This ’67 Camaro gets back to its roots and proves you don’t need a big-budget build to have fun hot-rodding!
The current trend with first-gen Camaros is to stuff an LS under the hood, add cutting-edge suspension parts, graft in flush-mounted glass, and festoon it with a bunch of billet after slamming it to the ground on huge tires. Well, this isn’t that story. This is the story of a 1967 SS Camaro that was put together on a working man’s budget, one that was carefully restored and modded just enough to make it more fun the blast around town in.
This particular 1967 SS Camaro is owned by Cruz Rico who, like many of us, has loved cars for decades. When he was younger, he cut his teeth working at a car shop in Baja, Mexico. Back then he was modifying his VW Bug to look like the rides from the various Baja races going on down there. Eventually he was able to save up enough cash to buy a 1967 RS Camaro.
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It’s not the car you see here, but Rico still has it, and the RS will be his next project. That car did ignite his love of Camaros, however, and led him to buy this car.
As Rico told us, “After searching for a while, I stumbled upon a Craigslist ad, and by the end of that day I owned another Camaro!” The car was in pretty sad shape and needed a complete restoration, more than Rico had time to tackle, so based on recommendations he took it over to Mike McLin at the RestoMod Store.
The stock 350 V-8 small-block was cleaned up and given a more aggressive Comp camshaft (PN 12-210-2) and the long-block was topped with an Edelbrock Torker II intake along with a shiny new Holley carb. Backing up the 350 is the factory four-speed manual trans, which spins power back to the stock 12-bolt. See a pattern? No fancy parts, just a V-8 and four-speed combo that’s perfect for good times without breaking the bank.
Aside from some Hush Mat to deaden sound, the interior looks much as it did in 1967. There’s a restored GM steering wheel to keep the Camaro pointed in the right direction, and yards of factory-hue blue vinyl. The door panels are repops from PUI, and the gauges are genuine GM. The wiring was shot, so a new kit was ordered from Painless. What more do you need?
The exterior continues the classically cool vibe with a Goodmark cowl hood and factory rear spoiler. For paint, the RestoMod Store shot the F-body in Axalta Nantucket Blue and added the black stripe for a bit of contrast. In a nod towards modern sensibilities, 17-inch American Racing wheels wrapped in 245/45 and 255/50 BFG G-Force tires were invited to the rebuild. The rehabilitation took a few years, but Rico is more than happy with his reborn Camaro. “The most difficult part was waiting! It took patience and a lot of hard work from the shop, but it sure paid off. If I could do something differently, I would have bought a base model car that was in better shape, but seeing this car saved made it all worth it!” recalled Rico. In a world of big-dollar builds, it’s nice to see a car we can all aspire to own. One that that has everything needed for a classic Camaro and none of the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses bits that cause these cars to become unaffordable for many.
