Chevrolet
It’s a classic type of buildup: a big-block 396 in a ’66 Chevrolet El Camino, sprayed a glorious red with in-your-face yellow flames. Meticulously created by Bob Nation of Twin Falls, Idaho, like so many great builds, this one comes with a story.
Camaros are nothing new for Steve Felthousen. His father is an avid car collector and counts a ’69 Pace Car among his collection. In high school, Felthousen drove a ’73 Z28, and later he built a Pro Street ’69. Just to show how diverse his interests are, he also drove a ’69 Chevelle SS 396. But he soon began looking for another Camaro, and he knew he wanted a first-generation model.
When a good portion of your life has been immersed in Pro Mod, Pro Stock, Top Sportsman and other forms of drag racing, it’s likely those interests will carry over to other, similar interests. And so it is that many legendary racers end up building what often turns out to be milder versions of the vehicles and engines that were so instrumental in their lives. Just imagine the knowledge they could apply.
Back in the ’60s, a youthful Barry Wallner was well known in and around Illinois for his modified ’57 sedan delivery. It was a tough competitor at the local dragstrips, but time took its toll, and most of the dragstrips have disappeared, giving way to housing and shopping-center developments and industrial complexes. But this hasn’t stopped Wallner, who was an adept restorer. So, from the late-’60s through the mid-’90s, he has gone on with other ’57 Chevys to win top show awards.
After one look at Jim Taylor’s Chevelle, we all tucked our shirts in, stood up straight and talked like we were members of the local country club. This silver gem is one stand-up, top-notch, upscale Chevrolet!
Once a West Coast gasser, this ’55 Chevy made its way to Lebanon, Ohio, thanks to longtime Chevy enthusiast Freddie Green. That was back in 1978, when his son Jason was just four years old. Fast forward a few years, and Jason, professing to be a Chevy man since birth, took ownership of the car from his father at the age of 10.
One look at a car is generally all it takes to determine pretty much what it’s made of—whether it’s fast, incredibly slow or falls safely somewhere in between. There are always typical small details that reveal a car’s true identity, whether it’s a huge exhaust, healthy underpinnings, aggressive rubber on wide wheels, a large, efficient cooling system, a well-laid-out induction with appropriate fuel delivery, sturdy engine mounts and/or mounting, the size and scope of the ignition, as well as the inlet air system.
If you’ve got a 2020+ GM V8 truck or SUV and you’re not running E85 yet, you’re leaving power and money on the table. Enter the ProFlex DXI—the easiest, fastest, and flat-out smartest way to slap flex fuel capability onto your rig. No tuning, no ECU unlocks, no headaches—just more horsepower and lower fuel costs in about 15 minutes.
Even in a crowd of first-rate ’69 Camaros, few will mistake the look and sound of the limited-edition RCR Series3 Camaros, a stunning expression of automotive passion, excitement and history.
“Corvette Bill” Bartenstein and his son, Bill Jr., are renowned around the state of Hawaii—more specifically Kailua—for their car-building talents. But that’s not all—at the 2007 Barrett-Jackson auction at Scottsdale, Arizona, a candy-blue Bartenstein-built ’69 Pro Touring Camaro fetched a record $182,000. It just so happens that this Firemist Red ’66 Corvette Sting Ray resto rod—another Bartenstein creation—rolled across the B-J auction block that same weekend and sold for an incredible $130,000. So what makes a Bartenstein-built car so attractive? Let’s take a closer look.
