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23rd Camaro Nationals Re-Cap

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The 23rd Camaro Nationals is now in the record books.  A whole year’s worth of work – and it over in the blink of an eye!  

Everything we imagined when we toured the Classic Auto Mall property worked out as planned.  The venue, along with the proximity to the NY/NJ/Eastern PA/DE/MD beltway increased not only the pre-registration count, but the day of show, vendor, and spectator count as well.  A full 500 Camaros attended, along with several Firebirds, for a glorious weekend; and 75 early-arrival Camaros took off for the Rolling Cruise on Thursday evening.  The Classic Headquarters Banquet was fantastic, and the Charity Auction that followed raised a a record $11,000. for the Silence of Mary Home for Children.  Everyone is still shaking their heads thinking about the fight to take our Mascot, Bobby Banana, home for the year.  In the end, Andy Durfee and the Upstate Outcasts gave the winning bid of $2500 for  Bobby, and the Long Island Camaro Club donated another $500 as a going away present. (they felt bad to give him up, but at least he was staying in NY.)

The Wheel Craft and Classic Headquarters Exhibit Halls were filled with over six dozen  fantastic Camaros….from wild customs, to low milage first, second and third gens.  Five ’67 big blocks contrasted two actual Police cars (and a third on display outside); and two late model, ground pounding COPOs, framed re-creations of Grumpy’s Toy and a Penske era  Trans-Am car.  Legends Class had some astounding first and second gen F-bodies up on the 4 post lift (supplied by Garage Services LLC), and Bow Tie judges went over three fantastic third gens, along with a row of beautiful first gens.  The exhibit halls alone had cars from almost a dozen states, including California, Colorado. Arizona, Florida, and Maine.

Outside, over 425 Camaros soaked up the sun in judged and non-judged classes, to the tunes of DJ Joe Sporney.  Changing Heartbeat to Drive-Thru Judging sped things up dramatically, allowing us to consider offering some Heartbeat registrations to Day of Show registrants next year.  

Every year has a couple things happen that we will never forget.  $3000 raised for Bobby Banana will be one…..and a second is the poor soul who lost his only set of keys to his late model convertible, and refused to leave it in the parking lot with the top down overnight.  Local Chevrolet dealers and an AAA locksmith were unable to help, so a fellow Camaro Comrade pulled his enclosed trailer up to the car, allowing  him to spend the night protected from the elements. Saturday morning, in the early light, we found the keys.  Needless to say, he was ecstatic when he saw his key fob.

2020 brought us a great event, and we look forward to and even bigger and better show next July.  Our late friend, Bud Scolastico would have been so proud to have 500 Camaros only 20 minutes from his home in Reading, PA.

Check out lots of great photos on the Gallery Page of this site, along with some videos of the show and the cruise, on our Facebook page.

Save The Date – Next year’s 24th Camaro Nationals will return to the Classic Auto Mall July 13th,14th & 15th, 2023!

Camaro Nationals Unites Brothers with their Z/28

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Category : Event Re-Caps

A short note to the American Camaro Association, and to all the clubs and vendors supporting the 2022 Camaro Nationals:

This was the third time I have taken my Camaro to the Camaro Nationals.   Each time was always a great time, learning and sharing anything and everything Camaro.  This year was particularly special because as of May 2022 the Camaro has been in the family for 50 years.

My brother purchased the car May 16, 1972.   It was a daily driver for a few years, had the carburetor stolen – twice in two weeks- which prompted the purchase of another car. The Camaro was  then put in storage as he moved away and could not take it with him.   Fast forward to 1985 – he called me and offered the car for sale.   WIthout hesitation I agreed to buy the Z.  Due to circumstances at the time, I did not really drive the car.   In 37 years of owning it, I have added less than 1,000 miles on the odometer.   

We did not get together too often over the years, but the question “do you still have the car?” always came up.   He had not seen the car as best we could estimate about 22 years.  With moving the Camaro Nationals from Frederick, MD to Morgantown, PA it was just “close enough” that he agreed to come to the show.  He was there on Saturday and commented that it looks as good now as it did when he sold it to me.  It definitely put a smile on his face.  It was very special to reminisce the different stories about the car’s past and to also share it with many friends I have made at Camaro Nationals.  Of course that led to some pictures too!

