The late 1960s saw the birth of many pony and muscle cars. If you asked me (I know you didn’t) which one was the most beautiful, I’d say the Camaro – with a commanding lead.

I can’t help but melt away at the sight of a well-maintained first-generation Chevrolet Camaro.

The first-generation Mustang looks fast and sporty, but not that beautiful.  And if we’re talking about square and aggressive, the Mercury Cougar looks more dominating.

I look at the Camaro and I see a collection of perfectly continuous curves stretching front to back. The hood gently tapers towards the front end to create a nose that looks…almost aerodynamic. The roofline gently merges into the rear fenders, which trace wide arches all the way to the rear end. (although to be fair the Mustang Fastback is most exquisite)

The coke bottle style just does it for me. The equivalent Firebird could have been just as beautiful if it wasn’t for that thick chrome snout. Well, at least Pontiac got the GTO right the following year.

Chrysler caught up in 1968 as well with the Dodge Charger and also introduced the style in its 1970 Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda. But in 1967, the Camaro’s design was simply ahead of its time.

The topic deserves its own deep dive. This article, however, will be entirely focused on this gorgeous 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro of Brad Morris

It’s property of Brad Morris – a second-generation military and classic car enthusiast. In 1994, his father, Mark Morris, rescued the Camaro from a used car lot at a military base in Arizona. Brad and his dad restored the car on a tight budget and gave her a second chance in life serving as his ride in high school and college.

Come 2000, Brad left for law school and needed a more reliable vehicle, so he sold the old girl back to his father. Thankfully, his old man kept her in storage for nearly twenty years.

When his father finally retired in 2016, Brad proposed restoring the Camaro as a means to keep him busy and share precious time together, since he’s constantly away on duty.

And thus, by the time it reached its 50th birthday, this 1969 Chevrolet Camaro was resurrected as a sizzling jaw-dropping muscle car.

The project didn’t go without its hiccups though.

In 2018, just days from receiving its final coat of paint, Hurricane Michael hit the coast of Florida. The family’s home and the body shop, where the Camaro was being restored, got hit pretty hard.

Thankfully, everyone got out safe and while damaged, the structures held together, saving Brad’s Camaro in the process. The project got delayed a full year.

But look at it now. What a beautiful car!

Without further ado, let’s go through the build.

Body and frame

With Brad constantly away on duty, his father shouldered most of the work, so the coordination and direction of the build were challenging.

Still, the Camaro was broken down to bits and received a complete body and frame restoration at the shop of their close friend – Kingsbury’s Auto Body. After the three were done, the only original parts remained the frame, most of the body panels, the engine block, and the glass.

The Camaro was taken down to bare metal with all rust and damage painstakingly repaired. A functioning cowl induction hood was added to support the little beast underneath.

Brad never liked the original Dover White color, so they painted the car in GMs Le Mans Blue Metallic – an original color option, introduced in 1968.

It looks spectacular. I can’t find a superlative strong enough to describe it. And the quality of the paintwork is top-notch. Brad is lucky to have such talented people working on his car.

Interior and comfort creatures

The original blue interior was replaced with black TMI seats and molded headliner for that extra inch of headroom. It only makes the paint pop more and I’m really loving it.

Brad opted to make this a modern 21-century daily driver. The Camaro gained a nice layer of sound deadening, a new Vintage Air AC unit, intermittent wipers, 3-point seat belts, Bluetooth radio with speakers to match, and Dakota digital gauges.

I bet this 50-year-old pony is nicer to your butt than many of the economy-class vehicles on the market today.

Engine

It’s a matching numbers car! Yes, the Camaro still has the original 1969 Chevy small-block V8 with 350 cubic inches of displacement. It survived for so long that Brad was hell-bent on keeping the block, even if everything else needed to go.

The cylinders got a cleanup bore, so the final displacement is now 355 ci.

Next, a Trick Flow top end kit was added, including heads, head studs, new camshaft, a complete valve train set, timing set, and all necessary gaskets and hardware. Trick Flow builds these sets around their trademarked Super 23 aluminum cylinder head. Each kit is built and pre-tuned for a certain power range, so you get reliable results and less head scratching at the dyno.

The crown of the engine is a FiTech TBI system. Though throttle body injection is the most basic electronic fuel injection system, it still adds a degree of precision over carburetors. It’s also the cheapest and most easily installed EFI system since it doesn’t require you to redesign your originally carbureted engine.

Of course, the fuel and cooling systems were completely rebuilt from scratch with brand new components.

The 355 V8 breathes out through an X-style, 2.5-inch exhaust system by Shafer Classic.

Transmission and drivetrain

This 1969 Chevy Camaro was a base model, which originally came with a 10-bolt open differential and a 3-speed TH350 automatic transmission.

Brad put in 12-bolt differential with 3.55:1 rear gear ratio and a 700r4 transmission. Tying the gearbox and rear end is a 2.5-inch Southwest Speed steel driveshaft. These come in a wide range of sizes, yolk, and U-joint configurations to fit pretty much every setup.

While still automatic, the 700r4 is a major upgrade. It adds an overdrive gear as well as locking torque converter, which makes the car quieter and almost economical on the highway.

Furthermore, the 700r4 has more aggressive 1st and 2nd gear ratios, so you’ll be quicker off the line and have better acceleration. Finally, the control is switched from vacuum operated to throttle position based, which is more aligned with the driver’s intent.

Suspension, wheels, and tires

The old suspension was completely ditched and replaced with a CPP Pro-Touring suspension kit, including a 2-inch drop. The kit includes everything – tubular control arms, dual-adjustable shocks, lowered coil and leaf springs, sway bars, bushings – all the good stuff.

The Camaro is rolling on a staggered set of Rocket Racing Booster aluminum wheels – 18×7 at the front and 18×8 at the back. Power meets the pavement through General AS-05 tires – 215/45/18 at the front and 235/45/18 at the back.

Both the wheels and tires will likely go up in size, with the rear set making its way to the front. However, Brad wants to give the car a go first and make sure they’re clearing his gorgeous new fenders.

Stopping power is provided by 4-wheel power disc brakes – a replacement for the manual drums that came with the Camaro originally. The positraction rear end Brad sourced came with a set of stock disc brakes already. And the front end received a Right Stuff stock kit from Summit Racing.

Brad will probably upgrade the brakes at some point, but for now, he gets to keep his budget. Either way: “She will stop better than she ever has before.”

Wrapping it up

The engine starts right up and the Camaro drives. Brad is shooting for 350 – 400 horsepower at the wheels.

“I don’t want a monster,” he says. “I am looking for a cruiser that runs reliably more than anything.”

There are still a couple of months worth of work before the build is 100% complete. Most of the interior still needs to find its way into the cabin. But Brad is gearing to take the Camaro on its first car show in July.

The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro is his dream car now. He always knew he was going to do this build, but life always got in the way, as it usually does.

The wait was worth it as he now gets to do it with his father, just like when he was 16. These precious moments become life-long memories – not because of the cars, but because of the people.

Here’s to Brad Morris and his awesome father Mark Morris for showing us their amazing 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

Do you have a first-gen Camaro? Hit us up in the comments with your build!