Make no mistake. RPM Magazine isn’t the place for theological debate or scientific arguments of a non-automotive flavor. We won’t ever discuss the social implications of the Pope’s visit stateside or the existence or fallacy of greenhouse gases and their impact on climate change. But for the next few pages, we’re going to prove that we’ve discovered incontrovertible proof of the existence and impact of evolution—at least as it pertains to one incredible 1970 Camaro.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
In its earliest form, the Chevy you see here wasn’t much more than a blank canvas for a developing hot rodder’s mind. But in 1981, Boyertown High School senior Jef Fern had been working odd jobs mowing yards and painting houses to scrape together $1800 in order to make a well-worn second-gen his very own. The car was forest green with fluorescent orange traction bars and a 307 small block that consumed oil as if it were a two-stroke. It also happened to have a 4-speed manual trans, so Fern had to learn to drive a stick the night he bought the car.
Through a steady trek of modifications, the Camaro slowly started to evolve. A new 327 ci engine, a set of chrome Cragar SS/Ts, and a home spray paint job with a red hue sourced from a tractor supply house changed the look and sound of the car dramatically in 1983. However, Fern was feeding himself on a steady diet of pro street ideas from all the major magazines and hungry to morph his ride into something more like his heroes Rod Saboury or Rick Dobbertin were building. Unfortunately, the mechanical drafting student was tight on cash and using the Camaro as a daily driver, so those dreams would need to wait.
The wait was over in 1989 when Fern had started working as a civil engineer and was ready to backhalf his beloved Chevy. A local shop was hired to perform the chassis work enabling a pair of big Mickey Thompson Sportsmans to be stuffed out back. The following summer, buddy Mark Knarr sprayed the car yellow, and using funds loaned from a girlfriend, Fern purchased a B&M
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