When your company manufactures valve train components for the performance aftermarket, you want to showcase them with a car that clearly demonstrates what those products can achieve. To commemorate their 40th anniversary, Competition Cams completely reworked their 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.
It began life as a somewhat unusual, but underwhelming example of a first-gen Camaro; painted Butternut Yellow, powered by a 307 ci engine, and equipped with air conditioning. Atlanta Street Rods had been tasked with the initial build in 1998 to create a car to participate in that year’s Hot Rod magazine Power Tour.
The car was given a complete makeover (buh-bye Butternut Yellow) and featured many high-tech upgrades for the time. The Camaro completed the entire length of the Power Tour, which ran from Fitchburg, Massachusetts to Gainesville, Florida. Brandon Flannery of Competition Cams says, “It acquired quite a legacy of celebrities doing donuts, and everybody just beat on it like a rental car.”
The Camaro stayed in this configuration for some time, doing PR events and several more Power Tours, until recently, when Competition Cams decided to pull out all the stops and have the car redone once again. V-8 Speed and Restoration in Red Bud, Illinois handled the task, including fresh paint and a new stock-type interior with modern appointments, such as houndstooth upholstery and Dakota Digital semi-digital gauges.
Butler Performance of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee built the stout 690 hp LS engine. Starting with an RHS block, it was fitted with Diamond pistons, a Lunati rotating assembly, and a Competition Cams valvetrain package. Flannery says laughingly, “This thing hauls butt. You definitely want to be pointed straight before you gas it.”
The Camaro now has tons of attitude and upholds the high performance standards one would expect from a company such as Competition Cams, which has built a solid reputation for building quality valvetrain hardware for 40 years and counting.
Dave’s a very passionate musclecar aficionado. An automotive painter by trade, he’s done a complete restoration on his very first car, a 1970 Pontiac LeMans that he’s owned for over 20 years. Dave’s superior photographic skills, writing talents and Florida location make him an ideal year-round contributor.
