Fourth on our list is Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins’ 1968 Camaro. Photo from www.hemmings.com

Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins’ 1968 Pro Stock Camaro was the winner of the first two NHRA Pro Stock races ever. Coming out of the gates in the top spot for the 1970 Winternationals and 1970 Gatornationals made this a car to be feared. It started life as a stock ’67 Camaro then became a Super Stock car until Grumpy converted it into a Pro Stock beast.

Grumpy Jenkins had become a Chevrolet star by the time this Camaro wheeled onto the track on February 5, 1970 for the first NHRA Winternationals Pro Stock Eliminator title. Arch rival Ronnie Sox was in the other lane piloting the Sox & Martin 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. The NHRA had announced the framework for a new Eliminator class, adopting many of the USDRA rules. Sox & Martin, Dick Landry and several others had built brand new race cars for this race, but Grumpy Jenkins was waiting for the arrival of an all new second gen 1970 Camaro that was held up due to UAW strike issues.

Jenkins was actually waiting for a second generation 1970 Camaro when he started the 1970 season. The new Camaro eventually became the next “Grumpy’s Toy” pictured above. Photo from www.chevyhardcore.com

Jenkins was forced to rely on his 1968 Camaro to win the title. Grumpy’s ZL1 engine powered 1968 Chevy Camaro drove his way to the win and within a month, he repeated it again at the Orange County International Raceway’s West Coast Pro Stock Championships, and then down in Florida at the NHRA Gatornationals where Jenkins captured his second consecutive NHRA Pro Stock Eliminator title.

There was no doubt that Grumpy’s Camaro had left a mark on the Pro Stock Eliminator class.

Unfortunately, there is an unhappy ending to this story as told by author Doug Bryce in “Drag Racing’s Quarter-Mile Warriors: Then & Now,” published by Cartech. The story goes something like this: After Grumpy Jenkins was done racing the car, it – like most “old” race cars – was sold off to another racer, who later sold it to another racer, etc… According to the book’s author, Grumpy later located the car in the early 2000s in north Jersey. It had been modified so much that Grumpy did not buy it back, as it would have taken way too much effort to restore it.