More Issues
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- August 2011
Take Three
They say home décor should be good for 10-15 years. Longer than that, and your olive-colored appliances and golden oak cabinets are starting to look dated. As a result, fashion-forward homeowners redo their home several times over the years. Many hot rodders do the same thing to keep up with changing trends; wheel diameters change, technology advances and teal paint with pink splash graphics goes out of style. Other hot rods get hard use over many years to the point of being used up, such that they need to be refreshed, and emerge with up-to-date build sheets out of necessity.
The COMP Cams Camaro is a case of the latter; it was first built in the late ‘90s as a tribute to Scooter Brothers’ trophy-winning Super Stock ’69 drop top. The car you see was picked up in 1998, put together to conquer the then-new Hot Rod Power Tour, show off the latest in hot rod goodies, and cause general vehicular mayhem. It completed all tasks admirably, with its coil-overs, four-wheel discs and SB2 small block. The Camaro racked up thousands of miles and as many stories, the best including the car falling out of a trailer. And not just like, “oh dang it slipped off the ramp,” like “we’re driving 70mph and the car rolled out of the trailer and caught itself by the header collector flanges.” Can you imagine the carnage of an unmanned 1969 Camaro, literally dropped onto the road? Let us rejoice in the fact that no one at COMP had to find out that day.
The Camaro lived a full life as the CC Camaro, 10+ years of raucous adventures, but by 2010 it was looking a little ragged. The F body was regulated to a corner of the shop, in varying states of disrepair until 2016. Comp’s 40th anniversary proved to be the catalyst needed to resurrect the Camaro, and V8 Speed & Resto was called upon to help. A Heidt’s Pro-G front clip was set in place, while their matching bolt-in four-link package was applied to the stern. Wilwood came through with a set of huge disc brakes for each corner, while Weld offered up one-off wheels. The body was repaired and restored to before-the-stories condition and sprayed with a custom-mixed white with black stripes.
Under the new Haartz top, you’ll find just what you’d expect in a classy ’69 Camaro; houndstooth upholstery over bucket seats. The seat belts still clip into the stock center console (maybe my favorite first-gen F body feature), though the horseshoe shifter was ditched in favor of a TCI Outlaw stick. The dash remains largely untouched, which is entirely possible thanks to the direct-fit VHX instrument system. The all-new gauge package makes use of stock bezels, both dash and center console. Black faces with white backlighting were spec’d for the traditional look, not to mention it matches the car perfectly.
As a tribute to a Super Stock car, as well as the flagship for the COMP performance group, things were going to get serious under the hood. Gone was the NASCAR-headed Gen I small block, excised in favor of an LS-based bullet. A shiny new RHS Race Block was shipped to Bulter LS to serve as the foundation. It was filled with a complete Lunati rotating assembly and COMP camshaft and corresponding valvetrain system. A pair of cylinder heads based on the LS7 design, also from RHS, were placed atop the shortblock and linked together by a FAST LSX intake manifold with a 102mm Big Mouth throttle body. A FAST XFI Sportsman EFI system serves as the operations manager, doling out fuel and spark to the tune of 690hp and 619lb-ft. Under the floorpan is a TCI 6X six speed automatic transmission with TCI converter handling the dirty work.
The CC Camaro is fresh out of the V8 Speed & Resto shop and is beginning to make its rounds once again. We ran into it (not literally) at the SEMA Show in November, and it was so nice to see a car with such history brought back to glory. The story of this car is the best life for a muscle car, if you ask me; built to the owner’s taste, then used, thoroughly enjoyed, even if they were hard years, then rehashed for the next chapter. What fun is a shiny car languishing away in the garage? It’s a little fun, sure, but shuffling past it trying not to scuff the paint isn’t a good memory. Doing donuts in a hotel parking lot, now that’s a memory.
