HOT ROD Magazine's "CRUSHER" Camaro

"Crusher" Camaro is a '67 Camaro project started by HOT ROD Magazine in February 1994 after saving the car from a junkyard crusher program enacted by a bogus California "Clunker" bill. It encouraged people to bring their "clunkers" in to be crushed for $700. This gave the "big oil company" credit for saving that much pollution therefore allowing them to continue polluting. People began bringing in all sorts of collectable cars to be crushed. This one was intercepted by the HOT ROD staff, who promptly gave the previous owner the $700 bucks.  Of course it didn't look like this, but it was a decent driver.

HOW DID I GET THIS JOB AND WHY?

Believe me, I asked myself that question several times during the  buildup of "Crusher". It all started during a photo shoot of my '65  Chevelle ("Sleeper" Jan. '99 for HOT ROD back in the Summer of '98 as Ro McGonegal, one of the editors of HOT ROD, and I were leaning up  against a brick wall watching Terry McGean shoot the photos in  Downtown Memphis. We began talking about the "Crusher" project, a  '67 Camaro with an all aluminum EFI 632 on pump gas. I was intrigued.  Then he went on to tell me that he was having trouble getting the car  done by some third and fourth parties. I felt grateful for the chance to  get some ink on my Chevelle and wanted to be of some help. A year went by and Ro and I met for dinner at Indy during the PRI show. By this time I'd left my job at Hypertech and was in business for myself working on Hot Rods. The "Crusher" subject came up and I could sense the  disgust in Ro as to the project not moving forward. In fact he was  worried that it might be in jeopardy. I told him then that I would do it  and made the offer to retrieve "Crusher" and finish the job. After all, I  have been reading HOT ROD nearly 30 years and it was time to get  involved, not to mention the exposure potential for my new one man  business, Hot Rod Solutions. So a few days later, I was off to Chicago on an all expense paid trip with Todd McCutchen (Quick Classics) to  retrieve one yellow Camaro and misc. parts. 

When I retrieved "Crusher", it had a 406 c.i. small block with a  700R4 transmission and had been sitting for two years. My job would be to build the 632 engine, install it as well as the EFI system and various  other electronics, 4 wheel disc brakes, Turbo 400 transmission,  complete exhaust system, fuel system, wiring and do any required  fabrication.

These pages represent the results of that pleasant dinner in  Indianapolis and are a supplement to the HOT ROD coverage in the  FEB., MAR., APRIL, and MAY '03 issues. Hopefully, you will find some  of this information useful in your project. Thanks for viewing. KT