You’d struggle to find a car in Australia that’s had more time and money invested in it than Simon O’Carroll’s bad-arse ’68 Camaro. Seriously, this thing’s had more birthdays than my grandmother!

First published in the November 2025 issue of Street Machine

Formerly owned by Johnny Wilson, who campaigned it with a monster-cube big-block, the car wound up in the hands of 6boost owner Kyle Hopf, who turned it into a stunning twin-turbo, Noonan-powered radial contender. After enjoying some success with it, Kyle decided on a change of direction and put it up for sale. It was then purchased by another racer, who stripped all the running gear out and put it back up for sale. And that’s where Simon comes in.

“We had been racing our LH Torana with stock suspension in the 275 class, and for a while, we were up there with the fastest,” Simon says. “But then the rules were changed to let four-link and back-halved cars in, and suddenly we were not competitive. I ended up buying Perry Bullivant’s 2000 Camaro. It was a much better race car than what we had, but it really didn’t tick all the boxes for me.”

While out on a parts hunt for the new car, Simon happened to swing by 6boost to buy some carbonfibre sheeting, and the ex-Hopf green ’68 Camaro was sitting there as a roller, up for sale again.

“I really loved that car, and I didn’t like the 2000, so the rest is history!” laughs Simon. “I had already bought the Vortech-blown big-block out of Stu Henry’s Mustang, but that engine wasn’t going to work with the change of cars. The new car was set up for a Hemi, so I’m like, ‘Let’s not build this car three times; let’s bite the bullet and do it all.’ Three years later, we got it done!”

The Camaro still had chassis rails in it for the 10.5-class rules, so Simon decided to make it a proper race car that would fit the 275 class while also being able to run in Doorslammer and Pro Mod. He reached out to Queensland racer Steve Ham for an engine combination, as he had a 4.9-inch Noonan Hemi up for sale. Initially, there was talk of going ProCharged, but Steve talked Simon into a screw blower.

“We ended up going with a 4.8 Noonan because parts are easier to get; all the ’Slammers are running them, and there is quite a wait time on parts for the 4.9,” Simon explains. “We ended up finding a motor with only six runs on it that came out of a Top Alcohol dragster. Steve prepped it and we bought the whole package, including a Liberty five-speed trans with a Quick Drive and lock-up converter.”

The Aussie-designed, all-billet, 3800hp-capable Hemi engine is a serious-looking bit of gear, especially when topped with the massive D-rotor supercharger. It was sent to Craig Burns in Sydney to be fitted to the car, along with a list of other jobs, including making the front and rear engine plates, building the headers, re-mounting the struts and steering, cutting out some internal barwork to make room for the transmission, and adding extra safety barwork.

After the extensive rebuild by Burns, the car returned to Queensland and was turned over to Josh Ward, who wired in the FuelTech and finished all the remaining jobs. Josh continues to provide ongoing support and maintenance for the car through his business, Pro Chassis & Fabrication in Brisbane.

The Camaro retains a steel roof and quarters, but the rest of the body is carbonfibre and polycarbonate. In race trim with driver aboard, it weighs just 2700lb.

On its first full pass in Sydney, the Camaro ran a 4.19-second pass over the eighth-mile, then bettered it with a 4.05. Looking to get some extra seat time, Simon took the car to Jamboree, where he ran the Outlaw 275 race set-up but with 315 radials. There, he top-qualified, won the meeting and ran a three-second pass.

“We are just getting started,” he says. “We are only running 1.06 seconds in the 60-foot, when we should be in the 0.95s. We started with 125 per cent overdrive on the blower but pulled it back to 107 per cent until we get a handle on the set-up, so there is plenty left in the car. I really think we can get into the 3.60s over the eighth.”

Right now, Simon’s goal is to reclaim the 275 record.

“We need to beat Steve Smith, who has run a 3.95 in his Mustang, and Daniel Nunziante, who has also run 3.95 in his Fox-body but with a higher mph figure than Smith,” says Simon. “We have run 3.99@198mph, and we want to be the first into the 3.80s.”

Kon Michaloudakis from Wollongong Automotive Services and Steve Ham have been tuning the car, but with Kon about to embark on a trip to the USA, Paul Mouhayet has been brought in to help with tuning duties.

Like any serious race car, the Camaro needs a great team behind it. Simon wants to thank all his crew guys – Simon Kryger, Zip Mitchell, Steve Grljak, Will Weber and Kev Dickinson – for all their help, as well as his sponsors: Dullys Customs, JOH Auto Engineering, Big Trent from Quick 60 Towing, and Peter Cartwright from Surface Correction & Protection, who always makes the car shine before every meeting. Last but not least, a big thanks to his wife Liza for her support, and for packing the ’chutes.