67 nickey
 

who owns the 67 nicke in the hardback book "CAMARO" published in 1999 by metrobooks editor james dietzler. the picture is on the opening page, page 46 and page 60. wow, what a car?

Re: 67 nickey
 

the lopezs own the car and have owned it since new. i believe they are from ca. felix and barbara lopez.

Re: 67 nickey
 

Not authentic. Forget about it...BKH

Re: 67 nickey
 

Is that the dark blue one? I thought that one had all the original paperwork with it? Is it a made up car?

Re: 67 nickey
 

is that the same one that is in the book i listed above. the other book it seems the same cars is listed in is musclecar , a color history, camaro, author steve stathom. i can't tell if it is dark blue or a shade of purple. who owns the nickeys still in existence. don't tell me a made up car is described as an authentic and made it both of these publications , that would be a major sin. if it did someone has a good story to tell.

Re: 67 nickey
 

The Lopez car is featured in Speedvision.com's musclecar article archives. The address is:


http://www.speedvision.com/pub/artic...e/010326a.html

if anyone needs it for reference.

Re: 67 nickey
 

Brian.... What are you saying ?? Not real ??

Re: 67 nickey
 

If you ever get to see the car, use your own judgement. The paperwork is clearly fabricated along with various pictures. The prices of the modifications are not consistant with any real Nickey advertisments. The car was never a real big block car. The owner changes his story year to year. He may have bought it new at Nickey, but I seriously doubt Harrell had any input on the car. Every Camaro person that has ever looked at the car does not beleive the story. I would not put any faith in this car being a real Nickey. That is my opinion only, and I will be the first in line to say I was wrong if I am...BKH

Re: 67 nickey
 

That article is very interesting and would apperar to say the car is real. But conversely anyone can write anything down, that does not make it material fact.

I e-mailed the fellow who wrote the article to bring the controversy to his attention. I will let you all know if he cares to comment or contact Mr Lopez.

Bill

[Edited by AutoInsane (01-24-2002 at 08:15 PM).]

[Edited by AutoInsane (01-24-2002 at 08:29 PM).]

Re: 67 nickey
 

BKH,was this the car at Novembers Vette-Fest?



Steve

Re: 67 nickey
 

bkhpah,
Wasn't Nickey converting SS350 Camaros in 1967?

Re: 67 nickey
 

I am no expert in Nickey, but I am sure they did convert SS 350 cars. If you look at the early pictures of the car it was not even a 350 car. Yes Steve it is the car from Vette Fest. The guy lives out near there. Steve what did you think?...BKH

Re: 67 nickey
 

Geez, they had a complete write up on that car in the old USCC magazine. You'd think they would have noticed some of the inconsistancies. If the car is a fake, that's the kind of stuff that hurts the hobby in a big way. Just call it a replica if that's what it is, no harm in building a replica.

Re: 67 nickey
 

I have an issue of PHR April 1967 where they visited Nickey and wrote an article on their
conversions. The car they were converting to a 427/425 at that time was a 1967 SS350 Camaro. The car had the signature yellow block, dual Carter AFBs, Bill Thomas white headers, traction arm/lift kit, cragars and red line tires. They tested the car and it ran 14.22 - 105.60. They then added slicks and un-corked the headers and ran 11.43 - 124.73.

Re: 67 nickey
 

BKH,It's not even close,I didn't even think it was the same car shown in all of "his" documentation.It may look good in a book,up close it's something else.


Steve

Re: 67 nickey
 

I like most everyone else was taken in by the car in pictures. I first saw it in a small back page article in Car Craft or something like that. I could not wait to see it in person. At Vette Fest I could not beleive it. Some of the guys I respect the most in this hobby all say the same thing. If you spin a story long enough it starts to sound real. Sorry if this is not a happy post. I just cannot buy this story. The owner seems like a nice enough guy, I just don't feel he is being honest...BKH

Re: 67 nickey
 

This is amazing... a shame as a few said, it's been written up everwhere with big spreads, etc... Truly unbelievable !!!

