Subscibe to our feedTaking the Classics for a Spin
Kids will be kids, and car buffs will be car buffs.
And when the car buff is no longer a kid, he knows all he needs to feel years younger again is to turn the clock back and take a stroll down memory lane. Or, in the case of Jimmie Johnson and many others associated with the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet that he drives for Hendrick Motorsports, it’s more likely a stroll through some nearby garages.
Johnson stays extremely busy earning his living as the three-time defending champion in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. But during those rare moments when he’s not on the track, or not thinking about ways to go faster on the track, or not at a sponsorship appearance or filming television commercials, Johnson enjoys checking out the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro he recently finished having restored “after a few years.”
Photo Credit Jeff Honeycut
He is even hoping to get out and test-drive it again soon. The operative word is “again,” because he took it out once and quickly drove it straight back to the shop for more modifications.
“We had it done once and I drove it, and we had a little clearance problem with the fenders and the tires,” Johnson said. “The tires were just rubbing a little bit, and I was worried that they would blow the fenders right off the car.”
And while Johnson is used to blowing the fenders off of other competitors’ cars during Sprint Cup races, blowing off his own on a recently restored classic was not something he wanted to do. The car is very special to Johnson, and for good reasons.
He had it restored not so much because he loves the ’67 Camaro, but because the engine in it was one originally built by Hendrick Motorsports to honor the late Randy Dorton – one of 10 people who perished in a plane crash near Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., in October of 2004.
“The engine that is in it is the engine that was built in Randy Dorton’s memory years back after the plane crash in 2004. The engine shop built it. It was being auctioned off at a charity event and I couldn’t let that go to someone else,” Johnson said.
“I had to have it, so I bought it to put in a car obviously. Just a situation developed and the idea of a Camaro came along. … It just seemed like a great way to finish up the project and raise more awareness and more thoughts and memories of everyone on that airplane, including Randy. It’s been a fun project. It’s something I enjoy talking about. I look forward to putting it on the road so people can see it someday soon.”
Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, also lists the Chevy Camaro as one of his favorite all-time cars. But they have slightly different tastes – or as Johnson joked, tastes that are “as different as Rockford, Ill., (where Knaus grew up) and San Diego (where Johnson was born and raised).
“My favorite car of all time is the ’70 ½ Chevrolet Camaro,” Knaus said. “I think it’s a very cool car. I’d like to have one of those some day. I’ve got a ‘66 Nova my Dad and I built about 20 years ago that I’m having restored right now. I’ve got an awesome Corvette V06 that I like a lot. There are a lot of cars out there I would love to have.”
Asked what it is about older cars that capture his affection, Knaus admitted he isn’t quite certain what the allure is.
“I’m not sure. It might be the cool body styles like the old Camaro. I don’t like the first-generation Camaro. I like the second generation. I think they are really neat-looking cars,” Knaus said.
Naturally, Johnson, Knaus and team owner Rick Hendrick are partial to Chevy products, old and new.
“They have really good performance cars,” Knaus said of the Chevy line. “I like ‘63 to ‘65 Corvettes. I think those are really cool-looking cars. I also like the early ‘50s Corvettes. I think they are nice-looking as well. If you look at anything that has developed a heritage or made a mark in the design process, or in the handling or automotive process, that is definitely something that is significant to me.”
Just such a car, in Knaus’ mind, is his V06 Corvette.
“If you look at the V06 Corvette until the ‘01 came out, it was the most impressive production car ever made,” Knaus insisted. “It is pretty amazing that a domestic car manufacturer could build something that is so far superior over the Ferrari and Lamborghini and Porsche. It’s pretty impressive. It’s sad that nobody really identifies with that in the United States, since they are so readily available.”
Hendrick said he is a rabid fan of the Corvette as well. But he said there are a number of newer General Motors products – including ones just now coming off assembly lines – that should excite the general buying public.
“I’m a huge Corvette guy, so anything Corvette is great for me,” Hendrick said. “The new Malibu is a terrific car, and my mother drives an Impala. GM is building some of the best stuff they’ve ever made, and I’m really excited about the new products for 2010.
“There is a lot to like. The new Camaro is really something special. I have the first two that came off the assembly line.”
Like Johnson and Knaus, Hendrick also has his old favorite classic cars as well.
“The one I probably cherish the most is my ’31 Chevrolet,” Hendrick said. “My Dad and I worked on that car together, and I took it out drag racing when I was a kid. We actually won quite a few races in that ’31.
“My family had it restored and surprised me with it on my 40th birthday. It now lives in our museum at Hendrick Motorsports (in Concord, N.C.).”
While Johnson, Knaus and Hendrick all love the classic cars in their garages, the Chevy that’s first in their hearts right now is the No. 48 Lowe’s car as they pursue a distinctive spot in history for that particular car.