For many fans of Chevrolet performance, the magazine advertisement featuring Berger’s parts manager Jim Luikens and a scantily clad young lady was always memorable, but for race fans, the car here is even more so. This is the infamous Berger Chevrolet Camaro, which started out as a factory L78 396/375 HP 4-speed car that was soon outfitted with a COPO L72 427 CI V-8 for NHRA competition. With the engine installed, noted Motor City Chevrolet racers Dick Arons and Gordy Faust began racing it with Berger dealer support, with Arons spinning wrenches and Faust taking a very tough SS/E class win at the 1969 NHRA Springnationals in Dallas. Campaigning it at the Super Stock Nationals in York, Pennsylvania, and the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, the season-long effort also included match racing. This car was subsequently used as a drag car its entire life and was never tagged for the street, and the odometer still reads 210 miles. Arons sold it at the end of the season, and it had that one owner until acquired by Matt Murphy, owner of supercar builder GMMG, in 2003. Its comprehensive restoration to as-raced specs was completed in 2006. This car is equipped with an iron 427 CI engine personally built by Dick Arons himself to L72 specs for this restoration. This mill includes 12.5:1 compression, the Holley 850 CFM 4-barrel carburetor, iron 840 GM cylinder heads, S/S-legal 268/272 Crane camshaft, fabricated 8-quart oil sump, the Booth-Arons rocker covers and custom ZL2 hood seal air cleaner lid, and its set of original Hooker Super Comp headers recoated in black. Behind this is a rebuilt M21 4-speed manual transmission and a factory 12-bolt rear end with 4.10 Positraction. Once disassembled, the body was blasted by Supercar Workshop with base/clear paint applied by Frank Arone of Arone Autobody, with faithfully rendered race graphics done by Bob Johnson of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. The car wears Garnet Red with a black interior. Inside are a plate-supported Hurst Competition Plus shifter, rare period-current Moroso tachometer, SS steering wheel, Stewart-Warner auxiliary gauges and factory radio delete plate. In addition to its racing paint, this car wears decals from circa-1969 supporters such as Motion Performance, 427 fender emblems, SS identification and stripes, factory front and rear spoilers, and the original 15x4 Cragar front wheels and replacement 15x8 Cragar rear wheels with M&H Racemaster slicks. Featured in the March 2007 issue of Camaro World magazine and the November 2007 issue of Camaro Performers magazine, the inner fenders were signed by Arons and Faust after their efforts to help Murphy accurately restore this car. As it is now, this is a true icon of Chevrolet’s noted racing history, with both historic accuracy and attention to detail as its hallmarks. Be its next champion.
