The 409 Chevy Engine
History of the Camaro
The Chevrolet Nomad
Special Edition Mustangs
ZZ Top '33 Ford "Eliminator"
The 409 Chevy Engine
“She’s real fine, my 409, my four… oh…. nine.”
If you were alive in the early sixties, you most likely heard the Beach Boys sing this song hundreds of times. It was a tribute to the engine that made us all aware of what pure unadulterated horsepower could do in a light bodied Chevy. It was also the only song ever dedicated to a production power plant.
It all started in 1961 when some genius at Chevy made the decision to offer their 409 cubic inch truck engine in certain Chevy cars, and station wagons. Chevy offered the 409 truck engine in the Impala, BelAir and Biscayne from 1961 to 1965.
The 409 option was at that time a staggering additional $450 added to the window sticker of an Impala. Less than 600 buyers made the jump in 1961 from the small econo 265 to the mega muscle 409.
Remember, back then gasoline was actually less than 25 cents a gallon. I remember filling up my ‘hot rod’ at World gas stations around Los Angeles for 23.9 cents a gallon during the early and mid 1960’s.
In 1962 street racers and drag strip racers were quick to catch on. They quickly learned that the “truck option” in the ‘61 Impala was one hot setup. It quickly became known as the “409 Impala.” Dual 4 barrel carbs were also available in 1962. This brought the horsepower to just a tad less than 420.
1965 saw the introduction of the 396 Mark IV big-block Chevrolet. It was also the last year for the 409. In ‘66 Impala buyers could order a mild version of the 427 Corvette engine. It was still a quick ride, but it just didn’t have a hit song. The Beach Boys must not have liked… “Drives like heaven, my 427”. Actually, I don’t like it much either. Barry Hadley - Editor
Read more...History of the Camaro
Camaro: The First Five Generations
The Chevrolet Camaro is one of the most coveted of American-made muscle cars. In 1967, the Camaro was considered General Motor's answer to the Ford Mustang. As the Camaro developed though the decades, and became reincarnated with the car's fifth generation, it remains one of the mainstays in the domestic muscle car market.
Birth of the Camaro – First Generation: 1967- 1969
The first Chevrolet Camaro became available in 1967 for a suggested sales price of $2,466. The original body style was based on Chevy's revamped Nova. However, the newly created Camaro was stockier and more robust than the Nova. Under the hood of the Camaro's unibody structure was Chevy's 230-cubic inch straight-six engine and a three-speed manual transmission.
Chevy offered the Camaro with two trim packages, the Rally Sport, which was centered on appearance, and the Super Sport, which was based on performance. The two could also be ordered together to make the Camaro RS/SS.
Second Generation: 1970-1981
In 1970, the second-generation of the Camaro was born. The second generation was still based on the Nova, but it was bigger and heavier than the earlier model. It was no longer available as a convertible. While Chevy built up the horsepower in the earlier version of the Camaro, new government regulations caused Chevy to decrease the Camaro's horsepower. Chevy dropped its new 360-horsepower, 350 LT-1 engine in some versions of the second generation.
The Camaro exterior change, with bigger bumpers and a new plastic nose to comply with new safety regulations. Also, in 1973 the Type LT became available, which offered a luxurious interior and standard V-8 engine. In 1974, the Rally Sport package made way for Camaro's Berlinetta. The sporty and powerful Camaro Z28 also debuted.
Technology cause the end of the second generation as on-board engine control computers made way for the next generation of this muscle car.
Third Generation: 1982 - 1993
The third generation of Camaros made way for an all-new Camaro. The slightly smaller Camaros were the first with factory installed fuel injection. Some of these new Camaros were installed with four-speed automatic transmissions and four-cylinder engines. The great horsepower generated by past incarnations was subdued a bit during these years. The Camaro was available in three styles: Sport Coupe, Berlinetta and Z28.
The Chevrolet Nomad
The Chevrolet Nomad Era
A couple of weeks ago I was trying to remember exactly when it was that the 1955-57 Chevy Nomad ceased being that kid haulin’ station wagon and became that sexy, classic vehicle, that everyone drools over at the car shows.
Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s I was always drawn to the Chevy Bel Airs and Impalas. The Nomads, to me in the early 60’s were just a Chevy that someone bought ‘cuz they had too many kids to put in the Bel Air.
