Berger Hot Rod Edition Owners??

[WMCC Gary]

A few more Pics of WMCC members Brent & Kelley. They live in California now.









Another WMCC member Jeff from Wisconsin.


Couple more of Dougs 1989




Another of Johns 1999



And A few Fun ones .

This Pic has 2 HRE's Daytona Yellow & White and 2 ZL1's Lemans Blue & Hugger Orange.


This one has 3 HRE's, 2 ZL1's, a Berger SS and a coupe of nice SS's


Picture speaks for its self.
Berger SS, Intimidator SS, Berger SS, Berger Hot Rod Edition, ZL1

[nascarnate326]

Gary that last picture is to die for!!! Any larger sizes? Thats an ideal wallpaper shot.

[WMCC Gary]

Its the only one I have.

[wmccrxpower]

WOOHOO! Almost time to get her out again!! Get yer motor runnin...head out on the highway.........YEEHAA!

[WMCC SSLS1]

Hello Jim, My name is Greg and WMCC Doug e-mailed me to add to this post about the HRE Berger cars. Gathering the current specific information of the HRE cars may be a tricky task to do but there are some knowledgeable people on the subject that are members here and also the WMCC.

Many of the HRE cars have undergone modifications/upgrades over the years since they were first delivered so the early records are good for things that do not change, i.e. color, coupe or vert, t-top or hard top, transmission etc. But the early records (like from back when the White Book was written) are not up to date as many cars have had engine upgrade packages and or body changes since originally documented by GMMG.

For example, John Glisters Daytona Yellow car was the first Phase II 435hp Auto car assembled and sold but it has been through 2 rear gear ratio changes, 2 different torque converters and the last I talked to John it was on it 3rd engine package. (Phase II 435hp then Phase IIx6 500hp then finally a Phase IIx 475hp "High Torque" package)

These engine packages were not changed due to any problems but because John is definitely a "Gear Head" kind of guy that just wanted increased performance from his HRE car. When he would hear Matt Murphy had a new engine package to try John couldn't resist the temptation to try it (my kind of guy!!) It's my understanding that John worked with Matt to configure the Phase IIx package for increased torque to work better in an auto equipped car over the Phase IIx6 package which boasts a few more HP and is better for the 6 speed cars. I do not know if John's car is still the same or if it has been reworked again. The last I knew he was hooked on building up a 600hp + Turbo Diesel Dodge Ram truck just for fun.

Another example is Sheri <sp> Berger's LeMans Blue 600hp 427 HRE #2002, it was originally delivered with the standard Z28 flat hood and rear wing but as you will see it listed as 1 of 1 with the SS hood on the show board. I personally drove that car into the trailer and towed the car to the 2004 Grand Rapids Autorama in Berger's trailer where it was on display in the WMCC club display. At that time the car still had the steel Z28 hood and Z28 wing on it. It wasn't until later that summer that I saw the car with the SS hood and wing at the Berger Car Show. Nice upgrade but not as the car was originally delivered from GMMG if it matters.

I can only think of 2 cars (though there might be more) that have unique Leather seat colors (other than the standard HRE black w/red inserts) John Glister's with yellow leather seats, and Sheri Berger’s with all white leather. Which btw scared me when I was trying to crawl out of the car through the window w/o getting the seats dirty from my size 13 feet. This was after I drove it into the trailer ant Berger and Dennis Barker would not let me open the convertible top as they had just washed the car in the delivery prep area so the top was wet. I think Dennis just wanted to laugh while watching me squeeze my 6'4" frame through the tiny window opening.

There is a silver HRE car that at one time was in the WMCC which received a Phase IIx engine upgrade (2nd one after John's package) along with the SS hood and wing when it was back at GMMG. The car has since been sold to another owner and I can't remember which number the car was unfortunately.

Another oddity ................ I believe John Glister's Yellow HotRod was the only one delivered with 18" Crager wheels and GoodYear Super Car Tires along with Corvette brakes the ZL1 cars received. Berger's #2002 HRE had 18" Fikse wheels while the rest had the standard 17" Crager wheels and BFG KDW tires as far as I remember.

