Vette – September 2019

When Mr. Motion was done, the first

SS-427 Phase III Camaro had American
mag wheels shod with Goodyear

Polyglas Bluestreak tires and was pow-
ered by an L78 427/425 Corvette engine

with a big Holley carb on a high-rise
aluminum intake and stock cast-iron

headers. Steel tube headers were not yet
available for the new Camaro. While the

car didn’t look like the Baldwin-Motion
SS-427 Camaros we all loved and many

feared, it was a start. Quickly, Rosen
started adding the signature design ele-

ments: SS-427 badges, Super-Bite trac-
tion bars, and a fiberglass hood with the

1967 Corvette Stinger scoop.
Schorr’s first print ad went straight for

the jugular; “The quickest and fastest
supercar! SS-427 Camaro. Dyno-tuned

and ready to wail ... $3,650”. The rest of
the ad was a Chevy lovers “Christmas

list” of performance goodies. Between
the Chevrolet factory options and

Motion Performance options, customers
could easily spend over $5,000 – a lot

of money in 1967! With the basic plan,
Rosen, Schorr and Baldwin Chevrolet

decided for 1968 to offer SS-427 pack-
ages on Camaros, Chevelles, Novas,

Impalas/Biscaynes and Corvettes and
call the line “The Fantastic Five.” Kind

of has a super hero flavor, doesn’t it?

Phase III: Rosen’s
Obsession

Joel Rosen started his automotive
career road racing and hill climb-

ing a 1962 Corvette. Being young and
“indestructible,” Rosen totaled his first

Corvette in a hill climb event. His fam-
ily was so upset they pressured him

into a Corvair to try to calm him down.
But when the 1963 Sting Ray hit the

Kevin Suydam’s 1969 Baldwin-Motion SS-427 Phase III Corvette is a perfectly preserved
example of a typical Motion Corvette setup. (Photo: Martyn L. Schorr Archive)

By 1970, Rosen was putting 454 big-blocks into his Phase III supercars. L88 Corvette-

style hoods were very popular. Even the second-gen Camaros looked good with 1965-

’67 Corvette side pipes. (Photo: K. Scott Teeters’ Cars Archive)

SS 396 and Z/28 Camaros were pretty tough looking right from the factory. Rosen took

the look to the next level. Motion Camaros always looked mean. (Photo: Martyn L.

Schorr Archive & K. Scott Teeters’ Cars Archive)

The Baldwin-Motion Phase III GT was Rosen’s European-style of an all-American

Grand Touring (GT) machine. (Photo: Martyn L. Schorr Archive)

streets, Rosen ditched the Corvair and

was back into a Corvette. The Corvette

yielded moderate success in local events,

but that all changed the first time Joel

drag raced his Sting Ray. Corvettes had

fantastic weight distribution for drag

racing. Joel was using a new ignition

device called a capacitive discharge unit

built by the Motion Company. (When it

was set up properly, it provided an edge

by producing a much hotter spark.)

Rosen got some white shoe polish and

48 VETTE 19.09

[FEATURE]

PHASE III SUPERCARS