Jesse Greening Cullman, AL 1971 Camaro

June 2010

In 1999 Jesse Greening and his father Jeff were inspired by the current wave of redefined muscle cars. The idea of adding G.A.C.'s style to a later car was exciting and they decided to throw their hat into the ring. Feeling that the '69 Camaro has had enough attention, they set their sights on a second generation Camaro. Jesse's personal '32 was sold and the search began for a clean project base. They rescued a solid '71 from a local pine tree-filled backyard and pulled it completely apart.

The exterior was cleaned up with a restyled grille cap, custom front signal lenses, tucked RS-style split bumpers, a modified three-piece rear wing, a tucked rear bumper, and a custom rear valence panel with exhaust cutouts. G.A.C. machined a set of factory side mirrors to accept turn signals and made their own lenses. The panels were smoothed to perfection and it was painted in Glasurit black.

The chassis was dialed in with components from Detroit Speed & Engineering. Their A-arms were installed up front and a Quadra Link /12-bolt was used out back. Massive Baer brakes back the one-off wheels made in-house. Jesse whittled each wheel to his own unique 10-spoke design. The rear centers started off as a 20x20x5-inch chunk of aluminum that weighed 206lbs, and a scant 15lbs 11oz after machining.

Turning their attention to the engine bay, an LS1/6-speed combo was installed and topped with custom aluminum covers. Care was taken to detail the compartment with only paint and brushed aluminum for a concept car feel. Chrome plating was limited to the intake tube. The smoothed firewall was cleaned up and a dual-purpose canister for the radiator and washer fluid was fabricated in aluminum. All fluid caps match and were custom made featuring German OEM-style markings. Aluminum panels were made for the fenderwells and core support along with trick new fender to support brackets.

Continuing the concept car theme through the interior, a custom dash was created. It echoes the stock piece but features a redesigned gauge panel. A full compliment of red-faced gauges from Classic Instruments resides in individual hooded pods. All factory Camaro interior trim pieces were smoothed of their leatherette grain finish and painted black. The B&M shifter pokes up through a custom console featuring a push-button starter switch. The talented Paul Atkins is Greenings next-door neighbor and a logical choice for stitch work. He re-sculpted the factory seats with new bolsters and redesigned the door panels in black leather.

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