Auto Car | 1969 Baldwin-Motion 540 Camaro SuperCoupe | LAsBest.com The original Baldwin-Motion Performance Group (1967-1974) represented a partnership between Baldwin Auto Company, a franchised Chevrolet dealership dating back to the early-1920s and Motion Performance, a high-profile speed shop with a reputation for building fast Chevys. Both were located in Baldwin, Long Island, NY, a New York City suburb.
Baldwin Chevrolet was run by Ed Simonin, son of its founder, August “Gus” Simonin, and Ed’s brother-in-law, Dave Bean. Motion Performance started life at a Sunoco service station in Brooklyn, NY in the late-1950s. In 1963, after Joel Rosen, then a junior partner, installed a Clayton chassis dynamometer, signage was changed to reflect the true nature of his business. In 1966, Rosen incorporated as Motion Performance, Inc. and relocated to his own shop at 598 Sunrise Highway, Baldwin, NY.
Starting in 1967 and running through 1974, Baldwin-Motion offered SS (425-hp) and Phase III (500-hp and up) big-block Camaros, Novas, Chevelles, Corvettes and Biscayne Street Racer Specials. Cars were sold at Baldwin Chevrolet or Motion Performance, converted by Motion and financed and delivered by Baldwin. Phase III 427 and 454 cars came with a written, money back, quarter-mile performance guaranty from Joel Rosen.
All Baldwin-Motion sales promotion materials carried Rosen's guaranty. “We think so much of our Phase III Supercars that we guaranty they will turn at least 120 mph in 11.50 seconds or better with an M/P-approved driver on an AHRA or NHRA-sanctioned drag strip. Phase III Supercars are completely streetable, reliable machines that will run these times off the street.” There never was a single comeback!
The specialty car program was created by Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr (working with John Mahler, Baldwin’s Parts Manager) and presented to Ed Simonin and Dave Bean shortly after the new-for-1967 Camaro was introduced. Cars were built and dyno-tuned by Motion. Marty Schorr and his PR/Advertising agency, Performance Media (later changed to PMPR, Inc.), created all the aggressive, in-your-face advertising and promotional materials and was also involved in product development and marketing.
Between 1967 and 1974, hundreds of Baldwin-Motion and Motion-branded ultra-high-performance specialty cars were built for both domestic and export deliveries. Records reveal that cars were shipped to customers in Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia in addition to deliveries in Hawaii, Canada and Mexico.
The most valuable vintage Baldwin-Motion vehicles are the special-bodied Phase III GT Corvettes and high-option 1969 Phase III Camaros. A total of approximately ten GT Corvettes (in addition to the prototype shown at the 1969 New York Auto Show) were built between 1969 and 1971.
Exterior trim, including badging and paint, on SS and Phase III cars was unique. A full menu of decorative as well as high-performance engine and chassis options was available, enabling a purchaser to order exactly what he or she wanted on a brand new Chevy. Popular options included three-barrel Holley carbs, alloy high-rise manifolds, Phase III CD ignition, Hone auxiliary overdrive transmissions, Super-Bite suspension components, scooped hoods, mag wheels, headers and outside exhausts, etc. A limited number of cars were powered by high-horsepower big-blocks fitted with proprietary ZL/X cast-iron, open-chamber heads. Some built for serious street racers were fitted with bored and stroked 482-cubic-inch big blocks, with horsepower in excess of 500!
Except for Joel Rosen’s personal Demo cars that were sold periodically, all Baldwin-Motion vehicles were custom built to order and powered by big-block engines displacing up to 482 cubic inches, with horsepower to over 500. A small number of modified, dual-four-barrel Z/30 small-block ‘Green Meanie’ Camaros were built for sports car enthusiasts. Unlike some Chevrolet dealers marketing specialty cars at the time, Baldwin-Motion never re-badged a single factory COPO 427 Camaro or Chevelle.
Unique Baldwin-Motion catalogs were produced in 1968 and 1969 by Marty Schorr and today are rare, highly priced collectibles. During the early-to-mid-1970s, ordering information on Baldwin-Motion cars was included in the large Motion Performance mail order catalogs.
Prior to the launch of Baldwin-Motion specialty cars in mid-1967, Joel Rosen and Jack Geiselman set numerous track, regional and national drag racing records with Motion Performance 289 and 427 Shelby Cobras. The highest-profile Motion-built Cobra is the 427 KING COBRA that brought $525,000 at the 2005 Russo & Steele Auction in Scottsdale, AZ.
