I Love Racing My Twin Camaros

This article first appeared in the May/June, 2024 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more.

Everyone in my family loves cars and racing. When I was about 12 years old my dad brought home a 1968 Camaro. I thought it was a really cool car, but when I asked him if I could drive it when I was old enough, he said, “No, it’s going to be my race car.”

A few years after I got my drivers license, in 1981, he had an early birthday present for me: a Rallye Green 1969 Camaro Z/28 with a four-speed manual, a cowl induction hood, white stripes, and a trunk spoiler. The only problem was that it had dents on most of the body panels, including a motorcycle tire mark on the driver door. Luckily it came with a complete set of body panels and parts from a local Chevy dealer. It was an agonizing five month wait while the car was repaired and painted at the body shop. It looked amazing when it was finished; I don’t think the cars looked that good when they were new from GM.

I didn’t know how to drive stick, but my dad said, “You will learn how to drive it. I’m not putting an automatic in it.” I remember one driving lesson in which he made me stop the car and he and my brother got out and walked home. I had to figure it out myself.

When my brother started drag racing, I wanted to try it too, so he taught me how to race. After a while, I could drive it as fast as he could. I’m proud to say my Camaro does the quarter mile in 13.10 seconds at 109 mph. I still love taking it to the track when it’s not too hot out.

After 35 years, the lacquer paint had started to check, and my husband Ed offered to repaint the car. He is an electrician by trade but does body work and paint in his spare time. I was shocked to find my car completely stripped to the bare metal when I walked into the garage a week later. It was hard to get the exact color paint to match the original, but after six or seven mismatched color samples and a few trips to the paint shop, we had a perfect match. Ed did an amazing job repainting the car; it’ll be good for another 35 years.

When the new Camaro came out in 2010, my husband and my brother both said I needed to get a new green one to match the old green one. At the time we were building a house and couldn’t afford another car. But in 2015, my husband found an original-owner 2011 SS with a six-speed manual in Synergy Green Metallic. The paint is a slightly different shade than my ’69, but I like to think of them as twins. And yes, I have raced the new Camaro too—both at the drag strip and Lime Rock Park.  

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.