. I live in Arizona so I bought it basically unseen other than photos on Craigslist. Around the same time I found a complete 1969 Camaro front clip in Montrose as well for dirt cheap. So, I was on my way. I got the car to Phoenix and started the transformation into a 1969 Camaro. I replaced the tail light panel with a 69 Camaro piece and replaced the 'bird quarters with Camaro ones, and voila' 1969 Camaro.
I have done all the work on the car myself in my garage and with a pretty tight budget, but going back to the original concept of an independent entry, I think it looks pretty good and captures the spirit of the series pretty well. This car is a tribute to the series and is a completely fictional car. Its not a "clone" at all. I took the plethora of information garnered from this forum and photo downloads from the internet and combined several tidbits from different cars into mine.
exracer29:
68 I did for my brother
exracer29:
sorry- photo posting takes getting used to. engine pic in previous post is from my current car. addtl pics of current car
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page