|
|
1967 Penske Trans-Am Camaro #36 (GMP)
1/18 DieCast
by Dave Nicholson, aka DetourDave
Staff Reviewer
 The word for ’67 was CAMARO, and with GM General Manager Elliott M. (Pete) Estees at the helm, the Camaro’s introduction on September 29th 1966 would be an explosion heard round the world, kicking off what would be dubbed the era of the ponycar wars. By definition, a ponycar was a car with a long hood, short deck & compact size. The Ford Mustang was arguably the birthplace of the ponycar. Not allowing themselves to be outdone, Chevrolet offered their ponycar entrant as a 67 model, the Camaro, in two performance packages, the Super Sport (SS) and Rally Sport (RS) with engine choices varying from the 327 & 350 small blocks to a 396 big block. The Camaro was designed to steal the Mustangs thunder, and it was a true performer on the street, but those inside GM, including one Vince Piggins – Chevrolets product promotion manager, knew the only way to reach out to customers and prove the Camaros superiority was to put it on the track, even though GM currently had a ban on all factory backed racing programs.
The fields of NASCAR and the NHRA were being dominated by mid-size and full-sized musclecars, so the only pasture green enough for the ponycars to run was SCCA Trans-Am racing. But for the Camaro to compete, Chevy would have to go back to the drawing board to build a car that would qualify within the SCCA’s rules & regulations. Perhaps the biggest obstacle was getting the Camaro down to the SCCA’s required displacement limit, no larger than 305-cid. Chevy’s smallest engine offered in the Camaro was the 327. To meet the SCCA’s rules, Chevy decided to take their 327 block combined with a 283 crankshaft giving their new powerplant a cid of 302.4, just under the SCCA’s 305-cid limit. Chevrolets 302-cid 290bhp beast had been born and in turn lent heavily to the creation of the now legendary RPO-Z28 option, perhaps better known as the Camaro Z28.
After taking a ride in Piggins prototype Z28, Pete Estees couldn’t help but authorize full production on the 302 Z28’s. Even so, the Camaro Z28 wasn’t widely known of amongst the public, and in fact, many car dealers didn’t even know of the Z28’s existence in 1967. As a result, only 602 Camaro Z28’s were built in 1967. To help promote the Z28 option on the Camaro, a single copy was sent to Riverside to make its premier in November 1966, just in time for the 67 Trans Am racing year. One powerful & influential force that had his keen eye on the Chevy Camaro Z28 was none other than Roger Penske.
Penske had a great number of resources at his disposal, including a lucrative sponsorship from Sunoco as well as a professional racing team that included the talents of the legendary Mark Donohue. Penske’s Trans Am Camaros were fielded in the distinctive Penske authentic blue & yellow paint schemes that really stood out amongst the crowd. The Penske/Donohue Trans Am Camaro program hit the track in the 1967 season debut at Daytona with Donohue piloting a 67 Camaro Z28.
Donohue piloted his 67 Camaro Z28 to the lead for several laps in the inaugural Daytona Trans Am race, but ultimately was forced to retire. Even though the first outing for the Penske/Donohue Camaro didn’t deliver a win, the Camaro Z28 had shown its potential to its fans and its competition. In August of 1967, teamed up with Craig Fisher, the Penske Camaro Z28 scored its first Trans Am victory at Marlboro Maryland. The 67 Camaro of Team Penske would score 2 more victories in the 67 season, but it was not enough to take home the championship, losing out to Jerry Titus in a Shelby built Mustang. Even so, the first year for the Penske Trans Am Camaro Z28 was an impressive one, and would only serve as a prelude to the next two years of Penske’s Trans Am dominance in 1968 & 1969.
Once unleashed, Chevrolets little Z28 secret would become the Camaro’s secret for success. The meager 602 Z28’s produced in 1967 would peak in 1969 with over 20,000 Z28’s being built. The Trans Am Camaro had transcended its laurels as Trans Am Champion to the streets to be heralded as arguably the true ponycar Champion.
