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By
Jake Drennon, Email: c5jake@c5registry.com
It’s not often that you get on a plane in Orlando, Florida and
it’s 32 degrees outside, and you arrive three and a half hours later in Detroit,
Michigan and it’s a Sunny 42 degrees! But that’s what I faced a few weeks ago
when I braved the cold to see the debut of the new 2009 Concept Camaro. I’m sure
you’re asking “What in the world is Jake doing, going to look at a Camaro, when
his whole life is based around Corvettes?”
That’s a good question, so I’ll try to answer it. Over the last
nine years I’ve been visiting with the greatest Corvette enthusiast in the
world, our C5/C6 Registry members. Inevitably, during the course of our
conversation, I hear a very common statement, that goes something like this:
“Corvette was not my high school driver, but it was my high
school dream!”
And then this common story continues kind of like this:
“I bought my first Corvette in (such-and-such a year), but my
love affair with Chevy’s began with my first Camaro. It was a fabulous (what
ever year he had) Ralley Sport, Z28, with a Super Duper small block or rare Big
Block, etc., and the story always ends with: All I did was modify it for more
and more horsepower, and man, did I love that car!”
I’m sure they also broke it a lot, but no one really remembers
that part of it – only the good times! All their friends pilling in with them to
go to the high school football games, driving it to the beach with their
bikini-clad girlfriend decorating the passenger seat, showing up at all the 60s
drive-ins they could cruise to in a night, and talking BIG to their buddies
about how they had beat the pants off those pitiful Cuda’s and pathetic
Mustangs. Yes, that is the story of young guys and their Camaros.
I know this story well.
When I was 15 and growing up in Miami in 1970, I was fortunate enough to be able
to hang around with my best buddy, Mike Surles. Now Surles (that’s what we
called him) had a brother named Rick, who was Mr. Everything at the high
school. He had that wonderful charisma that everyone was drawn to. It was his
senior year, and there was no mistaking him in his # 50 football jersey. He was
the fastest and toughest linebacker the North Miami “Pioneers” ever had, and his
father had given him a ’67 Camaro Ralley Sport Convertible, Butternut Yellow,
black guts, with a black rag top as an early graduation present. It was
HOT! By the way, did I mention that Rick also dated the hottest
cheerleader in the entire North Miami Senior High School? So, whenever Rick was
heading somewhere in that hot Camaro with that hot cheerleader, Surles and I
were always bumming a ride. We didn’t care where he was going with the top down,
we just knew we wanted to tag along! The back seat was just fine with us! We
also had the opportunity to see how many bodies we could fit in his Camaro for
the Saturday night drive-in theater. The answer, in case you were wondering, was
seven people who paid at the gate, and one in the trunk with the full-size spare
tire, for a total of eight!
With these memories fresh in my mind, when the call came in that
there was a ticket available for this very prestigious Camaro unveiling on
January 9th at the Cobo Convention Center, I said “Count Me In!” The
special surprise was that when I arrived, I found out that I would be invited to
a private reception at the Chevrolet Heritage Center along with other hard core
Camaro enthusiasts from all over the country to get inspired for the next day’s
big event. This wonderful time was lead by Scott Settlemire, the former Camaro
and F Body Brand team manager. Scott has always lived and bled F bodies. He can
tell you about anything related to these fabulous automobiles. He is the
un-official guru of Camaro and Firebirds. We also had a very special treat in
that Jim Perkins, past president of the Chevrolet Motor Car division, and a
strong advocate of Camaros and Corvettes, spoke to the group about the
excitement that Camaro has brought to people in the past and the enthusiasm he
expected the new Camaro to bring in the future. Mr. Perkins still has a couple
of Camaros still in his garage and he is certainly in favor of the 2009 Concept
being the Camaro of the future.
