Check out the video I put together for Roland Besselink's super clean all black 307 Small Block powered 1971 Chevy Camaro build and read the rest of the story below.
Those of you who follow Hot American Cars for a while know that I have always respected the European muscle car enthusiasts. There are great communities across the old continent, and these guys keep their hot rods old school. In my opinion that is what matters the most, preserving the classic muscle car culture. Roland Besselink, owner and builder of this immaculate 1971 Chevy Camaro is a perfect example.
The car was first imported to Germany and then to the Netherlands from where Roland bought it for around $10,000 back in 1999. The Chevrolet Camaro had the very common for the 70's hot rod look. Black paint with Yellow stripes, and plastic hood scoop, gold wheels, chrome side pipes, and sadly a lot of rust.
Roland started restoring the 1971 Camaro right away and with the help of some good friends he transformed it into this super clean ride. The whole car was blasted, all sheet metal replaced, and everything else overhauled. He rebuilt the factory 307 Small Block Chevy engine, upgraded it with 268 camshaft and 68CC heads and painted it in Black to match the rest of the car.
He estimates the 307 V8 engine at 260 horsepower controlled by TH350 transmission and redone factory 10-bolt rear axle. It's not plenty, but these were low compression engines even before 1971, and Roland wanted to keep the Camaro mostly stock. What I love the most about this build is the paint job and the wheels. I mean it is so plain jane and yet gorgeous. Let me know what do you think.