You can tell that this Chevelle is a little bit different from any that have gone before and that it’s probably the stance that does it. Pull back just far enough and those big, fat wheels become monolithic and the undeniable focal point. Is this a natural offshoot of the Pro Touring shtick? No, you can’t just leave it at boisterous rolling stock. There’s more to it than that.

Some folks might have a problem working all day, then coming home, and doing the same thing until the wee hours of the morning. That is, unless you’re a professional mechanic working after hours on your dream car. Ed Nash from Port Orange, Florida, has been a professional autobody technician for the last 28 years. The enthusiast seed was planted early, thanks to his father, in charge of the local Chevrolet dealership, who would bring amazing cars home and do burnouts and donuts in front of the house. Back then, the split bumper Camaro was one of young Ed’s favorites, and it still is. Having built almost a dozen high-performance vehicles in the past, he decided it was time for an awesome street car and decided to make the fantasy of that second-gen Camaro a reality. He found this ’71 Camaro SS locally and, although it was in genuinely poor condition, the price was right. Ed had a clear view of the potential however, and the beat-up car was the perfect choice since he planned to upgrade everything anyway. Ed has a unique philosophy: “I don’t like cars that I don’t own. And if I don’t build them, they’re not really mine.”

Frank D’Aquanno lists his vocation as race car mechanic. In a flash, that could encompass a great many things and a great many duties peculiar to keeping a competition vehicle in the best possible state of tune at all times. That’s the backstory. The reality is much different.

1968 Camaro Z/28
Pete Wessel
Somonauk, IL

It was 2002 and sadly the last year of the Chevrolet Camaro. Those were dark days and some postulated that it was the end of an era. But, Chevrolet promised that the Camaro would come back. Eight long years later that promise was fulfilled in the form of the ’10 Camaro. Just like the fourth-gens, the new generation of Camaro was anchored by a commuter-friendly V-6–powered version, but all we cared about was the thumping 6.2L LS3 under the hood of the SS. The power was decent, however with a curb weight hovering around 3,800 pounds, every pony was needed. The handling was a bit heavy, but we had our beloved Camaro back and all was good. Still, we wondered what the GM engineers could unleash if given the chance.

Dustin Burch is a doer. His father and his brother are doers. He and his close family (San Jose, California), with a little help from local talent, built his ’68 El Camino in the confines and privacy of their own home. Thus, they pretty much had control over the entire project and never had to cow to the paint jailer or anyone who saw it as a potential hostage.

’79 Malibu Wagon

’94 Corvette

We warmed up for this exercise by watching turbo-car frolics on YouTube. The scenes are somehow magnified by those couple of seconds before boost rolls on and the tires light up insane. There’s nothing … and then the smoke grenades go off all at once. Instead of running out of steam, turbo lungs keep pulling like a maniac as the rubber becomes hopelessly unraveled. It’s a sight and an experience not to be forgotten.

’80 Corvette

’67 Camaro SS

’70 Chevelle SS

’55 Nomad

There is a common thread that appears in the interviews we’ve conducted over the years. Enthusiasts tell us the most fun they get from their automotive hobby happens when they’re finally able to build their dream vehicle. Whether it’s a hot rod, custom, or restored antique, the ultimate car is the one that’s perfectly tailored to their lifestyle and the way they enjoy the sport. Driving their creation for the first time becomes one of life’s most treasured memories. Jack Bines lives in Largo, Florida, and works in the family medical business. He has been an avid enthusiast most of his life, with a warm spot for the classic first-gen Camaro. His notion of a dream car became even more sophisticated when he attended the Turkey Run in Daytona and heard GM’s awesome 572 crate engine run for the first time. It only took a moment for the big-inch V-8 to become part of the dream.

It’s going on 20 years now that Nick Strohbeen has had the same hot rod, thus giving credence to the homily that such projects are never really finished. On the face of it you could argue that the status of Nick’s keeper is purely controlled by natural progression. In 1993, Nick began with a ’72 Chevelle, brought it to several distinct levels of improvement, and just yesterday it seems he wound up with something quite different. Rather than flit from one car to another, he gave his old friend a warm embrace and the promise that the journey would continue for the foreseeable future. In a word, he loves this car.

’68 Nova

’92 S-10

’65 Nova

The Pro Touring shtick continues to inflame us like the pages of a pulp novel, and from the reports we have written over the past two years there seems no end to it. Indeed, many cars featured on these pages are formulaic, routinely outfitted with the hottest suspension and powertrain modules. People see what the usual suspects are using to win certain categories at Pro Touring festivals and are preternaturally drawn to assume the same build pattern with their own cars.

’68 Camaro

’69 Chevelle SS
Joe Hancsak
Oxford, MI

This past November the world was introduced to the new COPO Camaro as the Chevy Performance division unveiled the concept car at the 2011 SEMA Show. The white prototype race car is designed to carry on the legend of one of Chevy’s most sought-after muscle cars from the late ’60s. The intent is to go toe-to-toe with the Ford Mustang Cobra Jet and Dodge Challenger Drag Pak in the grassroots drag racing ranks of NHRA Stock Eliminator. The handcrafted Camaro will be a race car to its core, with a drivetrain that has little resemblance to its street car brethren outside of being an LS-based engine. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, and Dr. Jamie Meyer, Chevy Performance Marketing and Motorsport manager, says the car is still considered a prototype.

Building a project car requires planning, foresight, and cash, but for Chris Coatney it went a bit further than that. It wasn’t a matter of securing funds, it was a matter of time. Seven years back, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. Chris says: “Scared and not knowing what my future was going to be, I decided to make one of my biggest dreams a reality. I sold my Harley Road King Classic and used the money for the Bel Air project.”

Most people build their hot rods to please themselves and not the world at large. In theory at least, that’s the premise of the hobby. Trouble is, too many find themselves in lock-step with the popular notion, following the latest trend or some preset discipline and unwittingly define their work by those parameters. So eventually, they wind up with something not so special.

An accurate definition of an accountant is: a practitioner of accounting, which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities, and others make decisions about allocating resources.