A little history....

This car and others to follow almost never made it into my garage. Way back in 1993, when the first 4th generation F-bodies appeared, I absolutely hated them. I thought the styling had gone soft and GM had been overrun by what would become the future crew of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". How could they ruin the bad-ass Camaro and Firebird? Since their beginings these cars have been icons of the musclecar world. About the only thing going for them was the new LT-1 from the Corvette. But even that was a disappointment visually. The old TPI engines had huge intake runners that just looked exotic...like you had something that no one else had. The LT-1 just looked flat. Maybe you could use the ribs on the intake to scrub your floormats. But then came the test data and magazine reviews. Woah...maybe we have something here? Oooooh...these things come with 6 speeds? What else is under all this plastic bubble skin? A revised and stiffer chassis, standard 4-wheel disc brakes, ABS, posi-traction and 275hp right out of the box. Now we're talking! But I still hated the looks. The previous generations just looked mean. This new car looked...nice. You can't be mean on the streets and look nice. Nice just doesn't work out there. And what the hell was the reasoning for painting the side mirrors and roof black? Did GM have to budget colors? Well...seeing what GM is going through now that doesn't seem so far-fetched.

On to the convertible aspect. Convertibles...I HATED them. I loved the looks. I loved the open air cruising. I hated the twisting and rattling over every little crease in the road. Driving a convertible back then meant getting your ass beat on these crappy NY roads and others like it. It meant the amusement of watching your windshield frame turn into one of those vibrating beds in cheap motels. And that's what they sounded like when they began to shake, rattle and roll.

Ahhh...but not this car. Here we are, a couple years later. My local Chevy dealer decided to put this piece of eye-candy right out front flanked by a couple of Corvettes. They must have known I'd be driving by that day. Purple, Convertible, Z28, 6-speed, Leather interior, Every option checked. I GOTTA take this thing out for a ride. And so I did. I was making a delivery for the company I worked for at the time and I was on the clock. Perfect. Paid to play. Out came the oldest salesman currently in Rochester. Crap. But what a cool salesman he was. He already had the keys in his hand. He said; "Let's take her out" and handed me the keys. Not wanting to give this poor guy a heart attack I took the car out for a typical test drive while he ran down the list of features. After about another mile or so he said "You gotta be kidding me". Huh? "Punch it, this car screws!". How could I not? Test drive was over and I thanked him for his time. I had no intentions on buying this car. I just wanted to take one out for a joy ride. But what a fucking joy ride!! I was still high on adrenaline when I got home from work so I decided to grab my neighbor and hit the dealer again for some more fun. This salesman was probably a week from retirement so he really didn't care much about us punks taking a car out to beat on. Out came the keys again and off we went. By the time we got back to the house my brother had just gotten home from work. Dude...you gotta come take this car out with us! So he did...and off we went again. A couple days later another friend stopped by and I told her we needed to go for a ride. And off we went. Joy ride #whothefuckknows. She loved it...but then again, she's ALWAYS owned convertibles. Ahhh....but Gina was no ordinary convertible lover. She was a hottie/convertible lover. Yet another reason to want this car...hot chicks appear to like it.

My feelings began to change. What started out as a simple series of joy rides became an obsession. I HAD to have this car! My job sucked, my girlfriend at the time didn't, this car brought happiness to my life! But reality hit me and knocked me on my ass. Ya...sticker shock. Shit, the used Vette next to it was less...and only a year older. How the hell am I gonna pull this one off? And by-the-way...I drove up there in my 1990 Beretta INDY Pace Car which I loved as well. Just as I was thinking in my head "I better think this one over" that old bastard said "Better put a down payment on it. It's not going to last long out here.". Christ...another car payment, motorcycle payment, multiple insurance policies for all my vehicles. Why am I even considering this? I explained away my reasons for not even attempting to buy another car and again thanked him for his time. But my brain loves to torture me. All the while I'm thinking...it's almost fall...who would buy this car knowing winter is just around the corner? I may have time. Just wait it out and maybe the price will even drop. Hmmm...brain was right. I drove by that dealer every so often and there was that car. No longer in the "Hey look at me!" spot but in the general population with all the other cars, but still out front.

September. I decided to stop in and say hello to my favorite salesman and say hello to "my car". He informed me that some kid had put a down payment on "my car". Dammit...I'm always a day late and a dollar short. I'm such a dumbass. How could I let this thing slip through my fingers?? Oh well...it's not like I'm driving around in junk now anyway. The INDY wasn't stock. She was still fast and still the talk of the town. I really don't have much to complain about.

October. Hey! It's my favorite salesman on the phone! What? The deal fell through? I should come up and put a down payment on the car immediately? Did this guy know me or what? I was there in 15 minutes. Well...to cut an already long story short I decided to trade the INDY in for the Z28. It broke my heart. I still kinda regret it to this day. Even more so since the dealer could not figure out what the book value of the car should have been and priced it as a Beretta GT. Apparently it was way off target...like half off. But, I had my new baby. My new toy. Another toy to add to the garage. I definitely don't regret buying the Camaro.

Today: She currently has around 23,000mi on her and still smells new on the inside. This is probably the last material posession I have to remind me of the good ol days (except for incriminating pictures). I haven't done much work to the car except pull the cover off and take her out for a quick spin around the block when the weather is nice. Family and full and part-time jobs keep me out of the garage and it's a real shame. Not to mention having to share time with my new 105th Anniversary Dyna Lowrider. So, for now, she quietly waits until the next hunt...I mean..."quick spin around the block". That last Viper we found was tasty.

People often wonder, "how can you love a car?". "How can you love an inanimate object, an appliance?" "It's just a car!". Ya...that may be true for the majority. I don't get too attatched to my daily drivers or my winter bombs...well...not as much anyway. My Camaro has been with me through some of the roughest periods of my life...and is still here to this day. When I go for a cruise people look or give a big thumbs-up and smile. The kids love it. Is it really "just a car" when it becomes an extension of you and your personality? SHOULD a car ever become a part of you? Well, why not? People these days dress their kids in designer labels. Who are they trying to impress? What are they trying to pass on to the onlookers? To me, that's a lot worse. Doesn't even compare to the insanity of loving a car. I like all cars. Foreign, domestic, compact, rediculously large SUVs. They all have their own personalities and purposes. Car bashers, on the other hand, are the biggest losers out there. They love to spread their ignorance with "Rice this and dumbestic that" all the while showing how stupid they are. If it weren't for Henry Ford, and the mass marketing of affordable automobiles, where would we be today? Could you imagine a world without cars? Although some could debate that the planet would be a better place you just can't deny the love for cars. Or, the way some of these car bashers think, we'd all be driving one brand and one model of car...in maybe 2 colors. Wow...wouldn't that be exciting? Love the car. Love YOUR car. There is nothing else like them in the universe.

Some pics covering the evolution of my Purple Paycheck Eater:

Yay wheels! 1997

Exterior. 2004

Some Engine pics.  2005

Some mods

I installed a boost gauge to prep for my blower install that never happened.   My business was heading down the tubes and I'm lucky to even still own the car. Some day...

BBK Twin 58mm

March 09:

After I installed the BBK throttle body the factory elbow was a bit of a stretch...literally. It eventually tore but I've been wanting to replace this elbow anyway. This was the perfect excuse to get that done.

Granatelli Motorsports aluminum intake elbow:

Slightly modified to accept the vacuum port from the Optispark.

July 09:

Smoked another Centerforce Dual-Friction. I don't think I'll be buying another...