1969 Chevrolet Camaro - The Ultimatum

So much is wrong with street machines these days. All too often, it's not about how far you can drive on a gallon of gas during a weekend cruise. It's about how far you have to drive before you get to apply another gallon of polish at the show-and-shine. People used to spend big bucks on parts to destroy every challenger in town. Now, spending big bucks just means you've built the most expensive rolling prop in town. At this rate, street machines are only a few cans of Geritol away from morphing into street rods. Gulp. So enough of this pretending-it's time for street machines to prove their mettle as the do-everything Swiss Army knife of hot rodding.

Given that the population of Pro-Touring poseurs is multiplying like Exxon-Mobil's kickbacks to Washington, that's one tall order to fill. Fortunately, cars like Scott Hall's '69 Camaro serve as a catharsis for the wrongdoings of the masses; it restores our faith when it starts to waiver. While it has no mega-buck motor under its hood, it runs solid 12-second ETs. Although it doesn't boast a fancy EFI system, it still knocks down 20 mpg on the freeway. Despite living in states with the most punishing summer climates, Florida and Texas, Scott drove the car every day without air conditioning for four sweaty years. The real kicker here is the budget. Including the original purchase price of the car, Scott built it all for $25,000.

With his second child on the way, Scott was forced to sell another '69 Camaro he owned prior to purchasing this one. It's a decision he deeply regretted, but he found an opportunity at redemption while driving down the street one day. He spotted what appeared to be the shell of a '69 Camaro sitting in a car port, and tracked down the owner to see if it was for sale. "It was a factory RS/SS with just 45,000 miles on the body," says Scott. "When he agreed to sell it to me, I left with a huge smile even though I knew my wife, Lisa, was going to say 'no.'" He was right, but a month after his son was born, his wife brought home another baby. She bought the Camaro for $6,500, and gave it to Scott as a surprise Christmas present. A woman has to put her foot down somewhere, however, and the gift came with an ultimatum: "I was told this car had to be built on a budget, or not be built at all."

With that in mind, Scott knew he'd have to complete most of the work himself. He hopped online and started gathering parts from eBay and Rick's First Generation (Athens, Georgia). In the meantime, Scott set out to build a motor. He pulled a 350 small-block out of a '72 Chevelle, and gave it a budget makeover. It was bored .030-over and fitted with a cast 3.750-inch crank for a ubiquitous displacement total of 383 ci. Rods are so cheap these days, it makes no sense to recondition the stockers, so in went a set of 5.7-inch steel Eagle pieces. They're attached to Keith Black 9.0:1 hypereutectic pistons, and a COMP Cams 236/236-at-0.050 flat-tappet camshaft actuates the valves. Up top are an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold, a 750-cfm carburetor, and a K&N filter. A PerTronix billet HEI distributor lights it off, and exhaust exits through a set of Dynomax 1.75-inch ceramic-coated headers and trick GMMC chambered dual 2-inch pipes. Dressing it up a bit are a March accessory drive system, Cool-Flex heater and radiator hoses, and a billet air cleaner and valve covers.

Even more impressive than what is in the engine is what isn't in the engine. Since power adders and high rpm weren't part of the game plan, money wasn't wasted in futility on a forged crank, billet four-bolt mains, or forged pistons. Most surprising of all, not only did Scott decide against upgrading to aluminum heads, the stock GM iron castings he used haven't even been ported. They were simply fitted with 2.02/1.60-inch valves. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but the combination flat out works in this application. How much power does it put out? We haven't a clue, but the Camaro runs very respectable times of 7.86 seconds in the eighth-mile (or about 12.30-12.40 in the quarter), which indicates horsepower figures in the 400-425 range. RPM Performance (Ft. Walton Beach, Florida) built the motor, and what a fine job they did.