The show was a great show indeed.  For me, this one may always be just a little more special with it being our family’s 50th anniversary of owning the Z/28, and to have my brother there as part of it.

In closing I would like to say once more a big “Thank You” to the ACA, vendors, the numerous Camaro clubs and the many volunteers doing much of the behind the scenes work.   Your efforts are most sincerely appreciated.

Regards,

Scott Gerberich
1969 Lemans blue / white Z/28

PS -My brother said if he knew this picture was going to be circulated in 2022 he would have put on a shirt!!

  • November 14, 2021
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Image of 1969 Butternut Yellow Camaro COPO

Camaro Legends 1969 Judging Manual Now Available

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Category : Event Updates Uncategorized

October 2021

Brad McAdam has announced the completion of the Camaro Legends 1969 Judging Manual…the first of a series of manuals to assist in the restoration of Camaros. The idea began many years ago. Different restoration shops and different parts of the country sometimes have different ideas or memories of how early Camaros looked when they came off the assembly line. When restoring a Camaro for upper end concours judging, what may seem like a minor variance, can cost a fair number of points on the score sheet. When I frame-off restored my ’69 convertible back in the 90’s, I know I had those questions.

What percentage of matt black should be used on the firewall?
What sheen should be on the dash panel?
How much gloss should be on the starter? What about the radiator support?
Are these the correct bolts on my inner finders?
Are these reproduction clips n the hardware kit correct?
If I restore the originals, what color should they be?

Naturally I used the assembly manual as a guide, but the manual was never intended to be a restoration guide, and does not include finishes, or bolt markings. etc. For that, you need a Judging Manual!

Brad McAdam, Legends Class judge and statistician, took up the challenge of compiling information gleaned from his notes and the notes of the other Legends judges from over 25 years. The result is a comprehensive book loaded with details, and guidelines used to score the Legends class. This publication can save car owners valuable time, labor, and money, by getting things right the first time; and likely increasing their initial score by many points. In my case, simple things I did not know, that were very easy and inexpensive to correct, cost me around 7% on my initial pass thru concours; effectively getting me a Bronze rather than a Silver award.

Copies of the manual are $75, and can be ordered on the registration form for pick up at the show. For those actively restoring a car, copies can be ordered from Brad for immediate shipment. You can reach him at camaro67@aol.com.

 

  • August 22, 2021
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Image of a 1967 Yenko Camaro

2021 Camaro Nationals Recap

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Thanks for another great turnout for the 22nd Camaro Nationals. Many had concerns back in March, when the decision was made to go ahead with the show. Local shows have been strong, but crossing state lines and staying in hotels added another level of concern, and had the possibility of dampening things down. Fortunately for all, things worked out well. Pre-registration matched 2019 – virtually to the car number, and great weather brought a strong ‘day of show’ turnout.

Two new volunteers really kicked in with help this year….Dale Murphy and Benny Pfeiffer. Dale worked with new sponsors and advertisers, getting them what they needed to be successful; and Benny kicked things up in the main Exhibit Hall (building 9) with a fantastic array of Yenko’s, COPO’s, quality Z/28’s, and SS’s. We also had a few Rest-Mods, and the Classic Headquarters Funny Car on display. The hall was as full of spectators as I have ever seen it – and the turn out on Friday afternoon was probably the best ever.

Thanks to the several generous sponsors and local businesses – who donated product and gift certificates; we were able to raise and donate $7,200 to the Silence of Mary Home. The largest bid this year was over $1500, for a set of Goodyear Tires donated by Kelsey Tire. That was an all time record for our auction. Thank you Kelsey Tire! Silent auctions, 50/50’s and donations raised an additional several hundred additional dollars for “Hero Dogs” – an organization that raises and trains service dogs for needy veterans, police, fire, and other service related individuals. Everyone loved meeting the Hero Dogs, especially their newest puppy in training.

The Camaro Nationals and the American Camaro Association would would like to thank all the Sponsors and Advertisers that supported the 2021 event. Registration fees cannot begin to cover the overhead and expenses of events like these. Take the time to thank sponsors when you see them at meets, or are ordering parts for your next upgrade. Let them know that sponsorships and advertisements are appreciated.