CHASSIS
Frame: 2" x 3" tubular steel backbone/spine chassis running through the console and welded to the body
Rear End: Fully independent with a Dana 44 Posi; custom-fabricated, hardened steel, high-torque axles; proprietary ring and pinion; limited-slip differential
Suspension: Four-wheel independent with polished, unequal-length control arms and toe-in control links; fully adjustable TNT Motorsports billet coil-over shocks and sway bars; custom-built Time Machines front and rear stabilizer bars; Ididit rack-and-pinion steering
Brakes: Motion Signature Baer Claw Extreme-Plus brakes with forged, 6-piston Sport calipers and 14" cross-drilled rotors
Wheels and Tires: Custom-designed Bonspeed Intense wheels with Baldwin-Motion Spinners: 18 x 10 fronts wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 265 x 35 x 18 tires and 20 x 12 rears with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 265 x 25 x 20 tires
Frame Work: Phil Somers/Time Machines, Inc.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
Baldwin Chevrolet was run by Ed Simonin, son of its founder, August “Gus” Simonin, and Ed’s brother-in-law, Dave Bean. Motion Performance started life at a Sunoco service station in Brooklyn, NY in the late-1950s. In 1963, after Joel Rosen, then a junior partner, installed a Clayton chassis dynamometer, signage was changed to reflect the true nature of his business. In 1966, Rosen incorporated as Motion Performance, Inc. and relocated to his own shop at 598 Sunrise Highway, Baldwin, NY.
Starting in 1967 and running through 1974, Baldwin-Motion offered SS (425-hp) and Phase III (500-hp and up) big-block Camaros, Novas, Chevelles, Corvettes and Biscayne Street Racer Specials. Cars were sold at Baldwin Chevrolet or Motion Performance, converted by Motion and financed and delivered by Baldwin. Phase III 427 and 454 cars came with a written, money back, quarter-mile performance guaranty from Joel Rosen.
All Baldwin-Motion sales promotion materials carried Rosen's guaranty. “We think so much of our Phase III Supercars that we guaranty they will turn at least 120 mph in 11.50 seconds or better with an M/P-approved driver on an AHRA or NHRA-sanctioned drag strip. Phase III Supercars are completely streetable, reliable machines that will run these times off the street.” There never was a single comeback!
The specialty car program was created by Joel Rosen and Marty Schorr (working with John Mahler, Baldwin’s Parts Manager) and presented to Ed Simonin and Dave Bean shortly after the new-for-1967 Camaro was introduced. Cars were built and dyno-tuned by Motion. Marty Schorr and his PR/Advertising agency, Performance Media (later changed to PMPR, Inc.), created all the aggressive, in-your-face advertising and promotional materials and was also involved in product development and marketing.
Between 1967 and 1974, hundreds of Baldwin-Motion and Motion-branded ultra-high-performance specialty cars were built for both domestic and export deliveries. Records reveal that cars were shipped to customers in Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia in addition to deliveries in Hawaii, Canada and Mexico.
The most valuable vintage Baldwin-Motion vehicles are the special-bodied Phase III GT Corvettes and high-option 1969 Phase III Camaros. A total of approximately ten GT Corvettes (in addition to the prototype shown at the 1969 New York Auto Show) were built between 1969 and 1971.
Exterior trim, including badging and paint, on SS and Phase III cars was unique. A full menu of decorative as well as high-performance engine and chassis options was available, enabling a purchaser to order exactly what he or she wanted on a brand new Chevy. Popular options included three-barrel Holley carbs, alloy high-rise manifolds, Phase III CD ignition, Hone auxiliary overdrive transmissions, Super-Bite suspension components, scooped hoods, mag wheels, headers and outside exhausts, etc. A limited number of cars were powered by high-horsepower big-blocks fitted with proprietary ZL/X cast-iron, open-chamber heads. Some built for serious street racers were fitted with bored and stroked 482-cubic-inch big blocks, with horsepower in excess of 500!
