Could you imagine being 37, having a wife and kids, and still owning your first car? Such a combination isn’t easy to pull off. Life happens, priorities are sometimes forcefully adjusted, but Brandon Hill of Livermore, California, overcame that. He’s owned his first car through it all.
Growing up the youngest of four gearhead brothers, it was natural for Brandon to gain interest in what they were doing, and to be as obnoxious as possible about it. Brothers Scott, Mickey, and Robert were always out in the garage working on either their dirt track racers or street muscle cars. The biological need to torture one’s younger siblings was strong, so taking 12-year-old Brandon in wasn’t a gut reaction. Luckily dad, Gene, stepped in and got the boys to play nice.
What a lucky kid; working alongside his dirt track racing brothers and his engine building father while other kids were hanging out at the record store or the movies, what losers. A couple of years went on and Brandon was ready for his first project car. The next thing he knew he had a beautiful Camaro in the family driveway.
Over the next 15 years he swapped every part at least once, but often several times to figure out exactly what he wanted and what worked best. Since he always needed his car up and running he could only change things that were an easy weekend swap, it couldn’t be what he had envisioned. So what did he do? He sold it. That Camaro he brought home as a teenager isn’t the silver ’69 you see here, but a ’70 model in black. His first car was gone, not because he had to buy a house or feed the kids, but because it wasn’t vicious enough. Brandon isn’t weighed down by the sentimental value, he enjoyed the car and it was time to move on.
With years of practice on the black car, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the next project. He let his buddies know he was in the market for a first-gen Camaro, and he quickly got a lead about a Camaro that had been sitting at a house in San Ramon. Brandon made a trip out there, but the owner made it clear he wasn’t selling. Set back in the lot was a ’70 Chevelle whose nose rode high. Brandon asked if he was selling that car, and the owner said no way, that’s an original big-block car, it’s waiting for an engine. Brandon offered the 454 that he was building for the black car’s next transformation in trade for the Camaro. Surprisingly, he agreed.
The Camaro didn’t come with an engine or transmission so stripping it down to the metal was a pretty quick process that he handled at home. He asked his brother Robert if he knew anyone who could help him out with the fabrication work, and was referred to Scott Dees, who at the time was working at a body shop in Livermore. With the new project on hand, it led Dees to open up his own shop in Antioch, and Scott’s Speed and Custom was born.
Between Dees and painter Craig Rogers, S&S Automotive, Genesis Upholstery, Revolution, Tri Valley Auto Glass, and Brandon himself, was a finished ’69 Camaro that was built in just 18 months. It was built to outperform, outride, and outcomfort his first Camaro, and there is no question that he’s achieved his goals. The last two years since its completion, he’s taken it to a number of local shows, cruised through the canyons, and more recently is looking forward to checking out a number of autocross and road course sessions. Brandon feels the 888hp figure might be a little high for the confines of a cone course, but expects to have a good time at Thunderhill Raceway Park to try out the road raceinspired suspension. Considering Brandon has spent the past 15 years building his dream ride, it should be no surprise when he realizes just how well it works.