A Prized Possession

Things become possessions when we get attached to them. The attachment may be caused by the value of the item (like diamonds), our sentiment over them (like an heirloom or a gift from a loved one) or simply the length of time we have held on to the item.

Or it may be the combination of these reasons.

For Chito Santos, his prized possession is a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro 350 Super Sport (SS) convertible. But this red convertible with white soft-top did not look a gem when he first got it. He invested a lot of time, money and effort to get the car to this level.

He bought the car in 1987 from Dr. Jimmy Donato, who found the rusted convertible in Balut, Tondo. Dr. Donato intended to restore the car for his own use, but his plans changed when he got an offer to work in Saudi Arabia. Chito decided to continue the restoration, and the first thing he did when he towed the car home was to yank out the six cylinder engine that the previous owner installed to replace the original gas-guzzling V-8.

While removing the engine, he also removed the 4-speed transmission, the drive shaft, the differential and the rear leaf springs. "The rear section of the floor pan was badly rusted, as well as some body panels", Chito recalls. "While searching for more rust, I unintentionally disassembled the car completely. I knew there was no turning back."

When the car was stripped to its body shell, Chito realized that a full restoration to bring the car back to its original condition would be too tedious. Since the original 350-cid V-8 engine can no longer be found, the serial numbers on this Camaro did not match, and trying to locate another engine with a similar suffix code would be very expensive. He then decided to go on another direction: "restification", or to restore the car with some modifications to suit his specifications. He decide to go Pro-Street with his Camaro convertible.

Work progressed on the car body slowly since Chito wanted it that way. The paint, for example, took six months to finish because he wanted it to dry and bond completely before another layer was sprayed on. After the body was completed, he started on the drive train by installing a narrowed Ford 9-inch differential, a Turbo-Hydramatic 350 automatic transmission and a Ken Kepner-prepared 350-cid V-8 engine that he bought from a drag racer in Angeles, Pampanga. He replaced all necessary components in the suspension and restored the front discs/ rear drums brake system. He installed a low- restriction, dual exhaust system to better hear the engine’s growl with the convertible top down.

"I was also fortunate that there were available trim parts in the States, since the restoration of muscle cars and pony cars was developing into an American industry in 1988", recalls Chito. "Without these, I would have had a major setback in restoring the interior because it had a lot of broken or missing parts." The red interior boasts of original seats covered with the original style material stuffed with the original style seat foam. These seat covers, the carpet and the convertible top, as well as other trim parts, were ordered by Chito from Classic Industries in California. "At the time, the exchange rate was P22 to $1. I paid a friend to import and deliver these items to me at P35 to $1, including freight and taxes. I figured that I would spend that much, in addition to other personal hassles, if I imported them myself", he adds.

Shades of 1967 evidently shows in the dashboard with original controls, steering wheel and radio while a more contemporary 5-inch tachometer and a set of under dash gauges keep tabs on the engine. A polished B&M "Quick Silver" shifter handles the transmission. Chito installed 15 x 7 Centerline wheels wrapped with 195/60 R15 Goodyear NCT radials in front, and 15 x 10 Centerlines with N50 Kelly Superchargers at the back. The car first took to the streets in late 1988 and it made heads turn, especially in and around the Greenhills area on a Saturday night. "I built the car to have fun in it. Saturday nights were reserved for driving to Greenhills to meet with other muscle car enthusiasts and to unwind from a week of work."

In 1992, Chito stumbled upon a guy in Caloocan selling an original ‘70s-vintage 370-hp 350-cid Chevy LT-1 engine complete with a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission. He saw the opportunity to improve his Camaro convertible’s visceral appeal and replaced his engine and transmission with the LT-1/TH-400 combo. He decided to install hydraulic cam lifters rather than maintain the mechanical lifters of the LT-1 when he opted to reduce the compression ratio from the original 11:1 into a more livable 10:1. "The higher compression ratio would require that I use high-octane gasoline which was unavailable at the time. Mechanical lifters would be too much of a hassle for me, since they would require periodic adjustments", he reasons. "Besides, even if the horsepower rating went down to about 340-hp because of the modifications, this is still a very potent engine to drive in the streets of Metro Manila. The LT-1 is known to rev up to 6,500 RPM but the streets would be too short to harness all that power."

With the installation of a fiberglass hood incorporating a Corvette-style air scoop and an original chin spoiler, Chito has enjoyed driving the convertible to the hilt. Impromptu romps with his friends from the Everyday Holiday American Muscle Car Club allows the LT-1 powered Camaro convertible to flex its muscles and smoke the 10-inch wide rear tires at will. "Since 1992, I have done nothing else on this car except the requisite tune-up and oil change. Over the years, I may have mellowed with my driving style, but occasionally I bury the pedal to the metal and give the Camaro a go. The car is still as potent as it was 10 years ago."

Having bought, owned, sold and traded other cars of various makes through the years, Chito looks back at almost 15 years of owning the Camaro convertible. "This car has been identified with me, and I with it. When the car shows up at Greenhills, everybody knows I’m there. If my friends see me, they always ask ‘Where’s the Camaro?’ More often, they associate me to the car, not the car to me." This has to be the perfect definition of one’s prized possession.