[tom406]

I'm often conflicted between preservation and hot rodding. I love survivors but I love a nicely done modified car as well. This conflict played out over the last year and a half while I shepherded the build of a 1966 GTO convertible for my client/friend. I had been trying to convince him to update his '66 Chevelle so that he and his wife would actually drive it. It was a typical SS396 clone with too much cam, too few manners and too little performance. I kept pitching better brakes, quicker steering, maybe even an LS crate motor. Later I found a rough but fairly complete '66 GTO convertible. It was a NOM 389/4sp factory air car, Turquoise in/out. I suggested that it would be a pretty car to restore, and he bought it. When I started planning the restoration, he said hold on, just do all that stuff you wanted to do to the Chevelle to this car instead. Yikes! You're the boss. Well, OK lets do this thing. The build was done by Chris Holstrom Concepts in Puyallup, WA over a 12 month period, with another couple months to finish sorting while it was shown.