Friendly Chevrolet 427 Camaro Pics

[whitetop]

Here are some pics of the Friendly Chevrolet 427 Camaro driven by "Mr. Bardahl" Bill Hieshler. Bill also had a 396 car with a flat hood. Notice the hood on the 427 car. Was Friendly Chevrolet a Yenko/Harrell etc dealer? I've also included a picture of the Steakly Bros Camaro. Both Friendly and Steakly Bros. Chevrolet sponsored many many drag cars in late '60's. Both dealers were located in Dallas Texas. Must of had a competition going. The Steakly car (396 powered) was driven by "The Professor" Kelly Chadwick who later went onto funny car fame. Both Bill & Kelly had 427 powered 69 Camaro's later, wonder if they were Zl-1's or Copo's.

I would like to see more "period correct" modified cars like these being restored today. I'm sorry but the "dog dish" cars bore me to tears. Don't these modified cars look bad as h*ll!!! I love the paint and the lettering. Anybody else out there agree with me?

whitetop

Here is the 427 powered Friendly car:

[img]<a href=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1314220&a=9759268&p=44990038>See my photo,friendlynew at Photopoint</a>[/img]


Here is the Steakly car (I will repost a full pic tomm. Photopoint is Verrrry slow tonight)

[img]<a href=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1314220&a=9759268&p=44990033>See my photo, steakly1 atPhotopoint</a>[/img]





[Edited by whitetop (03-27-2001 at 07:16 PM).]

[Belair62]

I would agree if the car had a serious race history but most of these cars were just bought and had fun with street racing etc and weekend warriors. May be boring but I don't think you would want to see these non- serious old racers put back to their race day condition....there would be a serious shortage of those tiny little foam covered steering wheels ! I think Charley bought them all up with the 8 track players.

[bkhpah]

Go Whitetop, That early drag car look is killer. If the car was a serious player I would without question. But if the car was a weekender, I would like to see it restored with just a sprinkle of period speed parts...BKH

[GMH454]

If a car is original leave it. If a car needs restoring then restore it to the most significantly important period in the cars life. For many cars, it is the day they left the factory or dealer. For others it is when they raced. Even in the case where the car was not a major player, if it raced, it may be more significant to leave it that way.
It kills me when someone takes a racer that is still as it was when it raced, then pulls out everything (the old gas cap restoration)
so that they can pose with the appropriate trophy. Don't mean to offend, just my 2c.
Besides race cars are real fun to own and drive. ESPECIALLY if you can get them street registered. Got to agree about dog dish hubcaps to.
Terry

[JoeC]

I like those 60s era drag cars also. They bring back a lot of memories. If a car can be a hero, then I would say that the 1968 Camaro "Grumpy's Toy IV" that Jenkin's used to win the first ever Pro Stock race at Pomona in 1970 is a superhero car. The new Pro Stock class used liberal rules that ran the cars straight up. Quickest car wins. No staggered Super Stock type starts. No hitting the brakes to avoid a class break-out. The Hemi cars were going to be tough to beat. All the big guns showed up. Dyno Don in a SOHC 427 Maverick, Randy Payne in a Boss 429 Maverick, Dandy Dick Landy's Hemi Challenger, Sox and Martin's Hemi Cuda, Wally Booth in his L88 Camaro and Bill Grumpy Jenkins is his little old ZL1 engined 1968 Camaro car number 777. There were trick parts like two plug Hemi heads, prototype sheet metal intakes, duel 1200 cfm Holleys, huge slicks and air scoops, and rumors of back door factory support. Some say Jenkins was running a destroked Cam-Am block - he kept a blanket over the motor in the pits. The finial round was the Sox and Martin 70 Hemi Cuda Vs Jenkins 68 Camaro. The 90,000 fans were on their feet. Grumpy beat the Hemi winning 9.99 to 10.12. Bill Jenkins became the first ever NHRA Pro Stock Eliminator and his 68 Camaro was the Chevy guys hero of the day.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Call me crazy, but I really like the 'dog-dish' plain COPO look!! I would like nothing more than to have one of the two '70 COPO Novas that went to Canada, and retained the stripped-down, no-frills, street racer look. If the car had a race history though, I also agree that it is best to put it back to it's most significant period.

JoeC; Very cool pic of the '68 ZL1 race car!!
Marlin