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B&M Neon Camaro

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  • B&M Neon Camaro

    I ran across a very old post here on this site asking if anyone knew what happened to the B&M Neon Camaro. Someone had posted a photo which is no longer showing up on the post.

    Anyway, I was the guy at B&M who conceived the car and oversaw the construction of it. It was a 1967 Camaro S/S that I bought from a neighbor after her husband passed away. He was a retired doctor and used it as a daily driver. This would have been around 1989 or so.

    All of the extensive bodywork and original paint job was done by Gene Winfield, a legendary custom car builder. The chassis and all of the final detail work was done in the B&M tech center. The engine was a 454 cid big block Chevy with a B&M Megablower. It dynoed at 804 HP. We put 1968 doors on it to get rid of the windwings.

    The original paint was House of Kolor Neon Pink. I chose that color primarily to make the maximum visual statement that could be achieved. The car made its debut in the B&M booth at the, I think, 1990 SEMA Show. It attracted more attention than any car I have ever been associated with. After the show I sent it out on tour with the Super Chevy 18-wheeler that attended all the Super Chevy Super Sunday shows. But when I got it back, the top of the hood, trunk, and roof was pure white which was the base paint used under the Neon Pink. John Kosmoski at House of Kolor had warned me that over time the Neon Pink would fade away but I didn't realize it wouldn't even last a year.

    We repainted the car with a silver metalflake base and House of Kolor Kandy Pink with some blue pearl mixed in. Even though this paint is called "pink" it really comes out more of a plum or magenta color. It turned out so well that when I built a '33 Ford 3W street rod a few years later, I painted it the same color.

    However the trick graphics that I had originally conceived, and were executed by artist Steve Stanford, for the sides of the car were not recreated on the new paint job.

    Now, to answer the question, where is the car now? It is in the basement of the Petersen Museum in L.A. I happen to be making a trip with some car club members to the museum tomorrow and we have a special arrangement to tour the basement. I will be seeing the Camaro for the first time in about 20 years and am curious to see how it has held up.

    We sold the car in 1991 to a multi-level marketing genius in Las Vegas. He used it in some of his special presentations but over time got in trouble with the IRS. As part of his settlement they took his entire car collection (about 20 cars as I recall). He had a couple of rare cars that Petersen wanted and they bought the whole collection from the IRS. This would have been around 2000 or maybe 2001. I guess Petersen didn't know what to do with the Camaro because as far as I know it has been sitting in the museum basement for the past ten years.

  • #2
    Re: B&M Neon Camaro

    Wow Jim....Cool story.... Make sure we know how it came out....

    K

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    • #3
      Re: B&M Neon Camaro

      Jim, that's a great inside story!

      Can't wait to see some photos of the car!

      Brian
      That which you manifest is before you.

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      • #4
        Re: B&M Neon Camaro

        I have loads of photos of that car ....somewhere
        SEMA and super chevy

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        • #5
          Re: B&M Neon Camaro

          I remember the spread and cover shot it had in HRM back when. It's neat to hear from the owner/builders of such cars about their history.
          BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

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          • #6
            Re: B&M Neon Camaro

            when was that? i looked thru all the Hot Rods from late 80s early 90s, didn't see it....

            My fabulous web page

            "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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            • #7
              Re: B&M Neon Camaro

              Since the car was at SEMA in Nov. 1990. I'm betting it would be in an issue a few months later. I remember the car. I can see it in my head, but exactly when and where I read may be fuzzy.
              BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

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              • #8
                Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                it was in PHR and super chevy in pink and purple

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                • #9
                  Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                  impresssive!!!!!

                  thanks for sharing with us....that car had a ton of work in it....
                  "IGNORANCE SHOULD BE EFFIN PAINFUL"

                  522 cubes on One Gun,doin' it on W's at full weight baby!

