When it comes to hot rodding Chevrolet’s Camaro, the second-gen models rank at the top of the list. The redesign for 1970.5 elicited a lot of opinions, but the car’s good looks are still hard to deny. Bill Dees of South Park, Pennsylvania, is definitely a fan of the body style. “It was a pretty unmolested, matching-numbers car with only 55,000 miles on the odometer,” Bill said. “It was a rusty car that I found on Craigslist. It was originally from Virginia, and when I found it, it was less than 5 minutes from my house.”

Bill’s pony car is a ’73 LT model, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at it from afar. “I’m not really a fan of the Type LT trim, so left off the emblems and didn’t paint the rocker panels black when I redid the car. I also added the Z28 stripes. Everything on the car is painted shiny in the engine compartment and on the undercarriage. I don’t care if it’s not correct.”

The first day it came home to Bill.

The five-year restoration saw the car spend a lot of time on a rotisserie so it could be brought back to like-new condition. “Like I said, it was very rusty, and I replaced both quarter-panels, the roof skin, door skins, inner wheelhouses, and the fenders,” Bill affirmed. “I own a collision and body shop, but 90-percent of the car’s restoration was done at my home with the help of my sons during nights and weekends.” Once the body was better than ever, Bill covered it in a factory shade of Code 26 (Dark Blue Metallic).

Bill and his sons spend many nights and weekends rebuilding the car over a five-year period.

The engine is still numbers matching and features a simple rebuild to look and perform just a little better than the way the factory intended. Behind that is a Turbo 400, and a 10-bolt rearend. Inside that newly painted body is a nearly stock Deluxe interior.

“I really have to thank my very good friend Phil. I never would have gotten this car to this point without his help,” he stated.

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