This New 1972 Camaro Street Car Is A Real Head-Turner

Noel Steibel has built a 1972 Camaro that’s destined to turn heads in the drag-and-drive competition scene in every possible way. This project is a tribute to his late father, Norman Steibel, who introduced him to drag racing. “This build is to honor his memory and legacy of drag racing,” says Noel. Norman started street and drag racing in 1960, so Noel, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, was essentially born into the sport.

“When I was 16, this local racer had this Camaro — he was always street racing around St. Louis, and they built a big small-block on nitrous and couldn’t get the car hooked up,” Noel explains. “We’ve got an old mom and pop welding shop. My dad started racing in the early 1960s and started the shop, and there’s a lot of drag racing history in some of the cars we’ve worked on there over the years. So Brad brought the Camaro to us to a back half. We did the chassis and he was going to do the tin work and everything. He took it from here to a body shop to have the quarters put on it, and while he was at that body shop, his wife got pregnant and she said, ‘guess what? No more race car.’ ”

“He left it sitting in the garage for a few years and one day he called me, he said, ‘Hey, I’m selling that car. You want to buy it?’ Well, I didn’t have as much as he wanted at the time, which was probably only a little bit more than what we charge for a back half. And the car was sweet. He had all new parts, he had brand wheels and tires, everything. And I’m like, ‘man, I don’t have the money.’ I said, ‘I’ve got four-grand.’ He goes, ‘oh, I can’t take that,’ but a couple of years later, he called me and said ‘I’ll take your four grand.’ ”

“So somewhere around ’92 or ’93, I ended up buying the car and I’ve been storing it from garage to garage to garage for a lot of years. I was under the impression time flies by, but apparently not that fast. It’s been sitting in storage unfinished from 1992 up to when I took it to Rob Matheis’s shop in 2020. It’s been sitting all these years,” Noel says.

Steibel raced seriously in his late teens and early 20s, but later sold the early Jerry Haas-built car he had acquired, bought some land, and took a break from competition. Now, 35 years later he’s set to go racing again.

Reflecting on the build, Noel shares, “The interaction with Rob and bouncing ideas off of Rob and his team to implement them was an interesting part of the build.”

The Camaro features a 25.2-cert, 4130 chrome-moly double framerail chassis, built by Rob Matheis. The body retains its original steel and glass from the firewall back, while the front end is fiberglass. The car is painted in Mazda 46V by Keith Wolk Restoration, giving it a show-quality look.

Under the hood, the Camaro houses an LS engine built by AMT Performance using a GM LSX aftermarket block. It boasts a 4.080 inch bore and 3.622 inch stroke, with a 9.88:1 compression ratio. The engine components include a Callies crankshaft and connecting rods, Ross pistons, and a Comp hydraulic roller camshaft. The induction system features a Holley EFI Dominator and twin 76/75 Precision turbos. The engine management is handled by a Holley Dominator system, with Kurt at Mid Coast Performance tuning the car. Dan Campbell took care of wiring the car.

The drivetrain includes a Powerglide transmission built by Transmissions To Go, a Trans Specialities torque converter, and a Strange Engineering driveshaft. The rearend housing and third member are also from Strange, ensuring durability and performance. The suspension setup consists of a Strange front suspension and a 4-link rear suspension. The car rides on Weld V series wheels, 17 inches in the front and 15×13-inch double beadlock in the rear, providing stability and traction on the strip.

Inside, the Camaro features Kirkey seats, a sheet metal interior, and a Holley EFI 12.3-inch instrument cluster. Modern comforts include vintage air, cup holders, USB ports, and power windows, giving this beauty both performance and convenience.

After five nail-biting years, Noel’s Camaro is ready to hit the track. “The dream was to be a Drag Week car,” he explains. “If the stars align, I would love to take it to one of the Drag Week/Sick Week style events. Until then, we are going to cruise it and try to participate in local events.” While the car is freshly built and hasn’t been tested yet, Noel is aiming for 4.50s in the 1/8 mile. “It’s a bucket list item to go sixes to the quarter. I would be content if it went 6.99,” he says.

The stance and streetability are standout features for him. “Stance is the first thing that pops into my mind, but I can’t pick just a few things. The car is perfect in all aspects.”

 

Noel’s Camaro was the first serious race car to be driven home from Matheis’s shop, and he put another 70 miles on it that day after picking it up, then took it to the father’s day car show a couple days later, displaying its street prowess. “With the Powerglide I was rolling 60 miles per hour and it was pulling 2,400 RPM, because it’s got 3.60 gear in it, so we’ll probably need to make some changes for the drag-and-drives,” he says. “We’re going to get it on the dyno here in the next few weeks, get a couple of different tunes in it, and once I recoup from this build we’ll take it to the local eighth mile track and get some passes on it. Then we’re hoping to do LS fest in September.”

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About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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