Except for Joel Rosen’s personal Demo cars that were sold periodically, all Baldwin-Motion vehicles were custom built to order and powered by big-block engines displacing up to 482 cubic inches, with horsepower to over 500. A small number of modified, dual-four-barrel Z/30 small-block ‘Green Meanie’ Camaros were built for sports car enthusiasts. Unlike some Chevrolet dealers marketing specialty cars at the time, Baldwin-Motion never re-badged a single factory COPO 427 Camaro or Chevelle.
Unique Baldwin-Motion catalogs were produced in 1968 and 1969 by Marty Schorr and today are rare, highly priced collectibles. During the early-to-mid-1970s, ordering information on Baldwin-Motion cars was included in the large Motion Performance mail order catalogs.
Prior to the launch of Baldwin-Motion specialty cars in mid-1967, Joel Rosen and Jack Geiselman set numerous track, regional and national drag racing records with Motion Performance 289 and 427 Shelby Cobras. The highest-profile Motion-built Cobra is the 427 KING COBRA that brought $525,000 at the 2005 Russo & Steele Auction in Scottsdale, AZ.
CHASSIS
Frame: 2" x 3" tubular steel backbone/spine chassis running through the console and welded to the body
Rear End: Fully independent with a Dana 44 Posi; custom-fabricated, hardened steel, high-torque axles; proprietary ring and pinion; limited-slip differential
Suspension: Four-wheel independent with polished, unequal-length control arms and toe-in control links; fully adjustable TNT Motorsports billet coil-over shocks and sway bars; custom-built Time Machines front and rear stabilizer bars; Ididit rack-and-pinion steering
Brakes: Motion Signature Baer Claw Extreme-Plus brakes with forged, 6-piston Sport calipers and 14" cross-drilled rotors
Wheels and Tires: Custom-designed Bonspeed Intense wheels with Baldwin-Motion Spinners: 18 x 10 fronts wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 265 x 35 x 18 tires and 20 x 12 rears with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 265 x 25 x 20 tires
Frame Work: Phil Somers/Time Machines, Inc.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
Type: Motion/Merlin 540 cubic inch big block, set back 13"; 700+ hp; dyno-tuned
Block: Merlin/Motion all-aluminum, bored and honed to 4.50", decked surfaces to equalize lifter bores, painted Dupont “Motion Silver”
Reciprocating Assembly: Eagle Specialties 4340 non-twist steel crank; Eagle Specialties 6.535" H-beam connecting rods with L19 bolts; Mahle 10:1 lightweight, forged, coated pistons with full floating pins; Total Seal piston rings; Clevite H-Series bearings; balanced and blueprinted
Camshaft: Comp Cams custom “Motion Ground” solid street roller
Cylinder Heads: Merlin/Motion aluminum 119cc heads with 350cc intake ports, reworked combustion chambers, fully ported and polished
Valvetrain: Comp Cams solid roller lifters, Comp Cams Hi-Tech .080" wall 4140 seamless 1-piece chromemoly pushrods, Comp Cams Hi-Tech stainless steel rockers, Manley stainless steel 2.30"/1.80" valves, Comp Cams dual valve springs, Comp Cams 10° chromemoly keepers and retainers
Fuel Injection: Custom-built Kinsler Cross-Ram polished sequential-fired fuel injection with extruded aluminum high-flow fuel rails, inline Weldon fuel pump, 44 lb. injectors
Ignition: Accel Gen VII+ ECU with sequential distributor, Tilton Super Starter, Billet Specialties polished 1-wire alternator, Painless Performance wiring harness
Cooling: Be Cool polished radiator and fans, Edelbrock aluminum serpentine water pump
Exhaust: Hedman headers, Stainless Specialties 3" polished 304 stainless exhaust, custom Stainless Specialties mufflers
Transmission: Modified Tremec TKO600 5-speed transmission, McLeod dual-disc clutch, McLeod 168-tooth aluminum flywheel, McLeod hydraulic pressure plate, McLeod bellhousing
Other Items: Motion cast aluminum finned valve covers, Motion custom oval breathers, Billet Specialties True Trac polished aluminum pulley system, Bill Mitchell Hardcore true roller timing chain, Russell stainless steel braided lines, ARP polished fasteners, Rick’s Hot Rod Shop 24-gallon S/S Series polished aluminum gas tank, Outerwear prefilters
Engine Machining Work By: Bill Mitchell/World Products, Motion, Steve Keech/Keech’s Performance
Source : www.tremek.com
No comments:
Post a Comment