STEVE’S STEP UP

Steve Doughty has been campaigning his tough ’67 Camaro in Historic Muscle Cars over the past year, but, wanting to push the car a little harder, the step up into Central Muscle Cars was the best one to take.

“It was a conscious decision to go with Historic [Muscle Cars] at first. The car was relatively straightforward to build, and the endurance car I had before was a good donor with regard to the engine and running gear. Historic is a great bunch of guys, and it’s great fun,” Steve tells us. However, after racing for a year, he began to consider Central Muscle Cars, and the fact that it’s an actual competition with a points system. In preparation for the step up, the Camaro was taken to Ken ‘Hoppy’ Hopper at Ken Hopper Car Construction for a bit of a once-over in true Hoppy style. Step one required removal of the existing small block Chev, which has been replaced with a 358ci Nascar motor. The mechanical makeover hasn’t been too extensive, though, with a Jerico four-speed dogbox and nine-inch diff already in place.

However, Steve did take the opportunity to get the brake system beefed up, with the upgrade from 15inch wheels to 17s allowing for far larger calipers and discs.

“Racing in Historic, it was an ongoing battle to stop, as the brakes and tyres just weren’t that great,” Steve says.

Having being tested and a few minor noncompliant issues fixed, the Camaro is good to go and will have raced in round one by the time you read this.

“It’s a totally different car!” Steve explains. “It’s got a lot less torque, and much more power, so I’ve got to get used to it. We might need to play around with gearing, with the diff ratio, but it’s all good.”