Passionately Pink Camaro

This family owned 1972 Chevrolet Camaro is 30 years in the making.  It was passed down from father to son and saw many good times along the way.  It’s seen four different engines in the past 10 years but has generated a thousand times more memories for the Fernandez and Herold families.

The Beginnings: a two-fer

The car started out as a gift from father to son back in 1977.  The completely cracked lacquer red and black paint job was just enough of an eyesore for Jerry Fernandez Sr. to get a good deal on the car.  The 15-year old Jerry Jr. was happy to be the beneficiary of his fathers cunning as a deal-finder.
“Back in those days, you could pick up a Camaro for around $500.”, recalls Jerry Sr.  He purchased this 1972 3-speed MT Camaro with a factory 307 ci v8 as a package deal with an equally unimpressive 1968 Camaro.  Jerry Jr. would go on to sell the ’68 for a top-of-the-line midnight black paint job on the ’72.  In hindsight, it may have been a foolish decision however that paint looked shiny and flawless for close to 20 years.

Jerry Jr. took excellent care of his shiny black ’72 Camaro.  At the time, he was attending a boarding preperatory highschool in the foothills of the Cleavland National Forrest.  The school was run by Catholic priests so Jerry very much treasured those moments of freedom and release while he drove through the windy mountain roads during the weekends.

Hittin switches and shifting gears

While in college, Jerry Jr advanced his knowledge of diesel mechanics and general auto care.  He had young uncles and older family friends who were very in to low-riders and then-classic cars.  One of Jerry Jr’s friends had a 68 Impala he named Suavecito after the 1972 Top 20 hit by Malo.  In an attempt to show his mechanical ability and steal some of the attention from his friends, Jerry Jr. slapped a set of hydraulics on his muscle car.  He bragged about being able to get both front tires off the ground at stop lights but he never put the hurt on his car like this:

 Jerry Jr got married while in college.   Soon after the wedding, Jerry and his wife were expecting a child and were looking for additional sources of income.   He would have sold the Camaro but he saw a better way to use it to bring in money to the soon-to-be family.  His wife was finishing Nursing school and could not take on a part-time job.  Jerry already had two jobs but decided to take on a third.  He would deliver papers in the early hours with his prized Camaro.  This meant Jerry Jr. would get to keep his Camaro but he did have to modify it.  He had to convert it from a standard transmission to an automatic transmission so that he could safely and effectively deliver the morning paper.

As Jerry’s family grew, the Camaro became less practical.  He eventually put it up on ramps in his garage.  There it sat until Bobby, their first born, became of age.

To be Continued...