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I have had my issues with HMM, but overall it has been an excellent magazine for the musclecar enthusiast. Do what I did an email the editor, and you will get a response back and hopefully get them back on track.
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Yes you did!
No love for the phantom
I am very disappointed that, despite all the real cars out there, you chose to feature a counterfeit (1968 Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro convertible, HMM#59, August 2008). Yes, it's a beautiful car, but the owner went way overboard by broaching blocks, re-stamping and purchasing fake documentation. This, in my opinion, did more to open potential crooks' eyes than it did to educate buyers. By paying for these services, people just enable these businesses to stay in operation and perfect their craft.
I judge in several programs, with a focus on unrestored survivor cars, and I have to tell you, I just about tossed this issue. I know of too many clones, tributes or whatever you want to call them, which have morphed into "real" cars. I am sure you had honorable intentions, but this feature did not work for me. Hope this feedback helps.
Steve Shauger
Via the Internet
Sorry to hear you didn't appreciate the feature, Steve, but perhaps your discontent is being misdirected. When that issue hit the stands, there was some chatter on a few Internet boards about the Camaro Z/28 convertible and its fabricated history. Some felt that we were doing a disservice by presenting it, but others seemed to get it.
Either way, here's a reiteration of the main points: First, none of the cars featured were clones, since actual factory-produced examples of those particular cars were never built. This should be most obvious in the case of the Z/28 convertible, which was never available during the first generation. Part of the Camaro owner's point was to illustrate what's possible currently, which should alarm some enthusiasts. We feel this knowledge needs to get to the average enthusiast; trust us, the crooks already know what's possible.
Some concern has been expressed that years from now, that Camaro may become what it currently pretends to be, but again, it represents something that GM wouldn't build, and it seems unlikely that everyone would forget that 20 years from now.
We don't condone the re-stamping of engine blocks, and weathered build-sheet replicas would seem to have little honorable use. Still, we get where the Camaro's owner was coming from. Don't shoot the messenger; arm yourself with knowledge.