Mike Heim’s V-12 1967 Camaro
Have you ever had a project that you thought you’d get to… SOMEDAY? Then that SOMEDAY comes 25 years later…
Mike Heim owns Quality Custom Rides in Lancaster, PA. He bought this ’67 Camaro when he was 19. He drove it for years in it’s streeter condition. But he had other plans. Plans he would get to. SOMEDAY. Did I tell you he owns a custom shop? It’s like the cobbler’s kids with no shoes. And, it’s a familiar story of a hot rod builder, working on everyone elses car but theirs.
Then in late 2015 he meets an Aussie who was working on a new motor project and asked if Jim had a vehicle for it. He couldn’t do it with a client car, so he said, Yeah, I got this old ’67 Camaro out back. On a crunch to get it to the next SEMA Show they shoehorned in a V12 LS engine in this test mule.
All the guys at the shop pitched in a shit-ton of hours to take this car to the next level. They chopped the top and lowered the windshield. Channelled the body and cut off the rockers. Narrowed the frame, added Air Ride Suspension, pinched the nose, smoothed the firewall and dash. Got rid of the backseat to show off the home built tubs and custom cantilever suspension. Made a new driveshaft tunnel and a whole new front suspension system. The fenders were stretched and the nose pinched. The original mirror posts act as the suicide door handles. At 42″ high to the roofline, it has to be the lowest Camaro anywhere.
Antifreeze green splashes on graphite paint sets it off completely. The flawless body shines here in his shop with photos by Don Carrick of Studio 413. I saw it glow under the lights in the Ron Francis Wiring Booth at the SEMA Show and was blown away.
Sometimes, Someday is never too late.