My father's car has been posted by Gary already which is the pewter one a couple pages back. It is car #1977 which was delivered as a Phase I 360hp auto car, but dad had it upgraded by GMMG to a Phase IIx 475 hp car with 3:73 gears and a Yank SS3600 torque converter (among other things) Dad added the "Sunoco" hood and GM factory SS wing for a little more attitude along with the polished billet grill and clear turn signals like was found on 1st gen Camaros. That is why you will see some appearance differences in the pictures Gary posted. Don't worry as all items are bolt ons that can easily be replaced by the original parts in an afternoon, and the "stock" parts are all safely packaged in boxes at dad's house.

Now for an interesting story.............. Dad and I were traveling in my SS Camaro on the 2003 HotRod Power Tour when we first learned of the HRE Cars. Dennis Barker (former Berger Camaro Project Manager if you don’t know) pulled into the Opryland Hotel in Nashville on opening day of the Power Tour with a Pewter HotRod Camaro #1976 and my father (much to my surprise) couldn't stop talking about that car. When we asked Dennis said the car was brought down from Berger for the HotRod Magazine staff to drive during the tour and then write a story about it in the magazine. So we spent a good part of the first day following this Camaro to the next tour stop in Memphis, TN with dad talking about it all the way. Later that night Dennis said the car was for sale and by the next day we were overnighting information about the car to mom back in Michigan as dad wanted to buy the car.

A verbal deal was struck to buy the car and Dennis said that dad could drive the car for the rest of the Power Tour and that he would have it trailered back to Berger after the Tour ended in TX. Dad decided it would make for a great story to let the HotRod Staff drive the car for the rest of the tour if they agreed to have the big guys at HotRod autograph under the hood of the car at the end of the tour.

So the Magazine staff continued to drive the HRE Camaro the next day while those of us in the WMCC watched as we followed behind in our cars. We were only on the Tour route for an hour or so when the both lanes of interstate traffic came to a screeching halt and I thought I was going to be buying a new rear bumper for Gibb and Tammy's Wonderful 1 ZL1. We all we jammed on the brakes and pulled off the road into the grass of the median of the interstate only to find the car that dad was going to buy laying off the road in the grass down in the ditch a little. We had heard a rumor that the HRE Camaro the HotRod staff was driving was in an accident. My father was so sick to his stomach to hear the news that he stayed in the car while I went running down the road to investigate. When I got there I noticed the HR staff member was still shaking and telling his story about going airborne at nearly 60 mph after hitting a 6" drive shaft which flew out of the garbage truck sitting along the other side of the interstate.

Holy Crap! 8-O I said and quickly circled the car looking for any damage. I expected the front nose to be ripped off the car but much to my surprise the outside looked to be intact. Further investigation revealed that the driver had ripped the gear shift knob clean off of the shifter trying to hang on during the short flight of the Camaro. The interior was littered with camera gear and Magazine paperwork that went flying out of his briefcase. The rear passenger foot well was no longer curved downward but upward like the transmission tunnel located next to it as the driveshaft ripped through the tranny pan, tore off the transmission crossmember and jamed in the tranny tunnel launching the car like a pole vault pole.

Dennis Barker said the car was most likely totaled and he had to wait for a flat bed to get the car and tow it to a local Chevy dealership so it could be inspected by an insurance agent. So the WMCC continued on driving for the next few hours to the next Power Tour stop while Dennis tended to the car. I don't think dad said 10 words that afternoon or evening at the event as we did not talk to Dennis until the next morning to find out if the car was a total loss or not, either way we both figured dad wasn't buying a HotRod anymore.

