Dream Machine – Josh Hodges’ 1969 Camaro
A little garage time with your kids can leave a lasting impression, as Josh Hodges can attest. He was lucky enough to grow up working on different projects with his father including a number of VW Bugs, a ’72 FJ Land Cruiser, and a ’70 Blazer to name a few. His dream car was a ’69 Camaro and he was lucky enough to find one languishing alongside a house. It was a project going nowhere and Josh was able to convince the owner to finally let go of it. With the canvas to build his dream car, he turned to the talented team at Born Vintage Hot Rods to bring his vision to reality.
Big power, serious handling and cruising comfort were Josh’s top goals, in addition to making his ’69 Camaro stand out among other Camaros. To achieve the handling ambitions, Detroit Speed’s hydroformed front subframe and Quadralink rear system were called in, with the addition of a custom cantilever shock setup. The entire suspension system was raised into the car about 2-inches to really put the Michelin-wrapped Forgelines up into the custom wheel wells.
A major alteration to get those 275/35/18 front tires to fit up front is the 2.5-inch wide-body work the Born Vintage team pulled off. The custom fenders flow outward at the peak of the upper body line and run back through the hand-made doors to the quarter panel vents and custom rear valence. TL’s Rods & Restos is credited for the final prep and spray of the snow white Axlata white.
The custom metalwork continues under the hand-fabricated hood and surrounds an LS7 built by ERL Performance. A Magnuson supercharger forces air through a set of Trick Flow heads with custom stainless headers flowing into a complete 3-inch exhaust system. Josh chose a Tremec six speed with a McLeod Racing clutch system and Bowler shifter to stir the gears.
The cabin is absolutely modern muscle machine with a fabricated dash cove filled with Dakota Digital gauges, Vintage Air, and a thumping Kicker audio system. Aircraft-style rocker switches flank the Ididit column along with one-off door handles and pedals, while a stout yet subtle roll cage provides safety. Ron Mangus finished the Glide seats and the entire cabin in leather.
The Camaro is absolutely everything Josh could have imagined for his dream machine. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that his dad now caught Camaro fever and is working with Born Vintage on his own project – and we can’t wait to see what they’ll dream up for the next one as Josh’s kids get older!
Photos by Terry Lysak
