With the car earmarked for a choice of engines including General Motors' latest and most virulent 572ci (9.3-litre) big-block, added rigidity was seen as critical. Hand-forming of these components was entrusted to Year One's creative team, which also needed to interpret Foose' lines-on-a-page and hope that the finished product would reflect its designer's expectations. The Camaro's hideaway headlights were retained but their sliding covers needed to merge precisely with grille ribbing that tapered ever so slightly as it mated with the light covers. Reprofiling the original Camaro sills was among the easier tasks on an extensive list - the new steel being rolled and then simply bolted over the original Camaro panels. "It's fun to draw these things up but we have to look at making it as a roadworthy car that we can build and sell to customers," Unique Performance President Doug Hasty lamented as the lack of input from a preoccupied Foose began to delay the project. New panels came from Chevrolet spare parts megaplex, Year One Inc, and within days a virtually new Camaro body was rotating on a jig as the team in Unique's design department struggled to convert Foose' conceptual drawings into plastic and metal. Build time was governed by Foose' determination to display it at the 2005 Good Guys Association Car Show eight weeks and several states away in Columbus, Ohio.
The donor car was a nondescript wreck, hauled out of Unique's back-lot boneyard and reduced to less than a shell of its original self before creation of a legend-in-waiting could commence. However, as documented in a warts-and-all Learning Channel documentary, creation of the 'mule' car was a tortuous and frequently frustrating process. With its links to Carroll Shelby, dozens of industry awards and a string of Shelby 500E Eleanor fastbacks already in the garages of discerning muscle machine collectors, Texas-based Unique Performance was the shop that Foose selected to bring his Camaro to fruition. Without the time or inclination to personally create the car, the task of interpreting those renderings was delegated to a team of artisans with credentials that were apparently impeccable.
CHIP FOOSE 69 CAMARO UPDATE
His commercial ventures include a deal with the Johnny Lightning company for a line of Foose Design die-cast models and the hugely successful Overhaulin program that is now enjoying a fifth season on the cable TV Learning Channel.Ī long-time Camaro owner and enthusiast, Foose says he "spent a long time looking" at his own '69 coupe before sitting down to design a version that would update every aspect of the car's presentation and performance.Īrmed with crayons and coloured highlight pens, Foose quickly translated his vision of a 21st Century Camaro into detailed but stylised illustrations. In 1997 and while still running Coddington's Rods By Boyd operation, Foose became the youngest inductee ever to the Hot Rod Hall of Fame. Yet this 45-year-old protégé of the late Boyd Coddington grew up in a family that was steeped in automotive customising and has more than 20 years of design expertise and top-level awards to his credit. Making this task all the more compelling is the anguish that dogged the abbreviated lifespan of the Foose Camaro and notoriety that could overshadow the significance of the cars themselves.Ĭhip Foose is regarded in some quarters of US vehicle customising as a wild child who sees dollar signs in every shape that hits his drawing block. Half a century into the future, when some weary-eyed automotive enthusiast insists he had once seen just such a car, these words and pictures will confirm that an age-dimmed memory was not playing tricks. Therefore, when the only genuine Foose '69 Camaro to reach Australia became available, the necessity to document its presence in this country was not only overwhelming but essential. Even then, arguments will rage over authenticity, or if any of a particular variation were actually made. The era of North American muscle car glory was dotted with models so rare they have enthusiasts storming the barricades at collector car auctions whenever one is offered for sale.
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