From Survivor to Showstopper

This 1971 Camaro is no longer just a numbers-matching muscle car

- Taylor Kempkes

Finding an all-original muscle car from the late ’60s or early ’70s is a great place to start, but what you do with the car next is up to you. Some people like to relive the car’s glory days by leaving it in, or restoring it to, its factory condition while others want a little more out of their American muscle. Steve Aguilar wanted a little more out of his newfound 1971 Camaro Z28.

In 2012, Steve started out looking for a Pontiac GTO, but when he came across this ’71 survivor on eBay, he just couldn’t resist. The car was all original and had full documentation from when it left the factory over four decades ago, even after having gone through six owners before Steve got his hands on it. He contacted the owner, haggled the asking price down an impressive $4,000, and took the Camaro home. So much for the GTO; this was much better.

From the beginning, Steve knew he would be changing a few things up. First of which was the interior and paint. “I wasn’t crazy about the color combo,” recalls Steve, which consisted of blue paint with black stripes and a gaudy blue-cloth interior. Before the year was over, Steve had the Camaro in the shop for new paint and interior.

Six months later, he got the Z28 back and enjoyed it for a year and a half, taking it to various car shows near his home in Fullerton, California, and winning numerous awards.

In December 2014, Steve went over to Brian Stone and Leo Vargas of Showtime Paint in Gardena, California, to have them smooth out and paint the firewall. Three months later and the firewall refresh turned into a full-blown, frame-off build.