A 1969 Pro Touring Camaro for Trouble-Free Driving Enjoyment

Owning an American pony car can get you feeling like you did as a teenager. Windows down, stereo jamming, and your long hair blowing in the wind with your muscle machine bombing down the road, and your girlfriend, boyfriend, or buddy riding shot gun; those were the days.

This is exactly how Dave and his wife Susie Holloway felt, when the couple purchased a 1938 Chevy street rod from Susie's mom. Susie's father, Bill, was a classic car guy who had built a number of cars over the years. After Bill's unfortunate passing in 2019, the Holloways bought it from Bill's wife Lee to preserve a lot of great memories and to keep the old Chevy in the family.

Dave's dream machine back in the day was a 1969 Camaro. As a teenager, he didn't have the time or the money for a pony car project. Dave and Susie are responsible upstanding adults, so they didn't have those same time or money constraints. Why not relive the glory days by making that dream car a reality and leave the should haves and the would haves for rockstars like Bruce Springsteen to sing about?

Dave bought a solid running '69 Camaro in 2020 that was Daytona Yellow, had Charcoal Silver Le Mans stripes, and a satin black SS396 tail panel. The Holloways drove the heck out of the Camaro for several months, before the non-original 396 big block V8 developed an oil leak - a tell-tell sign of some emerging engine ailments.

Since the 396 needed a major overhaul and wasn't the numbers matching engine for the vehicle, Dave decided to pull the engine and Turbo 400 trans and swap in an LS3 and GM 4L70e four-speed automatic with overdrive transmission. This swap would go a long way towards making the Camaro a very reliable machine.

The Holloways hired Westside Garage in Orange, CA for the work. Since the goal was to make sure that the Camaro would be reliable, they decided to renew the entire drivetrain, including the cooling system, the driveshaft, the exhaust, the rear axle/differential, the fuel tank, replace the car's original wiring harness, etc. Though the Camaro already had front and rear Baer disc brakes, they went all in and replaced the front and rear subframes with new control arms and suspension components.

The Holloways drove the renewed Camaro for a year with the renewed drivetrain and chassis and didn't have any mechanical issues to report. With all of the improvements and the addition of a Vintage Air HVAC system, the Camaro drove, handled, and ran better than any '69 Camaro rolling off the assembly line back in the swinging '60's.

On a scale of one to 10, the paint job was at this point a seven going on a six, with some rust spots starting to reveal themselves low on the body panels. So, early in 2023, the couple selected Mahoods Hot Rods and Collision Center, in Anaheim, CA to perform all the metal magic and renew the exterior with a professional paint job.

Mahoods exterminated all of the rust issues with some expert patch panels welding, before massaging all the metal smooth. They made sure that the body and door panels had the right fitment gaps, sanded, primed, and laid down several luscious multi base and clear coats of enamel paint. 

The chosen color was a rich 1969 Camaro hue of Garnet Red (GM Code 52) with the tail panel sprayed in the SS satin black hue that designates it's a SS396.

Above and below: All of the sanding, priming, fitting, grinding, patching, priming, sanding, painting, clear coating, color sanding, rubbing out, polishing, and waxing is what makes for a great vehicle body finish.

Above: The 18x9-inch American Racing Boss five-spoke mag wheels front and rear are shod with 225/40/18-inch BFGoodrich G-Force Comp radials.

Above and below: The 1969 Camaro RS appearance package included hidden headlights, revised taillights with the backup lights beneath the rear bumper, exterior bright trim, and RS badging.

In the latter part of last year, while Dave was giving the Camaro some exercise, the hood flew up at speed and damaged the paint. Mahoods fixed the paint damage. The Holloways then had hood pins installed at Auto Addictions, in Lake Forest, CA to prevent that sort of high-speed drama from occurring once again.

With the 1969 Camaro, Dave and Susie's goal was to update the mechanical, steering, brakes, suspension, appearance, and reliability to create a high-end driver that is built to be a pro tourer. From seeing and hearing this baby driving down the road, we know that the Holloways have accomplished their goal - to make their Camaro a trouble-free road eating muscle machine that enables them to recall the glory days even without listening to Springsteen's song with the same name!

Camaro Components Galore @ Parts Unlimited Interiors

Should your Camaro be in dire need of an interior renovation, you may rest assured that you'll find USA manufactured interior items to transform your Camaro's cockpit from grungy to glorious. The Parts Unlimited Interiors website has a plethora of parts for the 1969 Camaro.