I Was Never Really a Camaro Person

“I was never really a Camaro person," said John Massie. "I liked them but I never thought I’d own one. I was more into the bigger body cars.” 

In fact, before purchasing hi 1981 Camaro Z-28 about 10 years ago, John owned a 1983 Monte Carlo. While he liked the Monte Carlo it sported an automatic transmission and, at the time, John was longing for a four speed. While he had everything necessary to convert it to a four speed he just never got around to doing it.

While at work one day he picked up a car trader magazine and saw the Camaro listed for sale. "I just happened to find it in a magazine and it was for sale. It was a four speed car and that’s something I wanted,” he said.“It was all kind of a spur of the moment deal to buy it.” He talked to his wife about it, went to Columbus, OH to check it out and the next week he drove there and picked it up.

The car is pretty much original. It has all of the original sheet metal and has never had any rust. "It’s never had any rust, said John.“It spent 25 years of its life sitting in a garage with no motor in it."

In addition to all of the original sheet metal, the car has its original interior. John did some work on the transmission, rebuilding it, and he put in a larger, more efficient engine. Because of air pollution and safety regulations that were sweeping the country in the 1970s and 1980s, even muscle cars had been stripped of their power. 

To regain some of this, two years ago John put in a 383 cubic inch motor. “It was something I wanted to do. I wanted it to run better," he said. While the "body" of the car has about 60,000 miles, the new engine only has about 3000.

 It's not that John doesn't drive it. In fact he estimates that he puts about 1500 miles per year on the car. 

“People ask if I’m afraid to take it out and drive it. No, it’s insured. To leave it sit in my garage and only I can look at it is no fun to me. I get it out and drive it and get some looks and attention,” said John.

Though John prefers cruise-ins to car shows, he has shown the car at the annual Cavalcade of Customs. But that isn't the biggest exposure the Z-28 has had. A few years back John entered a photo contest with his car and the Camaro ended up being the centerfold in Popular Hot Rodding Magazine.

While he admits to having a lot of luck showing from time to time, for him the joy comes from driving it and working on it.

“To me this is about getting in there and getting your hands dirty, doing it yourself and building something,” he said.