Again, we truly appreciate everyone’s support of the Camaro Nationals, and look forward to seeing you again next year. 2022 information and registration forms will be available in October.

Karl Scheffy

Camaros fill the Exhibit Hall

2021 Camaro Nationals Exhibit Hall filled with Fantastic F-Bodies

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Category : Event Re-Caps

by Karl Scheffy


2021 is shaping up to be a really great year for the Camaro Nationals, to be held June 24-26th, in Frederick Maryland. Not only is participation strong, exceeding 2019 registrations with Camaros from over 20 states; with the what seems to be daily lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, “Day of Show” is sure to be an all time record.

The main exhibit hall – “Buildidng 9” will be housing what I think is best collection of Camaros we have ever had on display. This collection of Camaros in this building alone, is worth attending this leading Camaro event. A quick overview shows a ’67 Yenko, a ’68 Yenko, a ’69 Yenko, five ‘69 COPO’s, six rare, unique, or survivor Z/28’s, at least four early big blocks, Fascination – a famous early funny car, a ’67 Pace Car, a ’69 Pace Car, four Resto-Mods, and more. We are still working on the final few open spots, but in the mix so far, there are three Butternut Yellow cars – a ’67, a ’68, and a ’69; plus all four of my favorite colors; Island Teal, Hugger Orange, Rally Green, and Corvette Bronze. Every one of these cars is worth a cover story, but with over 30 great Camaros to lust over in Building 9 alone, let me point out a just a few.

Larry Christensen will display his recently restored ’69 Camaro VIN# 00003 – This Hugger Orange beauty was likely the first ’69 Z/28 off the line, and reveals several hand- fit features and a
cowl induction hood (months before they would ultimately go into production).

George & Carol Edwards will display their Rally Green ’68 Yenko. They bought it new and raced it, but let it go after a few years. Realizing their mistake, they were able to buy it back, and have it to this day.

Doug Perry’s ’67 Nantucket Blue Yenko will judged in the Legends Class. Doug’s Yenko is the last Yenko made in 1967 and is also the Yenko with the most options ever sold. It is nicknamed Superman – for its Nantucket Blue body with Red interior Combo.

Frank Arone is bringing his recently restored One-of-a-Kind Carolina Blue Z/28, to be judged in the Legends Class. Carolina
Blue was a special limited color, and was only available in North Carolina. This is the only Z/28 built in that color.

Jason Ball was invited to display his Fathom Green ’69 COPO. Jason never seems done, and has shown this car in both COPO sleeper mode, and in full race garb with lettering. We will have to see how it is decked out for this year’s event.

Bruce Eilenberger’s beautiful Butternut Yellow ’69 COPO is one of only two known to be built in this color. The car came off the assembly line on June 2nd, 1969, and was delivered to Hick’s Chevrole,t in Greencastle PA. This Camaro is the ultimate example of a “Sleeper”. You would not want to be caught challenging it at the red light on the local circuit back in the day!

We are only about 5 weeks away from the Camaro Natonals, so if you have not already made plans, “get on the stick”. Non-judged and various levels of judging, the famous Annual Friday Night Charity Auction, Thursday night rolling cruise, renown parking lot parties……its all just weeks away.

 

Presenting Sponsor of the Camaro Nationals for over Twenty Years!

Silence of Mary Home Logo

Camaroists helping Silence of Mary Home

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Camaro Comrades,

It has been a while.  A while for everything, it seems.  Due to social distancing, it may have been a while since your last cruise or car show. It’s been a while since a club get together, and it may even have been a while since you have seen your family members.  (A look in the mirror lets me know it’s been a while since I had a haircut.).

Normally about now, I would be going through my checklist….awards, tee shirts, goody bags, judging sheets, volunteers, tents, security, checking up to see how the auction items were coming along…..but this year, not so much.

Here’s something we can do now – even from a distance!

Many of you have been to the Camaro Nationals at some point or another, and are aware that the Charity Auction mainly supports the Silence of Mary Home.  This is a shelter home run by Vern and Sue Rudy in the Harrisburg PA area, and takes in disenfranchised children who have fallen thru the system and have no way to get traditional methods of help.  Vern & Sue keep them for as long as the need exists…from birth to teens…some have gone all the way to graduating high school.    Our Auction averages a donation of $7000 to $8000 a year for the last many years; and obviously there will be no auction this year.  This donation has been a VERY large part of the monies that the home subsists on, and it will be sorely missed.

