1970 Camaro VIN 500001

First 70 Pilot · 08-17-2006, 09:02:55 PM

I am interested in finding additional information on my 1970 Camaro that I bought from Smokey Yunick in 1989. It was a proving grounds car and highly modified.

Mwilson · 08-17-2006, 09:20:07 PM

I wrecked it last year!

J/K lol good luck man sounds like an awesome car with great history

Lowend · 08-17-2006, 09:45:21 PM

You might wanna try the resto forum too
http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=31

DarrenX33 · 08-17-2006, 10:19:48 PM

Is this the LS6 car? How bout some pictures??

First 70 Pilot · 08-18-2006, 12:21:40 AM

Yes it is the LS-6 car. I have been out of touch recently after suffering through paying for top notch body work and getting a lot of bondo. I had to strip the body and am starting over.
Photos will be posted soon.
Dave Tom

Smokin70SS · 08-18-2006, 07:30:59 AM

WOW!! Your here! I've been thinking about that car lately. You might be able to find out info here but it's not a for sure thing. I would think only the great and late "Smokey" and the GM representives of that time would know all the details, but I have no idea how the system works.

Still, I'll be awaiting to see some pictures. You have yourself the ultimate 2nd Gen

First 70 Pilot · 08-18-2006, 12:30:15 PM

You would think the the GM guys would know something. But, as I'm sure many have discovered, Chevrolet is very tight with any Camaro information. Those guys that were around in late 1969 and 1970 are mostly retired or in several cases have gone to a better life.
I did get some good feedback this summer from a fellow that was at the PG in those days. He had no recollection of my car but from the story I told him he said it was entirely possible.
Smokey, told me how he got the car with a load of GMC trucks he picked-up in Detroit. He told me what he was to do with the car. That was to run tests on the car on his 80-mile county road "test track" inland from his Daytona Beach, FL shop. He told me it was a "big block" car with all the high performance goodies. His tests were, as I discovered later, to get the 454 L-S6, four-wheel disk brake, M-22, cold-air hood, and other special parts homologated for the FIA approval to race such a car in the FIA Groups I & II sanctioned events such as IMSA and the Group II European championship. I have a copy of those papers. And I have all of those special parts, including the special four-wheel disc brake rear end with the emergency brakes still intact. While I have seen other such packages for the racecars, I have never seen one with the working emergency brakes. this would indicate that this particular rear was intended for and used on a "street" car.
I intervied John Delorian, as he was responsible for the under-hood cold air plenum package and other design of the 1970 camaro. He confirmed that he did mandate that the 1970 Camaro have a smooth hood top as opposed to the '69 cold air hood. Smokey told me the story of how he developed that package using my car and a 1970 racecar similar to the Chaparral Camaro of Jim Hall (I at one time also owned one of the Chaparral Camaro Trans-Am racecars). I bought the prototype hood from Smokey years ago and restored it for the Chaparral Camaro. I also have the prototype Cold-Air plenum that I bought from Smokey.
While I had the Chaparral, I contacted Jim Hall several times. He confirmed tha he went to the GM proving grounds to test a Camaro for aerodynamics. He said the test car was silver (my car is silver). During the test which was conducted because Jim was having trouble balancing the front and rear downforce on the racecar he was testing at Rattlesnake Raceway behind his shop in Midland Texas, Hall said that they used a 1970 Firebird rear spoiler center section and crafted two end sections to make a tall spoiler for the proving grounds test. This story is confirmed in one of the early Camaro books (I think it is "The Great Camaro" by Michael Lamm). anyway, my Camaro has the holes that were made for that test, and I bought two of the three pieces of the prototype spoiler from Smokey's estate.
I could go on and on, but I simply need new leads to contact as many people as I can who might know something about my car or any of the early Pilot cars ie, 0N500001 through 0N500017.

BACK IN BLACK Z · 08-19-2006, 08:11:16 PM

I thought smokey was pissed off at gm by 1970 for them giving him the vasoline treatment over his previous trans-am developement . maybe we are still in 69 since this is a prototype deal. Smokey was the man in my book. would love to hear more about your camaro when you havre the oportunity ..Johnny
P.S. you might want to contact Wayne gwinn I think at www.guinns-engineering.com

First 70 Pilot · 08-20-2006, 07:27:22 PM

Back in black,
Thanks for the lead to Wayne, I haven't talked with him in a long time.

Smokey worked for whomever paid him. Jim Hall and Smokey had a pretty good relationship with each other. Hall was given one of Smokey's 68 Camaro racecars for a period of time to evaluate and Chevrolet sent High Performance Camaro stuff to both Hall and Yunick to test and evaluate.
Since Hall ran the program for Chevrolet in the 1970 Trans-Am and then got out at the end of 1970, Smokey had a R&D Camaro racecar (1970) sitting in the shop and in 1971 made a statement that if Chevy didn't win in 1971 he would bring out his 1970 Camaro and blow the doors off the Javelins and Fords.
Ford had cut him off in 1969 so his most recent "factory" connection was with Chevrolet, so he did bring his Camaro to the Watkins Glen Trans-Am in 1971 and with Swede Savage driving, he qualified third (I think). He did it to make a point that even though he had been out of T/A racing for over three years he could still field a competitive car.
Smokey didn't get "pissed" he just got even!