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                  • #10
                    Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                    I visited the Petersen Museum today. They have over 150 cars in storage. Our group was given a personal tour by the guy who runs the place. Unfortunately I didn't get his name but he is extremely knowledgeable and knows the details on nearly every car there. The Neon Camaro was tucked away in the very last corner of the place that we visited. I talked to the curator about it and it turns out it is one of his personal favorites. He told me that he has driven it several times and it is extremely streetable. Other than the fact it was pretty dusty it looked to still be in excellent condition. The paint still really glowed under the fluorescent lights. I would like to have seen it outside in the sun because that paint color really comes to life. I had forgotten that when we repainted it we did paint the lower edge of the body with a dark purple and faded it up into the main body color. We also duplicated the multiple stripes down the lower edge of the body but did not have the effect that made the stripes say B&M Blown in a very understated manner.

                    A number of changes had been made in it. The B&M Megablower and two Holleys had been replaced with a BDS 6-71 and one of the BDS bugcatcher injections. It also had nitrous added. Wheelie bars and a dual parachute had been added. I assume this was strictly for looks because the car has never been run on a strip as far as I know.

                    For some reason the interior had been altered. The original was grey with inserts that were a complimentary color to the exterior magenta paint. But all the seat and door panel inserts have been changed to a blue fabric. To me it didn't look as good as the original. But other than a few other minor things it still looks pretty much like it did the day we sold it.

                    I did take some photos and once I figure out how to post a picture I will put one up. I haven't downloaded them from my camera yet but will get on it. The pictures won't do the car justice but you will get an idea.

                    It was never in Hot Rod. It was in PHR and Super Chevy as someone else mentioned. Unfortunately I do not have any copies of those magazines. The car actually got terrific coverage in several international magazines with cover shots, pull-out posters and so forth. It appeared in Street Machine (Jan/Feb 1990) and Australian magazine, Wheels Magazine (Mar/April 1991) a German magazine, Street Machine (March 1991) a U.K. magazine, and Nitro (July 1991) a French magazine. I have copies of all of those but none of the U.S. books. Oops....Nitro has a feature on another B&M car, the 1932 Ford Roadster, which I now own after it being away from me for 15 years. Not the Camaro.

                    The museum curator gave me an invitation to come back any time I wanted and they would clean the car up and let me drive it. I am going to have to take them up on the invite. I asked him if they would consider selling it. He said he didn't think so.

                    How do you post a photo? I see an icon for "insert image." Is that it?

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                    • #11
                      Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                      Now and again, I still see the pull out poster of the Camaro hanging on the walls of shops. Usually in the bathroom next to the hotty pics. ;D


                      There's a sticky thread at the top of General section that tells how to post pics.
                      BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

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                      • #12
                        Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                        Here's a link to a couple of photos of the car that I took today. I can't take the blame for the pink seat belts. Somebody else put those in the car. Also, the pinstripes along the bottom of the car don't look quite so pink when viewing the car. I guess the flash on my camera lit them up or something. They are actually pretty subtle when viewing the car by eye.

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                        • #13
                          Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                          Here I'll help. Thanks for sharing. Don't worry digital cameras do weird things to car in shades of red and pink.




                          BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

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                          • #14
                            Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                            I bought a T shirt with that Camaro on it many many years ago.
                            Still have it, wiffy wears it.

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                            • #15
                              Re: B&M Neon Camaro

                              I found some more photos of the Neon Camaro.....both when it was brand new and painted pink and then some later ones after it was repainted and posed next to my '33 which I had painted the same color. Click the Photobucket link in my earlier post.

                              Rebeldryver - Thanks for posting the photos in this site.

                              malc - I vaguely remember a T-shirt. I didn't do a very good job of saving a lot of that type of thing. I especially am sorry I don't have the magazine article (or maybe it was articles) that were in PHR. The B&M roadster had tons of magazine articles on it and fortunately I have every one of them. It was in Hot Rod three times, PHR, Street Rodder, Super Chevy, Streetscene, and several others.

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