This Psychotic 1969 Camaro Has Multiple Personalities

With a name like Psycho, it doesn’t take much imagination to know this car can get a little crazy from time to time. The car’s current owner, Eduardo Loetz summed it up best when filling out the info form on his car. When we asked about the car’s 60-foot times, Ed simply stated, “QUICK!” MPH = “FAST!”

Before you start thinking that Eduardo didn’t take filling out the form seriously, keep in mind he did go on to say that he’s never driven the car on the track, so anything relegated to the 1,320 would simply be conjecture. But, you would be sorely mistaken if you thought that was a thinly-veiled ruse to hide the car’s lack of performance.

Photos By: Studio Warner

While Eduardo hasn’t personally qualified his car in the heat of battle, anyone who competed against this Hot Rod Flatz, flat-orange Camaro during the 2001 running of the Fresno region SCCA races can attest to its capabilities. That’s when the car’s builder, Kurt Jerner cleaned house and took home Rookie of the Year in the B-Street Prepared class. Kurt is not only a pretty good driver, but as you can see, he’s quite the fabricator too!

Kurt built the car to compete, which it did, giving Kurt the Rookie of the Year award in the B-Street Prepared class in the Goodguys series.

Ed reports he initially saw the car at the Goodguys event in Pleasanton, California. For Ed, cars had been mostly a hobby for the past 30 years, but when he saw the car for sale at a local swap meet, he had to have it. His reasoning? Simply put, “I thought it was badass!” We couldn’t agree more. But what is it that infuses Ed’s ’69 Camaro with so much badassery? Is it what it has, or what it doesn’t have, that makes it so cool?

Some would say it’s the lack of many creature comforts that we take for granted today which gives the car such a sinister demeanor. The list of deletes runs deep with this one. Kurt saved a few bucks by not having to reupholster the rear seat and that dash that most definitely would have been all cracked and tattered by now, no need. Oh, and if you’re waiting to bemoan the lack of power windows, don’t. There are NO windows save for the necessary front and rear panes!

But what Ed’s car lacks in soft goods, it makes up for in hardware. Take for instance that Chevrolet Performance LSx376-B15 crate engine. In case you hadn’t guessed it, that “B” stands for boost, which Psycho has, thanks to a ProCharger D1SC head unit pumping 14-pounds of atmosphere into that Holley 95mm throttle body. When Kurt was building Psycho, he made sure to plumb the four-inch, hand-fabricated, and tig-welded tubing from supercharger to Sniper EFI intake via a ProCharger three-core intercooler up front. When you consider that this combo is dyno’d at 800 horsepower at the McLeod flywheel and 676 after all those ponies work their way through the necessary gears, shafts, and pinions to get to the rollers of the chassis dyno, it gets much easier to understand what Ed means by “QUICK!”

But Psycho is more than just a potent mill and a long list of deleted goods. There’s a full complement of Global West tubular control arms up front with Carrera coilovers keeping the ride height. A set of Del-A-Lum bushings let the front arms and rear springs move without any unwanted side action. A set of PRO rear shocks keep things stable in the rear and a 1 ¼-inch front and ¾-inch rear sway bar keep the headlights and taillights parallel to the horizon in the turns. To help in making those turns, a manual 1966 Corvette worm-and-sector steering box tells those massive Nitto NT01, 245-40-17 tires which way to go. Out back, a set of 315-sized Nitto tires wrap around a set of American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels. Wilwood provides the whoa-factor whenever necessary and that narrowed 9-inch featuring an Auburn Tru-Track limited-slip diff and 4.33 gears provide the go when the tall, skinny pedal gets mashed.

The interior of Ed’s Camaro is quite interesting when you begin to consider which is longer, the deleted items, or the aftermarket accessories list. Sure, the first thing you notice when looking inside Ed’s ride is the complete lack of a dash, carpet, headliner, and cushy door skins, but what replaces them is a lesson in, as Ed puts it, bad-ass-ness. Ed’s car may not be the best choice for a cross-country bonsai run, but for an afternoon of killing cones or carving apexes, we think it’s just perfect. Imagine being strapped into those Kirkey aluminum racing seats by those Simpson five-point harnesses, peering out from between that 10-point roll cage at a field of cones. Or, better yet, imagine the cell phones that come flying out the pick-up window when you make the corner at your local fast-food joint to pick up your order. This car would be a riot doing either on a regular basis.

Performance Dyno Tuning out of Oakdale, California was responsible for the final install and tuning this ProCharged beast.

That is actually one of the things Ed likes the best about his radical Camaro. He lists the driving experience as one of the top things he digs about this car. He says, “for being older than me, the car handles great! It weighs right under 3,000-pounds with a 51 (front) and 49 (rear) weight distribution.” Actually, this car seems to find the perfect balance in several ways. From its Holley HP ECU controlling a steady diet of E85 to its Holley digital dash, it’s got enough technology to satisfy any techie. But when you consider that paying for those gizmos likely came from funds saved because Kurt didn’t need to buy any weatherstripping, you can see how this car strikes a balance between a minimalist approach and a take-no-prisoners persona. More is less unless there is none; then it is more than less. Got it. Yeah, it’s kinda Psycho like that, and Ed wouldn’t have it any other way!

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About the author

Andy Bolig

Andy has been intrigued by mechanical things all of his life and enjoys tinkering with cars of all makes and ages. Finding value in style points, he can appreciate cars of all power and performance levels. Andy is an avid railfan and gets his “high” by flying radio-controlled model airplanes when time permits. He keeps his feet firmly grounded by working on his two street rods and his supercharged C4 Corvette. Whether planes, trains, motorcycles, or automobiles, Andy has immersed himself in a world driven by internal combustion.
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