Sometimes being "Leroy Brown" isn't cool!!

We've all heard the Jim Croce classic-"Bad,Bad Leroy Brown."  "He was badder than old King Kong, and Meaner than a Junkyard dog."  A lot of people think they want cars like that, and then are disappointed and don't drive them, or end up selling them for less than they paid for it. I recently got an email from a guy who paid an astronomical amount of money for an original Baldwin-Motion Camaro, and was severely disappointed. For those of you that don't know-in the early '70's a guy named Joel Rosen was building MakoShark Corvette conversions and was swapping L88 427s and LS6 and LS7 454s into Camaros, Chevelles, Firebirds and Novas. His shop was called Motion Performance. He was partnered with Baldwin Chevrolet that supplied him with cars and parts. Much like the Meacham brothers of DKM did with Meacham Pontiac and the "Macho T/A's" -Baldwin would sell him the cars, he'd trick them out and then re-sell them to Baldwin or other dealers as used cars. The buff magazines raved, and came up with the moniker-"Baldwin-Motion" and it kind of stuck. Anyhow, if you bought a new Baldwin- Motion Camaro,Firebird,Nova, or Corvette, you could order anything you wanted, mild or wild. The top of the line was the Phase III conversion. This included your choice of an L88 427 Chevy or an LS6 or LS7 454 crate engine. Back then these were sold through dealership parts departments as service replacements. It also included an M22 "Rock-Crusher" 4-speed with a Hurst Competition plus linkage, or a TH400 with a high-stall converter and a shift kit, a 12-bolt posi rear end with 4.88:1 or 5.14:1 gears, and a hone overdrive that would reduce your gear ratio on the freeway to a more livable 3.42:1. Also included were 90/10 front shocks and 70/30 rear ones that were longer that stock, and custom Lakewood traction bars. The cars were guaranteed to run 10.60's in the 1/4 with slicks, or you got your money back. Rosen never refunded anyone's money. Anyhow, the guy that emailed me said- "This thing is a monster"  "It idles about 2,000 rpm, the clutch is incredibly stiff, it gets 5-8 mpg, it pings on premium with 2 cans of octane booster-I have to buy race gas to make it run properly, the suspension bangs constantly, and when you get on it even a little, it squats down and trys to pull the front wheels." He says that driving his buddys restored 1980 350 / 4-speed Z/28 is a lot more pleasant.  Hello???  You bought a Car with a 12.25:1 compression, Solid-lifter cammed 427 Chevy Rat motor that's putting out 600+ hp,has 4.88 gears, and a full drag-race suspension, and your complaining that it idles rough, gets lousy mileage, and pings on 89 octane pump gas?  Say it isn't so!!!  I wrote back and said that the Phase III Camaros were basically race cars with liscence plates, and that if he wanted an F-body to drive on a daily basis that idled smooth and would run on pump gas and get good mileage and still have some attitude and the performance to back it up that he should consider a 1987-92 L98 TPI 350 Z/28, or Firebird Trans-Am or Formula, or a 1993-2002 LT1 / LS1 version. He responded- "That's a viable idea, but I don't want an '80's or '90's model, I want a '60's or '70's model." When I suggeted that he look for a Disco-era T/A / Formula or Z/28 / Rally Sport with a 4-speed- to put a GMPP ZZ4 350 crate motor in or maybe even look for a restored or well-maintained "Macho T/A"- He says- "The Machos look cool and their rare, but for what people want for those I could get a Ram Air IV T/A or a Firebird with a 600hp Nunzi or Jim Butler built 455."  Dude, your not getting the point here. You didn't like the 600 hp 427 Motion Camaro, but you'll like a 600 hp Butler engined Firebird?  As for an original RAIV, hes way be off on the pricing-I've seen really nice "Machos" for 12-15K-while a documented RAIV usually brings 30K on up-he'd still be disappointed. Do you really think a car with a 10.75:1 compression, 400 inch V8 with a 308 / 320 duration / .520 lift cam and 4.33:1 gears is going to be THAT much better a driver than one with a 12:1 427, with a 337 duration / .580 lift cam and 4.88s?   Like Ditka says-"Come on, Man!"  Anyhow here's some advice for people who think they want "King Kong".  # 1. Unless your only going to race it at the Pure Stock drags, and trailer it to shows otherwise, stay away from "King Kong".  # 2. If your going to drive the car at all-be brutally honest about what you really want-for example if you want a classic '60's or '70's Corvette convertible to cruise mountain roads with your wife on sunny days,do you think perhaps a 300 hp hydraulic cammed 327 or 350 small-block version is a much better choice than a solid-lifter 427?   # 3 If you live in a city with a lot of traffic, a peaky engine with a stick and stiff gears is not going to be much fun. For example a 351W powered, automatic, 3.25:1 geared 1969 Mach 1 Mustang is going to be much easier to drive in San Francisco than a solid-lifter, 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared Boss 302. # 4.  While old musclecars don't have moonroof and heated and cooled seats, and Nav, etc, It might behoove you to get one with some luxury options if your going to drive the car a lot. A 1970 GTO with power steering, disc brakes, and air conditioning is going to be a lot more pleasant to drive than a 1968 model with drum brakes, no P/S and no Air. Especially in a city where it gets hot in the summer. Keep this in mind, and you won't end up like the guy with the Motion Camaro, whose probably going to make the same mistake again. Mastermind