Street Machine Australia – September 2019

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

T


HE number plate TEXAS PIG on Greg Freeman’s ’69
Camaro pretty much sums up the humble beginnings
of this pro touring masterpiece – it was imported from
Texas, and it was an absolute pig. “It was rooted. I
blasted it and there was nothing left of it,” Greg confirms.
“It had a 12-bolt in it and it looked reasonable, but it’s
the first car I’ve ever bought without getting someone to go
and look at it, and it came from a dealer. But as soon as I got
it on the trailer I thought: ‘Oh my god.’ It was bolted together
and that was about it.”
It was a mess, but Greg was in a bit of a bind, as it was
worth next to nothing as it sat, so he made the brave decision
to rebuild the car properly. The first job was to remove all
the rusty panels, which didn’t leave him with much: “The only
things left were the sills and the roof; we even had to replace
the bulkhead and firewall,” he says. This might sound like too
daunting a task to most, but Greg’s no stranger to Camaros,
with a ’68 Group Nc car and ’69 Targa car in the shed and many
years’ experience as a motor body builder with his business,
GT Fabrication.
The new sheet metal was expertly fitted by Rob Kite, who
works with Greg and did the Camaro after hours. There was a
fair bit of stuffing around to get the massive rubber to fit, with
hours of work going into extending the inner wheelarches by
50mm so that the 275/35R18 front tyres didn’t rub. Making
sure the massive rubber stays planted is a Heidts Pro-G front
end, which features coil-overs and massive 15-inch rotors and
six-spot calipers from Wilwood.

STORY
BORIS VISKOVIC

PHOTOS
JORDAN LEIST
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