There was a neighborhood market about a half block from my house and they had a 1957 Chevy delivery wagon (that was when grocery stores actually delivered groceries to your home.) It had the name of the market on the side and was used for deliveries for over 20 years. I never gave it a second thought until the mid-seventies. I guess that when I started realizing the true beauty of the Nomads.
This era of vehicles is sad to say, one that can never be repeated. We can however revisit them at our local or regional car shows. Check out the Hot Rod Digest car show tab at the top of this page and get yourself to a car show this summer. Barry Hadley - Editor
Creation of the Nomad
All of the bodies were made at the Cleveland plant and shipped to the Flint, Baltimore, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Jamestown, Tarrytown, Atlanta, Kansas City, Oakland, Willow Run, and Norwood plants to be assembled. Some of the unique features of the Nomad are the chrome tailgate bars, the ribbed roof and of course, the slanted "B" pillars.
History of the Nomad
Only 1 Nomad was made. The picture above is the 1954 Nomad. It was a proto-type and is the only one of the Nomads to have a name. It debuted at The Waldorf Astoria in New York for General Motors at the Motorama and was subsequently named The Waldorf. It looked a lot like the 1954 Corvette as it was made on the 1954 Corvette chassis.
It was such a success that some of the unique features were applied to a Chevrolet Belair two-door station wagon and it was put into production in 1955 as the Nomad. Read more...
Special Edition Mustangs
Special Edition Mustangs
What’s With All The Special Edition Mustangs?
Wow! It seems like just about every week I see another Special Edition Mustang being launched. I’ve kinda lost track of how many are on the market right now.
Don’t get me wrong; I love these one off’s and limited production cars. I’ve always been the kind of guy that likes to drive something just a little out of the ordinary, and some of these special edition treatments for the 2010 and 2011 Mustang are really nothing short of incredible.
I’m certain I will miss a few, but let’s have a go at putting together a list. Let’s see we have the Shelby Special Edition and the 40th Anniversary Shelby (see pic on your left),the Barrett-Jackson, the California Special, the AirVenture AV-X10, the Roush, the DUB Magazine (see article below), the Steeda Sport Edition, the Iacocca 45th Anniversary Edition, even a New York Yankees Special Edition.
Isn't Camaro (GM) paying attention to what is going on with the Mustang? Come on General Motors, Wake UP! and let's have some fun with the Camaro! That Special Transformers Edition you did last year was really quite lame, a few decals, badges and a special door sill? You can do better!
I know a probably missed a few, so send me an email and let’s keep track of all these Special Editions, it’ll be fun. By the way, I am very impressed with the 3.7- liter V-6 in the DUB Special Edition. Read the article, it’s a good read.
Hot Rod Digest is waiting for the folks at the Hostess Bakery to introduce a ‘Twinkies Edition’ Mustang complete with a crème filled interior... you just never know… Barry Hadley – Editor
Read more...ZZ Top '33 Ford "Eliminator"
The 1933 Ford
ZZ Top 'Eliminator' Car
By Barry Hadley
In 1974 after watching the movie The California Kid, starring Martin Sheen, Billy Gibbons of the famous Texas rock group ZZ Top, found himself amazed by the 1933 Ford driven by Sheen in the movie. Soon afterwards Billy was able to contact the car owner, Pete Chapouris.
Convinced that he had to have a ’33 Roadster for himself, Billy was ready to proceed. The only factor left was to find a ’33 Ford Coupe worthy of the project. The search was on for a donor car. Remember this was in the days before Ebay and Craigs List.
Luck was shining on Billy, he actually found a one-owner, 1933 Ford Coupe owned by a ‘little old lady’ in Tucson Arizona. A quick trip to Tucson was planned. Upon arrival Billy was amazed when he saw the absolutely pristine car. The little old lady had bought the car, driven it very little and parked it. Billy bought it and the process began.
The custom work was done by Don Thelen of Paramount. The transform-ation from stock to hot rod took a long five years. The pictures below are a tribute to the car, Billy, Don, ZZ Top and Hot Rod lovers worldwide.
The car appeared in three ZZ Top videos, “Sharp Dressed Man”, “Gimme All Your Lovin”, and “Legs”. The car now resides in the Rock n’ Roll Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
A 1/24th scale model of the car was produced under a license by Monogram Model Co. Mattel Toys also produced a 'Hot Wheels' version of Billy's 1933 Ford. (See pic below)
Billy is still an avid ‘gearhead’ and loves showing up to the occasional Barret-Jackson Auction. (See Barrett-Jackson in our left menu)
