After a year of being Camaro-less, Vinnie once again got the urge to get behind the wheel of another early F-body. “I started looking for a solid 1969 to build, so I contacted Larry and asked if he knew of anything for sale. That’s when this particular Camaro came into play,” Vinnie says. Carpenter knew the car well and figured it was worth looking into. Vinnie took Carpenter’s word on the asking price and made an offer. With a deal done, the car was soon shipped back to Jersey where it would make its transformation into the Camaro of Vinnie’s hot rodding dreams.

Now, this Camaro was no slouch in its present form, as it was built with a stout 1,000hp 632ci crate engine between the ’rails—a mill ready to do battle on both the street and the ’strip. However, Vinnie soon decided the Camaro needed to be more “user friendly.” “After racing it and taking it to shows with my kids, it just was too much horsepower to drive reliably as a street cruiser,” Vinnie says. So, he decided to transform the car into a more dependable daily driver without skimping on the looks or the horsepower. Game on!

Vinnie understood an LS swap was the best choice for his particular situation. He shipped the car back out to his good buddy Carpenter, the proprietor of Carpenter’s Auto Repair in Rockford, to perform the LS conversion. The duo decided on a nasty, streetable LS3 to replace the 632ci mill. Rated at 625 hp, the 427ci, blueprinted crate engine would be plenty enough power to get this Camaro anywhere Vinnie needed to go. It was built with the factory EFI, a hydraulic cam, and LS3 aluminum heads.

A Be Cool radiator keeps this beast cool even on the hottest Jersey summer nights, and a MagnaFlow 3-inch exhaust system offers the low-end rumble of a true muscle ride. A TH400 built with an ATI converter gets the power to a 9-inch rearend stuffed with a Strange Pro Series aluminum center with 3.70 gears. Mark Williams axles get twist to the rear meats.

Vinnie went with a Chris Alston’s Chassiworks (CAC) suspension system for handling duties. Up front the G-Street coilover suspension kit went in, with a set of VariShock coilover shocks and springs. Out back, he opted for the CAC canted four-bar rear suspension setup to give him the stance he desired. Stopping power is supplied by Wilwood disc brakes all around. Joe Gambino Race Cars in Keyport, New Jersey, did all the fabrication and installation on this slick F-body.

The interior was kept with an original vibe, as Vinnie went for new houndstooth upholstery on the original bucket seats, and a custom-made center console housing a TCI Automotive Outlaw shifter. Local guru, John Lee, handled all the upholstery work in the cockpit.

The stunning paint is House of Kolor Sunrise Pearl in base/clearcoat. It was laid out to perfection by Mike and Linda Kucharski at Kolorworks in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Hockey stripes, 396 callouts up front, and SS emblems were added for an old-school look and feel. To get that Pro Touring vibe Vinnie went with a quartet of Budnik Pivot wheels, 18×8 up front and 18×10 in the rear. They are shod in Michelin rubber, 245/45R18 and 315/40R18 respectively. A 10-point ’cage was installed should Vinnie feel the urge to hit the nearest ’strip for a quarter-mile bust out.

Now finished, Vinnie hits the streets with a vengeance, rolling into to the local meets and even some of the bigger regional car shows in New Jersey.

Vinnie proudly owns this car with his son Vinnie Rosato III, each of them taking turns stretching it out on the blacktop.

No telling what the future holds, but Vinnie tells us a supercharger will be the next upgrade. We’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing the blown version of this badass F-body out on the streets!