Re: 67 nickey
 

Happens all the time!!
People that build clone cars for themselves are usually honest about them, but they should remove the stuff before selling them to the next owner. Otherwise, the next owner plays dumb, the storyline starts, and once it's told enough times -including magazines- people believe it.
M

Re: 67 nickey
 

But in this case isn't it an original owner car? If this is so, there is no excuse for playing dumb, it is just plain lying.


Jason

[Edited by SuperNovaSS (01-25-2002 at 02:01 PM).]

Re: 67 nickey
 

Upon further thought I don't know if we are discussing the same car.The car at Vette-Fest had a 67 nose stripe.The car in the books has a 68 hockey stick stripe.If I remember correctly the car at Vette-Fest had the book displayed with his car and I noticed the difference in the stripes then. I blew it off as a bad attempt to document his car. Why would this 67(the one in the book) have 68 stripes?I doubt a 67 Nickey 427 would sit on the lot for 6 months.The 68 style stripe came out late in production,January 68,not very close to the end run of 67's (July).I think the story on the book car was that the first owner liked the style of the new 68 stripes and wanted them on his 67. I still think something doesen't sit well with either car... if there is two cars.........


Steve

[Edited by 68l30 (01-25-2002 at 03:13 PM).]

Re: 67 nickey
 

What about the dark blue Nickey Camaro that was featured in Super Chevy 4-5 years ago? It had a white vinyl top. Supposedly sat in the original owners back yard for 20+ years before it was sold. Car had Cragars with redlines. Car was from Conneticut I believe.
Is it a real one?
whitetop

Re: 67 nickey
 

Steve, sit down for this one. He just repainted the car before Vette Fest with the more correct 67 stripe. When I asked him about the 68' style stripe a few years ago, he told me he had Nickey paint it on. He also stated that it was his idea to paint it that way and Chevrolet stole his idea for 68 after seeing his. Isn't that precious...BKH

Re: 67 nickey
 

BKH,ok same car!I thought I was going nuts,what a crack pot!

Steve

Re: 67 nickey
 

That's amazing. With all the publication that car has gotten and nobody bothered to get real proof or documentation before doing their articles. By the way, I have a rare Penske built 66 Camaro conv TransAm car if anyone is interested in doing an article. LOL!

Re: 67 nickey
 

There are only a handfull of known and Documented Nickey Conversion Cars and a good number of these cars are owned by members on this sight.

Re: 67 nickey
 

its a crying shame for a guy to go through what this guy has done to lead people to believe this is a real nickey owned since new by original owners, felix and barbara lopez, as described by the books i listed above. how do these people sleep at night? its stuff like this that makes us question transactions to the degree we all do. what a sad display of integrity!

Re: 67 nickey
 

I saw this car in Chicago two years ago and took it at face value. I had an interesting talk with the owner. He even has old pictures of himself and the car. I noticed that the engine was a 1968 Corvette 435 in a 1967 Camaro. Later in the day I notice the owner was in a HEATED debate with one of the judges. They were almost to the point of yelling. Interesting!!!

Re: 67 nickey
 

They may have noticed the bowling trophies in the display.

Re: 67 nickey
 

Hey, hey!, Let's not question his bowling ability now!!!

Re: 67 nickey
 

Bowling trophies were also dated 1968...... https://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/burnout.gif

