Untamed Speed Assassin

One of the more brutal Chevrolet super car builders, Baldwin-Motion Performance based in Long Island NY packed a flamethrower under every hood. Look at this like the SRT division at Chrysler today. Here's a select group aiming to bring totally confident tire-shredding, road-melting performance into your daily drive or weekend racing. Cars like this 1970 Camaro RS/SS ditched the 396 from GM and even skipped 427 conversions like Yenko for 454 cubic inches pounding your bones with over 500 horsepower. Kinda proves some modern numbers aren't so exclusive to this generation now does it?

Joel Rosen's little shop of thunder placed big block engines into Corvettes, Camaros, Novas, Chevelles, Biscaynes, even Vegas in its seven year run, ('67-'74). His monsters were advertised as completely obedient for street use while retaining the edge necessary to run no less than 120 miles per hour in 11.50 seconds or better on sanctioned strips. Rosen's infamous quarter-mile guarantee never had to be honored perhaps because these cars were everything and more.The whole "reliable machines that will run on the street" bit really went to forward thinking because up to this time, the hottest race cars were stripped, focused terrors.

Phase III options bred 454 big blocks taken out to nearly 482 cubic inches and the aforementioned 500 plus horsepower. Single or dual four barrel carbs on a high-rise intake capped with "bug eye" air cleaner set a Motion plant apart. You got headers flowing into polished, wicked-sounding side pipes for easy breathing as well. Cragar S/S mags, Motion performance hood, stripe and spear decals, and beefy Mickey Thompsons out back gave it all the stance and attitude. Suspension components intended to keep all their horses on the ground added plenty of stick.

The 1970 1/2 SS/RS Phase III Camaro holds its own place in my heart because Stoudt Auto Sales in Reading Pa. nearly unleashed a metallic brown example upon my father. He and a younger brother cruised on over in the 1970 SS/RS featured in "Come Back", looking for a new machine. It was glorious, gleaming in the summer sunlight, sitting just right. The car looked just like this green example only brown, nearly mint although the year was 1974. There was no test drive because the salesman knew how lethal this car could be in young hands. In their words, "Trust me it runs." Unfortunately the rep. saw how rough my dad's Cranberry Red example had it in a few years and refused to entertain a trade. If memory serves correct, the Phase III had a $7,000 tag on it. Maybe they were up-charging for the liability, but at least one existed so close to home. If the sale had gone through, I might not be here today, so take fate for what it is.

Joel Rosen absolutely loved his work, explaining why he continued business past the first "oil crisis". Chevy's little Vega, a slapped together excuse for economy looked like the perfect pep candidate. 350 or 454 cubic inch hotheads nearly tore the little champ in two, but it's all about sticking to the next suit in the big white house. It gained press, the trigger of the Motion performance downfall. EPA agents flat told Rosen to knock it off with the fun stuff because you're doing your nation an environmental disservice. Facing mountains of fines, Motion Performance shut down, leaving an impressive legacy on the road.

Corvettes get the money, Camaros the popularity, and Vegas the "Whaaaaaat?" Baldwin-Motion's exploits further bolstered the pocket of northeastern Chevrolet speed freaks. Yenko, a name instantly recognized among GM circles, modified COPO ordered cars while Motion machines were not. To be good you didn't need to snake around regulations through back doors. How cool would it have been to see a Motion Corvette go against Chevy's L88 version straight up or a Motion-Yenko throwdown on Woodward Ave.? So much of what could have been through the mid 70s makes awesome dreams, but wow the hell Rosen raised even after they threatened him with chains. SRT might get corporate support. Independent performance dealers are at risk of fading away. Hoist a glass for these pioneers of speed who put the "go" in your heart.