A Father-Son Camaro Project Creates An Unbreakable Bond

The day I met with Aaron Erskine from Waveland, Mississippi was heavily over-cast. The weather forecast earlier in the day was showing only a 30% chance of rain that evening. After I grabbed my gear and headed to the photo-shoot, I could only watch as the skies darkened from the in-bound storm clouds. I arrived at the location just in time to watch rain begin to sprinkle on the windshield of the pearl white 1978 Chevy Camaro with slick color-changing flames. With rain still lightly falling from the sky Aaron told me about his ’85 Chevy S-10 he’s building as a side project. “The motor in that? Oh, just a small 350” he said in his southern drawl. Then we began talking about the Camaro.

With more rainclouds darkening the sky, Aaron began telling me the story behind the car. “Well, it all started with my dad…” he said. As he began his second sentence I could notice his eyes tearing up. I knew this wasn’t going to be the fairytale ending I have become so accustomed to hearing when I talk to fellow car guys & gals. “My dad… My dad; he was a great man. He originally bought two cars.

Well, he wasn’t too happy about them, so he traded them off and got this Camaro.” The light rain was still lingering in the air, being blown at us by a breeze due to the height of the shoot location. Aaron continued “My dad, John Erskine, passed away a year and a half ago.

Everybody knew him as Big John though. We had plans on workin’ on this car together. I helped my dad as we rebuilt the 350 motor. We rebuilt the transmission too.”It was at this point I could only listen as he continued.

“We replaced the dash with the right one for that year. We redid the interior and we even put on electric cut-outs for the exhaust. That’s what my dad & I wanted. Something we could drive every single day if we wanted to, but still looked classy enough to show it off at the local car shows. Even the wheels… They’re staggered. But it looks good and drives good.” I asked him if his dad had been to the shows around the Gulf Coast with the car.

“Yeah, those were his friends. Those were his buddies. And after he passed, they were my motivation to keep goin’ with the car. I try to do as much as I can, but I’m still learning every day. If I know how to do it, I don’t have a problem grabbing my wrench and fixing it. But, ya know, if I have a problem I don’t know how to fix, I know I can always call those guys. They’ll be more than happy to help me out and keep a watchful eye as I do it.” A splash of rain hit my face. “I have plans on fixing up a few small things.

I gotta fix a few small paint spots, and some other small things; but man… I drive this car all the time. I show it off as much as I can. It might not be perfect, but that’s the way he would’ve wanted it.” He said with a grin. After Aaron said this I looked up. And for that brief moment; those few seconds it seemed, the clouds above had opened up and let the sun through long enough to get some great shots of the car. We both knew that it was Big John showing off his Camaro; just like he always wanted.