DEALER'S
WHEEL
The
quintessential Pro Touring car
Text
and photos by Ro McGonegal
Rick
Matthews (the old guy) owns a Buick-Pontiac-GMC
store in Brooksville, Florida, and his
business success has afforded him many
cars, some of them exotics, all of them
expensive to buy or restore, but none
are quite as hellacious as this `69 SS
Camaro. In his modest office, we talked
about the ones that used to do it for
him, and why he'll never do them again.
The
ultimate car was that numbers matching
'67 Corvette L71 (435hp) coupe. It was
fun while we were doing it, seeing it
come together absolutely pristine, but
in the end it was so pure that I couldn't
bring myself to drive the thing. Not because
it was too pretty, but because it didn't
brake or handle remotely like a modern
car. Now, I'd rather buy something that
cost me as much as what that car did to
restore and drive the balls off it.²
This would allude to his C5 ZO6, Porsche
Turbo, and the Ford GT, though we've probably
missed a few.
To
that hot rodder's end, Rick looked to
the muscle cars of his youth, which you
may have noticed are in extreme demand
these days. I loved the styling of the
1st-Gen Camaro and how good
it went in a straight line, but the way
it braked and handled was horrible. So I got the one I like the
best, a '69 SS, and my service manager
Gavin Stebbins (the young guy) and I mapped
the changes.
From
then on, it was Gavin's project. He liked
the idea of a big displacement engine
and got a GM Performance Parts 620hp 572
crate motor for the power bolt-in. The
quandary was where to put it. All that
stock stuff up front had to go. Gavin
installed a Chris Allston's Chassisworks
clip, suspension, and rack-and-pinion
steering, using coil/over shock absorbers
to temper wheel movement. Though the big
crate Rat is stock for now, Gavin's got
the urge to do a complete Hogan intake
manifold and EFI swap, one part of the
Pro Touring ethic we still don't see enough
of, buds. Face it. You can't beat an electronically-minded
fuel system for tune-ability, reliability
and repeatability.
One thing's
certain; Rick likes to drive with both
hands. While he could have put a 4L80
behind the tall deck Rat, he'd rather
put his weight behind the shift and vent
a kernel or two frustration on the granite-like
constitution of a Tremec TKO 5-speed.
Gavin could have kept the lateral leaf
springs to anchor the axle housing, but
to sustain the once and future torque,
he specified a narrowed (4 inches) Moser
9-inch and hung it between mini-tubbed
wheelwells with a 4-link suspension and
coil/overs. A big, fat Panhard bar locates
the axle
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