Jay Leno drives the original Hot Rod test ’67 Camaro
When Chevrolet debuted the 1967 Camaro to do battle with the Mustang, Hot Rod magazine showed its readers how easy it was to make them formidable on the drag strip using a pre-production car that was first evaluated by Motor Trend. After its rough life as a magazine test mule, the car was purchased by Hot Rod editor Jim Macfarland, who owned it until Vic Edelbrock Jr. bought the fabled pony car in 1997.
On the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, current Edelbrock president Don Barry brings the very same 1967 Camaro that was featured in tech articles in Hot Rod, beginning in 1967, and Jay gets some time behind the wheel. The two also discuss an Edelbrock-supercharged V-6-powered sixth-generation Camaro that’s continuing the test car tradition.
The 1967 Camaro was the first Chevrolet powered by the 350-cubic-inch small-block V-8, the displacement that would go on to power millions of cars and trucks and be the default small-block for a generation. The Camaro on Jay Leno’s Garage this week is a Super Sport four-speed car that originally came with a 350 but quickly saw a big-block swap in the quest for lower elapsed times. Now the car uses a 460-horse Edelbrock 383 crate engine backed by the original Muncie four-speed.
Jay remembered this Camaro from way back when, and he was excited to finally get his chance to drive the storied car. It definitely sounds like 460 horsepower as Jay rows the gears on his test drive. Make sure you watch the video to and hear the historic car in all of its V-8 glory.
