Tim Brown's 1967 Camaro RS (from Volume 12, Issue 131) It has become tradition that the vehicles that wins the Best Of Show honors at our annual Beach Blast car show at the Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Resort not only gets to be the prominent vehicle on next year’s event T-Shirt, they get to be featured in the magazine as well. After all, it is a participant judged show, and if that is what those in attendance decided they liked the best, it should stand to reason that it would be an interesting cover car to share with everyone around the state. Well, this year the Best Of Show honors went to Tim Brown and his 1967 Chevy Camaro RS, so after the awards were handed out we had Tim stick around for awhile so we could do the photo shoot right there on the winding brick promenade of the show site. Tim Brown started working with his dad at the family body shop sweeping the floor when he was just 11 years old, and worked his way up, eventually learning body work and paint. He became a full time painter at the age of 16, completing school at home at night. Since Tim was old enough to look at cars his dream car has been the 1967-69 Camaro RS and SS. It is also his wife Debbie’s favorite car, and they almost bought one when they were 18 to restore, but didn’t have the financial resources at the time because they were saving money to be married in February of 1984. Twenty years later, after watching all the car shows on TV with his son TJ, they all really got restoration fever. Finally, in February of 2004 near the Brown’s 20th Wedding Anniversary, they found a car owned by Lance Harvell, who was a long time customer at their business in Jacksonville, Florida. They then purchased the car in March, 2004. The car had been completely disassembled 13 years ago, but every part including the nuts and bolts had been labeled. At first the car was meant to be a Saturday night cruiser. However, the more they worked on it, and the more car shows they went to, the more they wanted to go the distance to make it a driver/show car. Tim had help from his buddies; Bo Allen, Matthew Akins, and his 13 year old son TJ. They went right to work cutting away all the parts that showed any signs of rust. Then they stripped what was left of the car. All the body work was done first, making sure not one ripple was in the body of the car. There were countless hours of block sanding to insure that the body was perfect. The most important goal was to make sure this car would never rust again, and Tim feels sure that has been achieved. The only hours they had to work on the Camaro were nights and weekends, and during that time Tim was unsure of a color scheme for the car, and continued to search for the right color. They finally decided on “Hot Lava” in order to show off the curves of the car. Also, after trying to think of a cool tag number, Tim’s daughter Brittney came up with “SXTY7 RS” instantly. The reason they love the 1967 Camaro RS is because it is a timeless work of art that will never be outdated. This particular car came from the factory with power windows, air conditioning, tilt steering, a fold down back seat, and hide-away headlights. These details only add to the beauty and performance of the car. Under the hood lies a ZZ4 350 engine rated at 355hp. An Edelbrock 750 cfm carb handles the mixture, which is fired off by an MSD ignition. The 700R4 overdrive automatic transmission then routs the power produced back to a rear end with 3.73:1 gears. Billet Specialties valve covers, air cleaner cover and Tru Trac serpentine belt system dress up the engine compartment, along with lots of various other plated and polished parts for a clean and tasteful look. Baer 2-inch dropped spindles in the front and Detroit Speed 3” drop leaf springs out back give the car a better stance, and add to the handling when combined with 18-inch Boyd Coddington Destructor rims wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber. Once up to speed Baer Brakes scrub off the speed at will, with 13-inch cross-drilled rotors in the front and 12-inch cross-drilled rotors in the rear. Inside things were kept rather stock looking, with black vinyl throughout. However, you will find upgraded Auto Meter gauges to monitor the various vitals. Recently while driving through the drive-thru at a local McDonald’s, they were surrounded by people asking questions and making comments about the car. It was like their own personal show. Tim told us that it is worth all the hard work when he hears the nice comments people make. He only wishes that his Dad (who passed away in 1999) and his brother (who passed away in 1994) could have been here to see and be a part of this project, and the fun they had completing it. Certainly those in attendance appreciated the beauty and quality craftsmanship that went into Tim’s 1967 Camaro, as it received the most votes on May 15th, 2005. CN