I would suggest that anyone who has the ability, could take a portion of what they would have spent on attending the Nationals, and make a donation to the home.  Tax deductible donations can be mailed directly to the home, or or sent to the nationals, and we will forward it to the home. 

We also set up a “Go Fund Me” account allowing you to donate directly on-line with your credit or debit card. (There is a fee for GoFundMe.)

https://www.gofundme.com/f/silence-of-mary-fund-drive

Checks can be sent directly to “Silence of Mary Home”.  Make your check out directly to “Silence of Mary Home, and send to:
Silence of Mary Home
850 State Street
Lemoyne, Pa 17043

or

Camaro Nationals
1116 Laurelee Avenue
Reading PA 19605

Thanks, and “See you Soon” –

Karl Scheffy
Marla Scolastico
April Alderson
Cathy Newman

  • December 30, 2019
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Make a New Year’s Resolution…Protect your Domain and Website!

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A quick note for all the Camaro clubs across the country. Virtually all of you have domains & websites, and, like the American Camaro Association and Camaro Nationals, I am sure various members of your club do different things to spread out the workload. This may mean an officer is not be in charge of the site, and may not have all the current passwords.

If you can learn from something that the ACA overlooked, make sure your site and domain have secondary contacts, and also share passwords with other dependable key officers. The president and secretary should have a cheat-sheet with this information in case of a problem.

With the passing of both Bud Scolastico and Mike Chaney, I lost contact with the renewal of our domain name, camaronationals.org. The domain went down, and the website went down with it. I was able to get the site back up with our other domains (americancamaro.org, and camaornationsl.online), but the main name of camaornationals.org was a dead end. I am sure there is more than one person who tried to check the site and got the wrong idea when they were linked to a “Spam Warning Page” instead of our site.

I ended up having to buy or own name back at the domain auction….yes there really is an auction to buy domain names out of domain jail. I lost another 25% of my hair trying to deal with various web hosts, domain registrars, and “who is.com” employees, trying to explain that we are the camaronationals, and it was our domain to begin with. It did not matter. Without the password or the credit card number which was most recently used (I had neither), the domain name remained locked up. The site had been in turmoil for over two months.

After paying over $100 in ramsom to the domain auction police, the site is back to normal – such as it is. I am glad this did not happen in April or May during car show season! Do you and your club a favor, and set up alternative contacts with your web host, and share passwords now. Tomorrow may be too late. Have a Happy New Year!

Karl Scheffy
Co-Founder

Image of Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car

2019 Camaro Nationals Re-Cap

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Category : Event Re-Caps

The 2019 Nationals will be an event I will remember for quite a while. First and foremost, was the absence of our dear friend Bud Scolastico. Time will heal wounds, but this first year without him was extra tough a couple of times. Marla and Crystal both made comments that Bud would be taking care of the weather for us, and it appears he did. This was the first dry year in a while; and the “Day of Show’ cars came out strong….over a hundred; bringing our total to just under three hundred beautiful F-Bodies.

Things started off with our Thursday evening rolling cruise…this time to the restored train station and home-made ice cream shop….needless to say, we filled the parking lot at the dairy bar. Returning the new host hotel, the parking lot party commenced.

Friday opened with indoor concours judging and car clean up on the show field. This was the first year I handled the indoor cars, so Building 9 – the conours building was a learning curve. I did not have the contacts that Bud had, but put together a nice display to compliment the BowTie and Legends cars. Things ended up pretty nice, I think….generations one through 4 were represented….and lots of Z’s. I’m not talking about falling asleep, of course, but Z/28’s. They were everywhere, including a Teal Blue 68Z, and a pair of original Maryland Z/28 dragsters….QuickSilver and SeaDragon. Thanks to everyone who helped put the display together, and especially for the car owners who took the time to bring and set up their Camaros. As evening approached, we headed back to the hotel, and cleaned up for the Dinner and Auction. Check out the photos on the Gallery page.

