If you ask us, the only thing that’s better than a badass race car, is a badass race car that just happens to be a street car, too.
East Islep, New York native John Cipolla clearly was of the same opinion, as he recently embarked on a project to transform an original 1967 Camaro into an incredible race car capable of putting in some highway miles when called upon.
Cipolla, who has “a few cars” in his stable, including a notchback Mustang that he campaigns in Ultra Street, admits he’s relatively new to the drag racing game, but he’s going all-in with his latest addition that, he tells us, is actually his longest-tenured ride.
“This particular car belonged to the father of a friend of mine, and I bought the car when he passed away, when I was 16. I’m 50 now, so I’ve had it for a long time. It’s been a street driver, and now we’re going to do a little racing with it, in a Big Tire type of class,” Cipolla says.
Chassis builder Rob Matheis was tasked with much of the build-up of the Camaro, beginning with a firewall-back double framerail chassis certified to 25.3, complimented with AFCO Racing canister shocks, a custom fabricated rear end housing, a Strange Engineering Ultra case and 40-spline axles, Strange brakes on all four corners, and a Smith Racecraft front end assembly. Weld Racing 16×16 Delta rear wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson 33 x 10.5W slicks and V Series spindle mount hoops up front were added to complete the rolling package.
For power, Cipolla acquired a 565 cubic inch, all-billet big-block that once powered Jason Carters’ Mark Micke-driven Radial vs The World Chevy Malibu, and paired it with a gear-driven F3 ProCharger. Matheis fabricated the hot and cold side plumbing, featuring a PT2000 intercooler which feeds a 105mm throttle body controlled by a BigStuff3 system.
“The engine had a twin turbo setup and I bought it from Jason, called Nelson [Racing Engines] and told them what I was doing, and he took it apart and put in new connecting rods, a new design camshaft for the blower application, and freshened the block and heads,” Cipolla says.
He shared with us that the car was dyno’ed for the first time on Tuesday, pulling an impressive 1,588 horsepower to the rear wheels, saying, in his trademark New York accent, that the car is “truly an animal.”
An M&M two-speed Turbo 400 was added to give the build a nearly bulletproof drivetrain combination.
While Cipolla says he had the Outlaw Big Tire class, a fan favorite up in his neck of the woods in the Northeast, in mind with the build, he views it as a be-all, do-all car that he can have a little fun with, from car shows to Sunday drives, Big Tire heads-up racing and Super Chevy Shows to, potentially, even Drag Week. “It’s just a great addition to my collection,” he says proudly. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
“When we asked John what he wanted, he said an extremely fast, show-quality car, that could beat a lot of his buddies,” says Matheis.
Cipolla has licensed and insured the car, and while it won’t be a daily driver by any means, he makes no bones about this being a machine he’s going to get his money’s worth out of it, both on the track and off. And if we had to bet, there’s as many car show trophies in this Camaros’ future as there are timeslips.