The next morning Dennis said that the bad news was the car needed a lot of repairs and would likely be totaled out, but the good news was that there was an identical pewter HRE Camaro available back at Berger that dad could buy. Dennis had a few special twists that he did when helping to put the HRE Camaro package together with Matt Berger. One was that he would get to buy the first car #1967 for his wife Julie, another was that the last car would be special and have the only 427 engine (even thought Matt Berger did not want that engine in his wife's car Dennis still won out and it got a big bad 427 with an auto trans making it very unique). Dennis also had two identical pewter cars built (#1976 & #1977) to represent the years that he and his wife graduated from High School. This is why there was another HRE identical to the wrecked one available back at Berger for dad to buy, and why dad owns #1977 and not #1976 that he was going to get.

Later that summer, during the Berger show in September, I was able to spot #1976 HRE sitting out back fenced in Berger's lot with a flat tire just waiting for someone to do something with it. I never heard more about the car but I did spot it on eBay in 2006 at a private dealership in Florida. It has new wheels that were some sort of Crager knockoff and different tires than the original BFG KDW tires the car should have had. The car still had the Green circular 2003 Power Tour sticker on the windshield and was being advertised w/o any information about the damage that it had suffered previously. I sure hope original buyer did not pay the $40K+ price tag for that car as I sure would not have.

Anyway, I hope you can gather all the HRE information you are looking for and just wanted to let you know of some of the changes that have occurred to these cars since they were originally documented. GMMG does update their records for the performance package upgrades and gives a new packet of documentation information (things like a new "window sticker") to the owners of the cars when they are upgraded to keep things official. So I would think that Matt Murphy would have the most recent list of HRE cars and their modifications, but will not know exactly who the owners of the all the cars are now unfortunately.

Hope that helps you out a little and sorry for writing such a novel, can you tell it has been a while since I have done any "car talk"? I can't wait for summer weather to get here so I can get my car out again. (I did have the Wife's car out this weekend though!!

Here are a few pictures of dad's car Gary did not post earlier. The first is Ira, former publisher of HotRod Magazine signing the car on Power Tour, the second is at the WMCC anniv party.

Greg

.

[WMCC Doug]

Hey Greg!

Thanks for adding to the story.

That was quite a day in Lousiana back in 2003. I know I'll never forget it.

[WMCCjames]

Wow Greg...your a regular novelist!!!

I remember hearing that story when I met your parents the first time one night at Gemmens before I joined WMCC. I was like 8-O Wonder what ever became of that car?

[zmanrc]

hey greg!
That was quite a day in lousiana back in 2003. I know i'll never forget it.

best power tour ever!!!

[WMCC Doug]

best power tour ever!!!

Yes, it was !!!!!!!!!!

[WMCC SSLS1]

best power tour ever!!!

I agree!! There was lots of stories to tell from the trip down to TN before the Power Tour even started, like the 100 mph + run on interstate 65 to Radcliff, KY to get John's HotRod Camaro a replacement alternator for his car. Remember that?

Greg

[WMCC NC Brian]

I kinda liked the '03 Power Tour too
I met Michelle on that one

[WMCC Doug]

I kinda liked the '03 Power Tour too
I met Michelle on that one

Well, then it was better for you than everyone else, Brian !!!!!!!!

I've only been on 3 Long Hauls and one partial HRPT, but 2003 was definitely a stand out. What a great week! I remember heading across Nashville on the first morning with a dozen or so Camaros doing 95-100 through the construction zones heading for the Walmart for the kick off drivers meeting!

Then we sat in the parking for hours, waiting for all the cars to get out! lol:

[daytonajim]

HRE's MIA..........

I’m looking for information on a few more HRE Cars.
Car #, color, stripe color, body type (B4C – T-Top – Convert), Trans, engine.
Do you have any photos on these cars or know the owners?
1970, 1971,1972, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001
I hear there may be a Phase 5 black convert somewhere. Any info?
My e-mail is jimsmt@lakeland.ws
Thanks ahead of time
Jim Smith 715-529-0898

[WMCC AL]

Attached is a link to with photoss of the "other" Pewter HRE. I believe it is still in Florida. I think we could come up with a name who still owns it. My Bro-In-Law is in the same Camaro Club as him.

http://35thle.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/...pic.php?t=6300

[sman]

We have to log in to view that.