Area Camaro club keeps muscle car rumbling

The turbulent 1960s are known for Vietnam, protests and public tragedies. But it's also the era of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and the American muscle car. It's the decade when one model, Kelly Neal says, "made a rumbling sound as it snaked through a parking lot, announcing it was something to be reckoned with."

That car was the Chevrolet Camaro. Recently re-introduced after its original 36-year run (1966-2002), not all Camaro models were muscle cars, though those are the models garnering attention from many members of the Northstar Camaro Club of Minnesota, one of our area's largest, most active car clubs and the Upper Midwest's largest Camaro club.

The club got started when Roger Schone moved to this area in 1995 with a nearly restored Z28 and found no Camaro club. Obtaining a partial membership list of a defunct group of Camaro enthusiasts called the Northern Huggers, he and others blew on its ashes to create a "phoenix" that's dedicated to restoring, preserving and enjoying Camaros.

The 300-member club sponsored 24 events in 2008 and could reach that number again this year. In addition to putting on annual all-Chevy shows at Stillwater Motors (June) and all-GM shows at Grossman Chevrolet-Cadillac in Burnsville (August), the club sponsors fall and winter field trips to auto-related businesses, three daylong cruises and a dynamometer test day. Northstar also has a booth at the World of Wheels and its area at the Car Craft Summer Nationals is routinely one of the largest, with 50+ member Camaros. The club publishes a newsletter and its website has a tech-sharing section, a forum that's open to all and merchandise with club logos.

Neal, club member number two, fell in love with a 1969 Camaro Z28 in high school. It took a while to get his Rally Sport model but he's had it for 19 years with no intent to sell. "I love muscle cars and this model," he explains. "The car represents the era for me - the cruising, the music, the dragging - and it keeps me young." Jeff Faffler, the club's events director, is an example of a "post-muscle car" Camaro fan. His 1978 Z28 is less powerful but he likes its looks and its fun-to-drive quotient. "I drive it as much as I can," he says. He's also into detailing and his chromed engine compartment and parts have helped him win numerous car-show trophies.

For more on the club, call its 612-CAMARO-1 hotline or visit www.northstarcamaroclub.com.