I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way I’ll really trust a company that deals in aftermarket auto parts is when I see those who work for the brand actively using those parts on their rides. Want a good list of who to look at? Let’s see…there’s the Pontiac Safari from Three Pedals, there’s Mike Copeland of Diversified Creations and Arrington Performance who decided to give SEMA a kick in the ass with his mid-engined Dodge Rampage, and just about everybody we know at Holley, including the likes of Tim Grillot and his unholy Ford Fairmont.

We’ve been tight with the guys at American Powertrain for a while now. While I’m sure that Matt Graves is sick of me always asking about his Cadillac (sorry, man, I had to!), the Dodge truck that he had on Power Tour was exquisite and their constant push to “Save The Stick” resonates with us nicely. We’re all about anything with a good engine and a row-yer-own ‘box, but we had to wonder: what else do the worker bees at American Powertrain have hiding in the garage? After a lovely drive on a not-so-lovely day a few days ago, I found myself at the garage where Curtis Lair is hiding his four-wheeled pet project. It’s one that hits home to me in a few ways.

I love second-gen Camaros. I’m not a fan of the rubber-bumper equipped third version of the second-gen Camaro. But I’ll tolerate them in the right conditions, and the right conditions, this car meets nicely. It’s a 1980 Z28, an original four-speed car that brand new was swinging a whopping 190 horsepower and 280 foot/pounds of torque from the LM1 350 small-block. At least there was some proper look to help out…the tri-color Z28 stripe and trim setup was new for the year, as was a Z-only slatted grille. Cleaned up, the Disco Camaro is a looker. But this one is wearing it’s age for the time being, so what gives? Look underhood. What you are looking at is a Vortec 7400 from 1998 that has been played with a bit. A Holley Sniper system paired off with an Edelbrock intake feeds the beast and a Comp Cams Xtreme Energy cam thumps the time, while a T-56 that’s been treated to American Powertrain bits and pieces, such as the White Lightning shifter, backs it up. It’s actually quiet and pretty mellow, but that’s part of the success with this car: it’s completely and utterly useable. On a crappy, cold day the Camaro came to life with no bitching, was driving after a short warm-up, and at no point in time threatened to do anything out of the ordinary. In fact, yours truly was the only one who had any kind of slip-up during the whole photo shoot, when a hill I was climbing gave way and I went front-first into a muddy, leaf-strewn ditch.

So a mellow powertrain, a six-speed box, and a street-friendly attitude. That makes for a sweet cruiser, and that’s why the car hasn’t really been cleaned up too much. Lair has done Power Tour twice with the F-body as you see it, but this is still the “before” scene. Coming up on the Camaro’s program is a UMI lowering and suspension kit, a repaint, and RPO N90 wheels painted black with the proper trimming, as this would’ve had stock. We can’t wait to see the finished product, but for now, we’re happy to see that one of American Powertrain’s own is happily representing his company with the car that brings him happiness.