My opinion is generally worthless. But it’s a specialty of the house and you’re already here, so you might as well have some while it’s hot.

The 1970 – 1973 Camaro RS is the best looking second gen Chevy ever made!

It’s properly aggressive with its V-shaped grille and pointy urethane nose. The lights are neatly packed and symmetrical and the bumperettes tie all the functional elements together.

The curvature flows smoothly from one panel to the next and produces an elegant and refined design. At the time, this was perfected in European automotive design, but rarely seen on American cars, and especially not on mass produced pony cars like the Camaro.

Chevrolet looked at the Italians, and especially, Ferrari and wanted to bring over that elegant GT design language over at American shores.

Unfortunately, in 1974, GM killed this awesome design and turned the Camaro into this…thing.

The front end has no consistency whatsoever. It’s all different shapes, different angles, concave and convex surfaces.

To be completely honest, the grille and parking lights aren’t that bad on their own. They’re growing on me.

However, what is up with these awful headlight surrounds? This clam-like design is a completely opposite shape to everything else around. It’s like the designers deliberately chose to make them backwards, hoping they’d look so innovative and interesting, we’d forget about the enormous bumpers.

And I’m not even mad about the 5 mph bumpers. The Government enforced a new law and automakers did whatever was necessary to keep their cars on the road and their business afloat.

It’s everything above the bumper that makes me look the other way.

At the rear, the Camaro lost its circular taillights for a rectangular wraparound design, which was in tune with the times, but leaves the trunk looking rather empty.

The 1974 – 1977 are the true malaise years of the Camaro. Following 1978, Chevrolet figured out which way everything needs to point and started making improvements to the design, leading up to the third generation.

I’m giving it some heat, but the second generation Camaro was actually really successful in the 70s auto market. Today, there are faithful groups of Camaro enthusiasts who love everything I absolutely hate about this design.

And had the pleasure of talking to Frank, who built a Camaro so radical, it tripped my meter and I ended up liking it again. Check it out below!

Frank’s 1976 Camaro RS

It is down right nasty.

Full black, red-eyed, this Camaro is absolutely fiendish. It looks so evil and imposing. In fact, it being ugly actually contributes

Need a super villain car for a movie? Call Frank! @camaronado

Frank is just a guy who went to raves in the late 1990s, industrial Goth clubs in the early 2000s, sang karaoke and played pool at bars in the late 2000s / early 2010s.

He was indoctrinated into the muscle car culture by his father. Frank’s first car in high school was a 1968 Mercury Cougar, which received a Boss 302 engine soon thereafter. He was off to a great start.

After daily driving a 1990 Camaro RS V6 for some years, Frank was ultimately annoyed with it’s lack of power – 140 horsepower is not exactly muscle car fast.

Eventually, Frank wound up checking out this 1976 Camaro RS.

“The overall appearance of the 2nd Gen caught my eye – there was just something about the look of it. I admit I was young and overly excited…All I know was that I wanted it and paid $2,500 to have it.”

Living with a 70s Camaro

The Camaro was in good shape – no rust and still sporting its original two-tone paintwork. Most of the car was painted Firethorn red, while the hood, A-pillars, front section of the roof and the top part of the doors were black.

It was a weird combination, further emphasized by a bright stripe contouring the border. Chevrolet wanted it to look sporty, but it ended up being just dorky.

Frank laments about not keeping the style stock, but if you ask me, the two accidents, which took out the passenger door and rear fender, were the best thing that has happened to this Camaro.

Some affordable repairs at Maaco and a repaint in black gave Frank a blank canvas to experiment and explore different designs, without risking a pristine, meticulously restored car.

“Trust me! My Camaro looks amazing on Instagram but it’s far from perfect…If it was, I’d never want to drive it, so, maybe it’s for the best.”

Frank was debating the lights for a long time. On one hand, the original headlights were completely useless and borderline dangerous. On the other, LED Halo lights often look cheap and out of place, especially on a classic car.

However, on the second gen, they actually make great use of the huge headlight cavities and give the Camaro that demonic stare. It’s an absolute monster.

The bright flag on each fender and the red interior, contrast against the blacked out car and make it pop out even more.

The interior is mostly original. There’s some wear and tear, but Frank says it’s in excellent condition for a 40+ year old car. He’s added some improvements over the years – new black carpet, black headliner, sun visors, black window crank handles and black door handle escutcheons (try reading it out loud).

Yeah, it’s all black and red with this car.

Mid-70s Camaros weren’t exactly high on performance

Well, the chassis and suspension are there, but power-wise, the 1976 V8 was barely an upgrade for Frank’s 1990 V6 engine.

The mighty 350 cubic-inch small block was reduced to just 165 net horsepower for 1976 – that’s four banger territory today and we’re not even talking about turbos. The engine was anemic to say the least.

When Frank got the car, it was already on its last leg. One night, as he was driving his girlfriend home, the motor blew and left them stranded, but fortunately unscathed.

There was nothing on the original engine worth saving, so Frank got himself a nice 350 H.O. crate motor from GM.

With 333 hp and 381 lb-ft of torque, the V8 has plenty of power to take you down the street and even do a bit of reckless driving. There’s enough juice to burn rubber and make yourself noticed.

The exhaust upgrade makes the last part guaranteed. Frank installed dual 3-inch pipes, high-flow catalytic converters and Flowmaster Super 40 Series mufflers.

The Camaro was always intended to be a daily driver, so Frank just had the original 3-speed automatic serviced and rebuilt. The original center console was taken out in favor of a B&M Sport Shifter. This one allows you to manually shift your automatic transmission with a ratchet-style mechanism.

One of the accidents also took out the rear end, so Frank threw in a 10-bolt rear axle and sway bar from a 1978 Z28.

A set of Monroe air shocks help raise the rear to fit larger wheels and tires. The Camaro rides on a set of Satin Black American Racing 172 Baja wheels – 15×7-inch front and 15×8-inch rear. These look almost like stock steelies on first glance, expect they’re not. They’re all business and that fits the car perfectly.

The tires are BFGoodrich – P235/60R15 front and P245/60/R15 rear.

The rest of the suspension, steering and brakes are stock but new. Second gens came with front disc brakes standard in every model, so there’s plenty of stopping power. Frank drove the car daily for 10 years straight and the original parts has fared well with the 350 H.O.

That said, he admits that he’s pushing for more power. An AC-delete, new carburetor, intake manifold and headers are on the way. A mild cam and exhaust cutouts are still on the table.

Of course, this means the stock parts will need to be revisited and upgraded. It’s a whole new project, but Frank can tackle it one piece at a time.

The 1976 Camaro RS has long been succeeded by a modern daily driver. Today, it spends most of its time in the garage as Frank is busy climbing the corporate ladder.

It still gets time out with the 2nd gen gang and this one is certainly the meanest-looking of the bunch.