The next morning we were out in the cold to board the busses for
a 6:30 AM departure to the Cobo Center. It was my first experience in Detroit
bumper-to-bumper traffic, (20 miles took over an hour) as we all headed downtown
for the big unveiling. Once we arrived at the Cobo Center, we were treated like
VIPs. The busses unloaded by a back entrance and we were all escorted in to the
Hall. We came out right in the middle of the huge Chevrolet display area. It’s
now 8:00 and the unveiling is planned for 10:30, so we had time to visit at all
the General Motors exhibits. This was Press Only Day, so we really felt like we
were something. Since we didn’t have to follow the press groups, we had the
exhibit areas all to ourselves. This was really an unexpected pleasure in that
every booth I went into, I met the marketing person and the chief engineer of
each brand of vehicle. It’s not often that you are looking at a GM product like
the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Lori Queen, chief vehicle engineer walks up and
asks if she can help me with any information I’d like to know about the Solstice
Product Line. I’ve read about Lori Queen for the last couple of years, and all
the accomplishments she has realized, and she was everything that I had read
about. She really knows her stuff. The best part was that I felt like I was
having a one-on-one audience with her. This was repeated at every GM venue I
visited.
 The
Big Hour arrived… It wasn’t hard to miss, as a marching band came down the
center of the GM exhibit. This was way cool, as it got everyone’s
attention. This was a nice intro as Chevrolet has always been about America, Mom
and Apple Pie. We watched as the press began falling all over themselves, trying
to get the best picture taking angle for this unprecedented unveiling about to
happen. First we see the past flash before us – a ’67 Camaro, then a ’68,
followed by a fabulous ’69 Z28, leading the way on what was to follow! Then the
music got louder…the smoke poured out, and out drives Bob Lutz (the MAN) in a
Silver 2009 Concept Camaro. And the place went WILD! My recollection was that is
was just like the President had walked into the room with 1,000 cameras clicking
away. This new Camaro is awesome! So sleek and retro looking, it took my breath
away, but it was all because of the memories that Rick gave me and Surles back
in 1970. From that time forward, my love for fast and fun cars grew each and
every year until I was able to purchase my first new Corvette in 1978 and go on
my honeymoon in it! And then I bought my next Corvette, and the next, and the
next… and all that drives me to the hobby I enjoy today.
On April 17, 2005, when I got the phone call from my good buddy
Surles, I never thought that he would be calling to tell me that his brother
Rick at age 52 had suffered a fatal heart attack and the Good Lord had called
him home. Rick always loved his family first, married 31 years to his beautiful
wife, and had three wonderful car crazy sons. He always loved having a FUN car
to drive. I’m sure he’s back to enjoying that ’67 again! While I will always
miss Rick, he knows I’m still enjoying the memories he gave me!
Now for the Power Chat –
A Moment of Adrenaline... A Lifetime of Performance!
Billy Boat has been a friend of the C5/C6 Registry and a
dedicated supporter of our Corvette membership and activities since December
1998. Billy has always lived by his “performance commitment” which
simply means that his exhaust systems are a commitment to excellence and
consistency in every detail. We were very excited when we received his newly
updated and redesigned 32-page B&B Performance Exhaust catalog. Its
pages are loaded with hand fabricated performance exhaust components. By the
way, the design of this catalog is truly an eye-catching piece with over 500
part numbers!
Billy Boat Performance Exhaust [Corporate Member WC015]
was established in 1989 with a reputation of producing the finest exhaust
systems available in the world. His continued success has allowed him to move
into their new 50,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Phoenix, Arizona.
You can rely on Billy Boat Performance Exhaust for aircraft
quality, T304 stainless steel headers and exhaust systems for Corvette, Porsche,
Viper, BMW, Cadillac, and most sports cars, trucks and SUVs.
Billy Boat Performance Exhaust has a full array of experienced
professionals skilled in the design, development and production of complex
exhaust systems and header designs. Mandrel bending and hand-fabrication insure
the exact fit and finish for each application. You are never expected to
compromise and buy a mass-produced product. From design to delivery, Billy Boat
Performance Exhaust offers the best exhaust products and customer service
possible.
Members, don’t forget to check out Billy Boat Performance
Exhaust web site for all their latest Exhaust products. Give their technical
sales staff a call at 888-228-7435 to find out how they can enhance your
C5 and C6 Corvette Exhaust needs.
You can visit their web site at
http://www.bbexhaust.com/
or
http://www.bbtriflo.com/
or you can email their sales staff at
sales@bbexhaust.com . Of
course, don’t forget to call them at 888-228-7435 for this fantastic new
catalog or visit them in person and take a tour of their state of the art
facility at 23045 N. 15th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85027
Early Summer 2006 Power Chat
Spring 2006 Power Chat
Winter 2005 Power Chat
Fall 2005 Power Chat
Spring
2004 Power Chat |
