Searing Yellow 1967 Crusher Camaro Steals Our Hearts

25 Year-Old-Project

If you follow Hot Rod Magazine, you will have heard of or seen the Crusher Camaro. This quarter-century project started back in the '90s as a fun stab at the government's policies on the fossil fuel industry. But many moons and several engine swaps later, the old Camaro is still a prominent feature for the publication.

Photos: Hot Rod

It started with $700

Back in 1994, the government had created a program for oil companies to buy back older cars for $700 and crush them in exchange for more liberties with their oil refinery operations. The idea being that they would offset the pollution this way. That was when Hot Rod editor David Freiburger decided to look for a project at a junkyard. The plan was to find an old car there and buy it to build it back up. And it was right then and there that he saw this Camaro being driven up to the lot.

>>Join the conversation about this 1967 Camaro Crusher right here in the LS1 Tech Forum!

Right at the Gate

Freiburger ran towards the owner to ask if he was planning to have the Camaro crushed. The answer was yes. So, Freiburger dished out the $700 right there and took the car. Ironically, the about-to-be-destroyed V6 Camaro passed smog easily. Which goes to show just how flawed the program was.

>>Join the conversation about this 1967 Camaro Crusher right here in the LS1 Tech Forum!

Let the Project Begin

The first thing they did was to swap out the V6 with an EPA-approved 406-ci small block V8, to keep with the environmental awareness theme. The job fell onto Rob Kinnan, as Freiburger was leaving Hot Rod at the time. They also redid the interior and painted the car in the bright yellow paint it still wears today.

>>Join the conversation about this 1967 Camaro Crusher right here in the LS1 Tech Forum!

8 Engine swaps

And from there the Camaro kept on evolving. Seemingly every Hot Rod editor who got their hands on the car wanted to give it a new spin. And they did! Over the next 25 years, the Crusher Camaro underwent a series of surgeries. From small block to big block, back to a small block, and so on. A total of eight engines have lived under this hood since the start of the project.

>>Join the conversation about this 1967 Camaro Crusher right here in the LS1 Tech Forum!

10.70-second car

In its latest configuration, the Crusher Camaro is powered by a 400-ci small block that was tuned by Freiburger, and Steve Dulcich tuned the motor on multiple episodes of Roadkill Garage. And it now does 10.70 seconds on the drag strip. We have not seen the last of the yellow beast, though. David Freiburger is in the process of cooking up plans for the next iteration of the Camaro as we speak! And we're eagerly waiting to see what he comes up with.

>>Join the conversation about this 1967 Camaro Crusher right here in the LS1 Tech Forum!

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