Kit: ERTL Snapfast Camaro Z/28 1/25 Scale
This project screams “High School” to me. There was a guy a few years older than my friends and I named Chris Birkett. He was a really cool guy to basically everyone. If my calculations are correct he’d be in his late 40s now. Still an awesome guy I’m sure! This is one of the most elaborate customizations I’ve ever done.
He lived only a few blocks from school and quite popular so he was a bit of a fixture even after graduating. He installed car stereos and was rumored to make more money than his parents. He had this BADASS Camaro RS. It evolved over the years, but this was my favorite incarnation.
Highlights of the build start with converting a different style Camaro to an RS style. This required modifying the hood, wheels, tires, spoiler, carving a T-Top, and reshaping the front end a bit. I also added (innacurate) side mirrors, and made the doors work (the hard way, with the front of the door tucking into the shell)
You could literally feel this thing turn a corner from a block away, when the wave of bass hit you squarely it almost knocked you back a bit.
I took pictures of it one afternoon, and by the time I finished the model, his car was a completely different color and had a new speaker arrangement. I showed it to him and he loved it!
Yep, that’s a Super Nintendo built into the car. There was a little TV in the front seat area. *MIND BLOWN* in 1994.
I managed to replicate the tiny SNES as well as the functional door to change games.
15″ Orion XTR Woofers did the booming..
I scratch-built the wall o’ speakers. 4 15″ subs, and numerous 6″ and 3″ mids/tweeters. I sucked glow-in-the-dark neon green paint through this great clear tubing but it dried out a bit over the years.
There’s the little TV for the SNES! First time I ever saw a TV in a moving vehicle.
The seats fold forward and feature shoulder belts.
On top of all the physical modifications I also installed two large headphone speakers which hook up with a removable plug out of the tailpipes. It doesn’t look great but you can definitely hear it when plugged in.
I still have this car on display in 2022! Hope all is well, Chris!