Food for our dinner was good, but we need them to improve their clean up afterwards, and dessert timing. It turns out we were the largest group they ever had, and were unprepared for the logistics involved. The auction went well, and we donated $7200 to the Silence of Mary Home, bringing the total the show has donated to charity, to over $125,000.00. Even Bobby Banana was there….volunteering to auction himself off again, the highest bidder getting to put up with his shenanigans for the next year. (Maryland may have it’s hands full….Bobby picked up some bad habits while spending the last year with Long Island. Thanks to everyone over the last 21 years for their support of the auction….and again I want to thank members of the Lehigh Valley Camaro Club for acting as runners during the auction, and a special shout out to Scott Settlemire and Drake Donovan, our fantastic auctioneers. After everyone left the ballroom – it was back out side for………wait for it……..a parking lot party!

Saturday again brought nice weather – nice and sunny, but not too hot. We had a different photography vendor, who superimposed images of our cars on posters, mugs, license plates, etc. He was busier than he planned. Th moon bounce and slide were busy all day…lots of smiles on the children’s faces…..”Bring a Kid to a Car Show!”. Judging wrapped up on time, as did the awards…..although the day of show turnout ended up goofing up my awards needs….we ran out! I had to order 8 more plaques when I got home. Things wrapped up, building 9 emptied, everyone found a place for dinner, then back to the hotel for a parking lot party!

Please remember that this is a volunteer non-profit event. I want to thank everyone who helped, donated, and otherwise supported this and our past events. The Maryland Camaro Club is indispensable, and the show could not currently exist without the hard work of their members. Bill Morice and Billy McKee made my life easier, without a doubt. Our judges come out year after year – Legend, BowTie, and Heartbeat. The judging is one of the things that makes the Nationals different than other Camaro events. Again, the event would not have continued all these years without the time and support of all the judges. And, the CLUBS! Long Island Camaro Club, New York Third Gens, Lehigh Valley Camaro Club, Maryland Camaro Club, Northeast Ohio Camaro Club, to mention a few….the individual members always are ready to pitch in where and when needed.

Thanks!

See you next year!

Karl Scheffy

 

 

LS1 or LS6?

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Scott Settlemire 3/12/19

A few of you have asked me about the “LS6” block versus the “LS1” block. Very simply, we could not supply enough LS1 blocks back in, as I recall, 1999. Thus, the corp (GM) made the commitment to build another plant to produce more V8 ‘blocks’ — the difference is that if your block is bright silver (finished edges) it’s a St. Catherines Block. If it’s a bit darker gray, then it’s what some call the “LS6” block — built in Mexico — the difference is that both blocks are LS1/LS6– same design — but my hat is off to the people within GM Powertrain — they made the decision to build the additional plant for additional V8 engines — the rumor was that we’d only get a V6 engine for model years 2001 and 2002 as I recall – and the team made the call to ‘kill the car’ at the end of 1999 production as we could not profitably sell Camaros with only V6 engines — the program would once again start losing money as we did not make anything (…in fact we lost money on all but ultra-loaded V6 Camaros and Firebirds) — and the team won. Thus, the ‘story’ of the “LS6” rumored block……..

Image of Bud Scolastico

Bud Scolastico 1948-2019

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I will always remember Bud as a real car guy and a devoted grandfather. I first met him and Marla, with his recently purchased 1968 SSRS big block, back in 1999 at the first Camaro Nationals. He really got off on how everyone was so friendly and talked to him about his car. At the awards ceremony, his name was drawn as the winner of an advanced driving course at the Bragg-Smith / Stone Mountain track in Nevada (courtesy of GM).

“Mr. Bud” was hooked. He dug into the Camaro hobby with gusto. Later, when asked to help out with the Nationals, there was no hesitation, and he never backed off; becoming the show chairman when the event moved to Maryland.

When I first met their grand daughter Crystal, she was about a year old…and there was no doubt that her grandparents were smitten. Bud always promoted “Take a Kit to a Car Show”; and he lived by that adage. Crystal went to every show Bud and Marla did – from New Jersey and Delaware – to Tom Henry’s in Bakerstown. She would frequently make passer-by’s head turn with her knowledge of Camaros (and of course big blocks). “How did the knowledge come out of that little girl?” Boy, would Bud grin when that happened.

Bud was determined to see Crystal graduate High School this June, and then hang out with his Camaro friends at this year’s Nationals, but it was not to be. Things happen way to suddenly.

 

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