BEST OF BALDWIN MOTION

[dreemz]

On November 30, 1968, Joel Rosen sat down with Roberto Schneider, the grandson of a wealthy Mexican industrialist to fill an order for one of the most significant muscle car purchases in Baldwin Motion history. In the spring of 1969, Motion Performance completed two heavily optioned Phase III cars according to this order. They were built to specification with no regard to cost. They were then placed in storage on Long Island until the fall of 1970 while the President of Mexico, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, personally endeavored to secure permits to get them into Mexico. The request to the president of Mexico came from the Governor of Chihuahua, Oscar Flores. The Governor's daughter was to marry Roberto Schneider, and the permits which were exceedingly rare and difficult to obtain, were to be the actual wedding present to the groom.

The two SS427 cars included a Camaro and Chevelle. Many are aware of the Camaro as it was part of the Otis Chandler collection. With the help of Joel Rosen, I was able to locate the Chevelle. As there had been extensive rumor and conjecture, I figured I would do my best to find Roberto Schneider in Mexico and establish a clear history. I started with a private investigator in El Paso, Texas who traveled into Chihuahua Province, Mexico. Roberto was finally located on his 90,000 acre ranch and I subsequently made contact. Roberto extended a personal invitation for me to visit and I chartered a plane to take me into Central Mexico.

It was during the three days I spent with him that I learned of the history discussed above. It is just a fraction of the amazing history of these two cars as well as his life. In fact, were not much of it documented with original photos, it is almost unbelievable. Roberto sent me home with personal family photo albums.

The Chevelle history is documented with: uninterrupted ownership history back to Roberto Schneider, interim ownership by Joel Rosen, (and his letter of course), original photos of the brand new car in front of Motion Performance, photos of the car as found 20 years later retaining it's original paint, Motion paint scheme, it's original Torque Thrust wheels, etc and it's original build sheet showing shipping to Baldwin Motor Company.

Nonetheless, my primary motivation for posting this information is to announce the invitation of the car to the Amelia Concours in Florida on the weekend of March 8th and 9th. The Chevelle will debut for the first time ever. In addition, it will be displayed hitched together with the Camaro in tow, just as it left Long Island almost 38 years ago in route to Texas. In fact, we will be using the very NMW tow bar used in September 1970 as it has been with the Camaro ever since. Much more to come...