In honor of the Penske/Donohue Trans Am Camaro history, GMP is issuing a series of Penske Authentic 1/18 scale Trans Am Camaros. The first in their series is the Mark Donohue piloted 1967 Camaro Z28. For starters, GMP has done an outstanding job on their Camaro mold. That's right, this Camaro is a new mold from GMP and it does not borrow from the Lane Camaro mold at all. GMP has captured the shape of the 1st gen Camaro as well as the look of the Trans Am Camaro with great precision. The stance is right, its void of both front & rear bumpers, it has the mesh screens in the front grille & front fascia as well as the front chin spoiler. The 1967 Penske/Donahue Sunoco Trans Am Camaro is presented in an authentic coat of Penske Blue with the genuine yellow rally stripes that are straight on & complete from nose to tail, accented with a full set of race day authentic decals. Add to the list chrome plated hood pins and accurate windshield clasps holding the windshield in place and you’ll quickly see GMP is offering alot of detail in these Camaros at a very reasonable sub-$100 price.
Next to a remarkably accurate replica on the outside, you'll discover an impressively detailed car inside as well. For starters, you get a fully detailed engine compartment with a detailed firewall, snake like simulated braided lines that would make Medusa envious, realistic hood hinges, and a detailed engine with a removable air cleaner. You may even notice that the entire engine block, valve covers and headers are all finished in white. This is yet another incredible detail accurately captured by GMP as Roger Penske ordered to have sections of his cars finished in white as a means to easily discover and pinpoint any leaks or other problems. GMP has even thrown in a couple of Penske Authentics fender covers in case you get your hands dirty playing around inside the engine compartment.
Moving on to the interior, GMP precisely captured the spartan white interior of the Trans Am contender with the only noticeable details being the chrome plated gauge cluster, the roll cage, and the lonely racing bucket highlighted with the detailed racing harness fastened to the roll cage. And don’t forget GMP’s own realistic hood hinge design. The interior may be sparse, but it is very impressive.....in the case of this scale model, less is more. Equally impressive is the detailed opening trunk. The detailed fuel "hatch" pokes through a hole in the trunk lid, leading down to the Camaros fuel cell, resting on two chrome plated support arms. The roll cage pokes through the trunk wall, securing the rear mounted & wired battery. The trunk is rounded out with neat little details like the trunk pins on the top of the trunk lid and the rubber seal around the fuel "hatch".
The underbody is finished faithfully in white with painted cast metal detail on the rear leaf springs, driveshaft, transmission, and fuel cell. The white race headers breathe into a pair of pipes that exit out at 45-degree angle under the drivers & passengers side doors, supported by a bracket just under where the pipes exit. This Penske 67 Camaro driven by Mark Donahue rides on a set of meaty Firestone tires with incredible tread detail wrapped around a set of gorgeous torque thrust wheels with detailed lugs & a detailed valve stem, mounted in front of a set of detailed brake calipers & rotors.
GMP delivers their first masterpiece in the Trans Am Camaro series in an eye catching graphically creative packaging, combining images of the diecast representation with historical images of the actual Trans Am Camaro performing, set upon a Penske Blue cardboard background. GMP even included some accurate history of the 67 Trans Am Camaro on the side panel, which makes the packaging not only good looking, but informative. Inside, the Camaro is secured with great care along with a few extra goodies including the pair of fender covers, the removable air cleaner and a Penske Authentics shield.
The GMP 1967 Penske/Donahue Trans Am Camaro is a beautiful representation of an American racing icon and like its inspiration, the Trans Am Camaros from GMP are destined to become champions among our diecast collections. Whether your enthusiasm is for Trans Am racing, Roger Penske, Mark Donahue, or American muscle cars, this is one diecast not to be overlooked. If you didn’t spend the time to read this review and instead skipped right to the end, then read this….BUY THIS CAR NOW!!!! |
diecast camaros, 1967 camaro gmp diecast cars
1967 Camaro, GMP
|
|
Total diecast model cars in 1967 Camaro, GMP: 0
|
|
