1969 Pro-Street Chevrolet Camaro – Classified of the Week

There’s something deeply appealing about a classic American car. Maybe it’s all the exposure they get in films and TV, and thus we associate them with speed, with car chases and with that glorious, addictive V8 sound? Maybe it’s just because they’re a bit more brash and in your face than anything we had over here? Whatever the reason, the fact remains that American cars are, for the most part, cool. And there are few cooler, or as iconic, as the Chevrolet Camaro. For many, it’s the definitive muscle car, and rightly so. This 1969 example, however, isn’t any old Camaro. No, this one is a full-blown pro-street, big meat, tubbed, big-block monster. If you’re the shy and retiring type, scroll on, as this isn’t the car for you. This thing might be satin black in hue, but it’s still unmissable. Thanks in no small part to the fact that you can probably hear that Borla exhaust system long before you can see the car itself. 

Okay, so there is a bit of reality to absorb here. It’s going to be a nightmare to drive anywhere other than at the drag strip. This is a drag car, it’s been built to go as fast as humanly possible in a straight line. It’s not – with its comically fat rear tyres and skinny fronts – been built to clip apexs and dominate corners. Though it is street legal, it’s not a car for popping to the shops. It’s a weekend warrior, a drag strip dominator, a quarter-mile killer. 

Power comes from a 468 cubic inch big block Chevrolet engine. There’s an uprated cam, valves, valve springs and rockers. Fuel is sent to be ignited via a Holley 750 double pumper sitting on an Edelbrock performance intake manifold. MSD management looks after the timing and ignition. The power is sent to the rear wheels via a competition specification Turbo 400 automatic (really, would you want a manual?), performance torque converter, B&M quick shift and in the back, performance shafts and a Dana 60 deal with the spinning. 

And of course, the chassis has been built to match. Built by Alston, it’s a tubular delight and results in the Camaro sitting pleasingly close to the deck. There are Wilwood brakes, four-link rear suspension, race rear sway bar, everything has been painted and powder coated, and the lot rolls on Weld Draglight wheels – 15×3.5 up front and a gargantuan 15×15 out back, wrapped in Mickey Thompson rubber. It is, make no mistake, a serious bit of kit.

And all this could be yours for a mere £35,995. That is a lot of American Muscle for not a lot of money. If you want to live life in the fastest of lanes, this is the machine in which to do it.