Steve

Re: 67 nickey
 

I am sorry to dig up a really old thread but as I was checking who was on line I saw somebody reading it so I re read it. While at Vette Fest this March 2003 I had a long conversation with Felix Lopez about his car and he told me the "story". The paperwork was interesting to say the least and in it he had a copy of the original title that looked legit. The other paperwork did not look vintage and when I asked about any vintage pics he claimed to not have any which is weird because above posts say that members have see them. He told me something that might get a chuckle out of some members. He was in the military (so he claims) for a while in the 60's or 70's. He also told me that he was a retired Chicago police officer and you need at least 20 years to be eligeable for pension so I don't know how the math would work with being in the military but he told me that he forgot he even had the car and some other family member heard about the car and began to research it. He told me that they eventually found the car in anothers family members barn or garage (I forgot which one) He then dragged the car out and began to fix her up. He told me that his mother had all the paperwork put away for him. If this is in fact a bogus story it is a shame. The funny thing about my meeting him is he was eating a ham sandwhich which was falling out of his mouth all over himself and the floor as he told me the tale! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Attached is a pic of the suspect car.

Re: 67 nickey
 

Here is a pic of the 427. I always love a K&N on a supercar! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: 67 nickey
 

It sure would be cool to see some real Nickey Chevrolet Conversion Cars at the local Vette/Fest.

Re: 67 nickey
 

This is a perplexing thread.
It sounds interesting to say the least,and a waste of a Darn Good Sandwich to boot!

Re: 67 nickey
 

Rick yes the sandwich thing was halarious! I wanted to laugh in his face but just watched in amazement at the food pooled all around him. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Peculiar little fella that old Felix the cat.

Stefano yes it would be nice to see some REAL Nickey cars at Vette Fest. Only if that Chicego area sYc site member would only let them see the light of day............

Re: 67 nickey
 

Frank do you have any pictures of the sangwich ? It may have actually been Head Cheese.

Re: 67 nickey
 

Car Craft scooped PHR even back in 1967. While the April PHR has been reprinted recently with a nice sepia color (did they print it in color back in '67?) spread about Nickey 1968? Camaros. Car Craft months earlier featured Dick Harrell supervising a 427 motor swap and did some distributor fine tuning on the Sun machine. The one comment that gets your attention; there was only 1/16 inch clearance for the motor, but TORQUE would solve that problem briefly... Of course it couldn't do much for all the extra weight that dropped the front of the car by one inch. Motion used aluminun heads on their 1967 Camaro 427...

Re: 67 nickey
 

The first Camaro Supercar was probably the HOT ROD Magazine Test Camaro. This car was an early production car that showed up at GM proving ground in Mesa, AZ in May 1966. It was given to Hot Rod for long term testing and was used to test fit many speed parts. It was also the
First Camaro in California. First Camaro road-tested in the print media. First street-driven Camaro with a big-block. First Camaro to gain editorial exposure in HOT ROD Magazine. First Camaro to carry an Edelbrock intake manifold. First Camaro to ever have a Hurst four-speed shifter. First Camaro in the 11s. First Camaro to take a test lap at Riverside Raceway. First Camaro to appear at an NHRA National event. First Camaro to ever 'beat' Bill Jenkins. First Camaro sent to Bill Thomas to get a "396" installed. It was found later to have a much bigger engine then 396. I have collected a bunch of old articles on this very interesting Camaro. In was driven by Zora D, Smokey Yunick, Bill Jenkins, and a bunch of other well known hot rodders/racers.

Re: 67 nickey
 

JoeC,

No question that the Hot Rod magazine test car was very cool and has a lot of history behind it. I have seen the car in person and wrote down the VIN and cowl tag info. According to the cowl tag, it was built in August so it would be hard for it to be at the Mesa Proving Ground in May 66. The serial number was in the 102xxx range so there were at least a couple thousand Camaros in California before that one. I'm not bashing you or the car, just wanting to pass on some factual information on it. Like I said, it's a great piece of Camaro history. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif[/img]

-Jon

1967 Z28 street car
1967 Z28 Trans Am race car
1967 Z28 Registry

Re: 67 nickey
 

Hey Joe,
I also had most of those articles but are now lost, can you post up the pic or send it to me, when Hot Rod ran it through the 1/4 and pulled the parachute they tied to the bumper at the big end [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img], Great pic!
I would like to download it for a background on the PC screen.

Thnx Bud.