First-generation Camaros are iconic muscle cars, and it’s a guarantee you’ll see at least one at any given car show. It can be hard to stand out from the other Camaros at your weekly gearhead gathering, but Lenny and Mary White have found a way with their “Smooth Looker” 1969 Camaro. This F-body uses some old-school hot rodding tricks to give it some flair, and it’s rocking a massive 700-horsepower big-block Chevy engine for good measure.
Lenny’s family was into cars and always had something going on in the shop. When Lenny was young, his uncle would drive George Barris-built hot rods home and he really gravitated towards those cars. It’s no wonder he was on board to take a 1969 Camaro and give the top a serious chop.
“I have a 1968 Camaro that I’ve owned since I was in high school. This build was going to be something for my wife to drive and we found it in the local paper for sale. The car was in a barn, in rough shape, but we wanted to bring it back to life. It was supposed to be a driver, but now it’s turned into something more,” Lenny says.
The first builder who started working on the Camaro for Lenny built plenty of old hot rods and loved to chop everything. Since the car was in rough shape already, he convinced Lenny to chop the top 2 ½-inches. From there, things started to snowball and the car’s body was shaved and smoothed from front to back. Eventually, the Camaro ended up at First Place Fab where Kurt made everything work together perfectly.
The Smooth Looker is powered by a 548 cubic-inch big-block Chevy that’s based around a Merlin block. Lenny added a set of custom headers, COMP Cams roller camshaft, and a custom Holley carburetor to the engine. A TCI Turbo 400 transmission sends power back to a narrowed Moser rearend. The four-link suspension works with Ridetech air components to give the Camaro a great stance. Wilwood brakes bring the Camaro to a stop as it rolls on Foose Chrome Legend wheels wrapped in Continental tires.
“Right now, the car is just a rolling piece of art. The underneath of the car is just as nice as the rest of the body, so we want to keep it that way for as long as possible. We’re going to drive it to some local shows eventually, but for now, we just want to enjoy the finished product,” Lenny explains.
Lenny and his wife did a great job building a car that’s a bit different than your standard first-generation Camaro. Smooth Looker is a fun combination of hot rodding and muscle cars in one package. Our favorite part about this Camaro is that it has plenty of horsepower to go with its outrageous styling.
