The story of "Silhouette" - a 1967 Camaro

SilhouetteI saw “Silhouette” at Worthing American, Rod and Custom in July and instantly recognised it from the front cover of a 1980’s book that I have called “The Complete Customiser” by Steven Myatt.

Originally created by Mick Cooke this Camaro was well known on the custom scene for many years, but it has had a rough ride over the years and if this car could talk what a tale I’m sure it could tell.

Imported to the UK in 1974, Mick Cooke customised the Camaro to what can be seen in the image from the front cover of the book, fitting wheelie bars, side pipes, supercharger, velvet interior, slot mags etc, etc, etc and of course the airbrushed custom paint finish in Candy Red with stars and stripes.

The car then spent many years touring the show scene, Santa Pod etc and became well known along other cars such as Eight Misbehaving, Roarin Rat and Street Fighter to name but a few.

Fast forward a few years and with Mick Cooke having sadly passed away, “Silhouette” was stored and then later sold. The new owner being in to the custom scene decided to remove the original blown engine and I believe installed it into another custom ride called “Instant T”. During this time many other parts were removed including the wheelie bars and side pipes, leaving little more than a rolling shell.

Around 7 years ago Nigel Clarkson., who by his own admission has been into American cars for many years now, bought “Silhouette”. Nigel had what can only be described as a famous project car, purchasing what was essentially a flamboyantly painted 1967 Camaro rolling shell.

On the plus side the car still had original matching numbers axle and gearbox with a sound body and good paintwork (a testament to the quality of the original artwork). The mileage wasn’t too high either and when considering this was mainly a show car there is every reason to believe it is genuine.

Over the 7 years of ownership Nigel has managed to source the required parts, installing a 1969 Corvette 350ci engine, side pipes, wheelie bars etc bringing the car almost totally back to the original example. The only aspect not completed at this point is the Supercharger.

Fortunately the shell came with two bonnets all painted up to the original scheme including ribbons, with the only difference being one has a large whole in the middle to make room for the blower to fit through.

Needless to say the bonnet currently fitted doesn’t have the whole but Nigel does have a supercharger, so who knows may be we will get to see the car in all its original glory once again.

With “Silhouette” only having been back on the road for the last couple of years, Nigel doesn’t like taking it out in the rain – understandable really, it’s been through a lot in the last 40 years!