In 1968 Lud Renner purchased an 11-second SS/RS 427 Camaro. Forty-two years and five thousand miles later, he still owns it!
Lud Renner runs a graphic arts studio on the Left Coast and is the only known Baldwin-Motion Camaro owner who bought his car new and never sold it. Nor did he ever restore it. It actually still smells new!
Renner’s Camaro odyssey started in the spring of 1968 when he purchased a Baldwin-Motion 427 Camaro. At the time he lived with his parents in Maplewood, NJ. Baldwin’s Dave Bean recognized that Renner was a drag racing and sent him over to Joel Rosen at Motion Performance to spec out a serious big-block Camaro.
“For a young street racer it was an incredible experience talking with Rosen and having him cherry pick the options needed to go as fast as I wanted to. He suggested options that I didn’t even know existed, like the aluminum head L88 engine,” recalls Lud Renner.
“I’ll never forget that day when he told me, ‘properly modified, your Camaro would be untouchable.’ He was right!”
Based on Rosen’s recommendations, Renner ordered a 1968 Camaro powered by a Phase III version of the 427-inch aluminum-head, 12.5-to-l factory race motor. Rated at approximately 600 horsepower, the dyne-tuned and Motion-ized L88 in Renner’s Camaro features a 950-cfm Holley three-barrel carburetor fed by an electric Super Pumper, tuned headers, dual-point Motion-Mallory ignition and signature fly-eye air cleaner and finned alloy valve covers.
Rosen knew exactly what Renner needed to accomplish his street and strip racing goals and installed a Schaefer Rev-Loc clutch-flywheel package, scattershield, Mallory rev-limiter, M22 four-speed, 4.56 Posi rear, metallic brakes and a complete Super-Bite suspension with traction bars and shocks. Renner also opted for the trunk-mounted battery package.
When Rosen told Renner about a late addition to the Camaro color palette, Corvette Bronze (shown on the original Baldwin Chevrolet invoice as “Special Paint, Bronze #96D), he jumped at the choice. Listed as Code 00 Bronze in the factory dealer ordering information, it is Code 992 Corvette Bronze and was not carried over to 1969 models. It may be the only Bronze 1968 Baldwin-Motion Camaro.
By the time Renner was finished with the option list, the Bronze L88 SS/RS Camaro invoiced at $6,360.95. The actual cost was close to $7,000, as after delivery (three month build time) he brought the Camaro back for some additional racing equipment and an L88/ZL1 fiberglass hood. It was originally delivered with a modified steel hood with a Ford Thunderbolt scoop.
Barely broken in, Renner filled the Camaro’s tank with 110-octane Avgas, drove to Englishtown Raceway Park, changed plugs, installed 11-inch-wide Racemaster slicks, uncapped the headers, and made a few passes. The Camaro was slotted into A/Modified Production, a class normally reserved for serious racecars like Motion’s NHRA National record-holding Camaro.
Renner’s first pass netted an 11.60-sec/121-mph time slip and he later went on to win the class. He repeated this performance a few weeks later.
In the spring of 1969, Lud Renner entered his Camaro in the opener of the World Championship Series at Englishtown. Competition had gotten a lot tougher in A/MP and now he had to run against Chevrolet's new COPO ZL1 as well as modified big-block Camaros. The Camaro was dialed in and he was ready.
“I was running 11.2s and 3s and at the end of the day, my Baldwin-Motion Camaro was the last one standing in A/MP. It was good enough for the class win and the Grand Opener Champion trophy,” reminisced Renner.
Lud Renner retired the Camaro from racing after his big win at Englishtown and pursued a career in graphic arts. Today Renner runs a very successful graphic arts agency in California, catering to high-tech electronics and computer components manufacturers.
Reflecting on his unique Camaro that today looks and runs the way it did when last raced, Renner still experiences a real adrenalin rush.
“It’s an amazing car. Back in the day I had never driven a car that accelerated like my Baldwin-Motion L88 Camaro. Not even heavily modified 427/435 Corvettes and European exotics. Nothing ever pulled through the gears and was still making power when the tach needle nudged past 7,000 rpm. It was and still is an absolutely unreal performing street car.”
Lud Renner occasionally drives and shows his Camaro locally. And it never fails to draw a crowd – especially when he fires up its vintage L88!
For more information about Baldwin-Motion, please visit www.OfficialBaldwinMotion.com