They've been around 40 years or so–a special breed of dealer called "conversion shops", "upfitters" or "tuners". The greatest Camaro legends were created by such Chevrolet dealers. Don Yenko, Baldwin, Dick Harrell, Berger and Bill Thomas were all dealers which, back in the late-60s and early-70s, sold self-branded, hot rod Camaros which were either specially-built by Chevrolet via the Central Office Purchase Order (COPO) mechanism or regular production units modified with aftermarket parts.

Two of these Camaros, the Yenko and the Baldwin Chevrolet/Motion Performance Phase III are the most famous conversion shop F-cars of the Muscle Car Era. Others, such as 50 1969 Camaros Fred Gibbs Chevrolet ordered with a COPO, aren't known as "Gibbs Camaros", but once you know they were 50 of the 69 ZL1s built, you recognize them, too.

Suffice to say: gearhead Chevy dealers jump at the chance to put their name on a "second sticker", (from the second window sticker which describes modifications and, of course, any price surcharge) tuner car. That brings us to Tom Henry Chevrolet in Bakerstown, Pennsylvania.

In the late-1940s, Thomas B. Henry owned a Gulf Oil station in Glenshaw, just north of Pittsburgh. In the early-'50s, he sold cars at Coyne and Evans Chevrolet in nearby Etna and, by 1954, was the top salesman in the Pittsburgh Zone. On February 14, 1958, Tom Henry opened his own Chevrolet dealer in Bakerstown, 15 miles north of Pittsburgh.

In the mid-'60s, son, Tom G. Henry, started sweeping floors for Dad after school. During high-school summers, he worked in Parts and Service. In November of '75, fresh out of college, he went to work, full-time, as a Service Writer. In 1976 Tom moved to Sales, by '78 was Truck Manager and in '80, General Manager. Finally, in May 1982, with Tom B. wanting a less-busy schedule, young Tom G. took over as Dealer/Operator. The founding Henry retired in early '91.

Cut Tom Henry's finger and he bleeds Bow-Tie Red. In fact, Chevrolet runs deep in the whole family. In addition to his Dad founding the business, Tom's Uncle once was once the Sales Manager. Tom's sister, Sue, who's a hardcore Corvetter, is the store's Office Manager. Tom's cousin, Scott Settlemire, was the last Camaro Brand Manager at Chevrolet and now is Chevy's Manager of Shows and Exhibits.
 
Early-on Tom was a hot rodder. His first car was a '64 Vette, 327/365-hp four-speed, and his first new car was a '72 Corvette LT1, four-speed he still owns. Later, married and raising a family, Tom got hooked on Camaros because they where performance cars with a back seat for his kids."

In the late-'90s, Henry Chevrolet formed a subsidiary, Tom Henry Racing (THR), to sell parts on the Internet (www.tomhenryracing.com) and to sponsor World Challenge road racer, Scotty White, and open road event competitor, Rick Doria. By 2000, he was ripe to get Tom Henry Chevrolet into the second-sticker thing and later that year, THR became an upfitter, pairing-up with GMMG on a self-branded Camaro, the "Tom Henry SS".  As Tom tells the story, it all began at the "Indy Y2K Camaro Classic" at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August that year.

"I took my '98 Brickyard (400 Pace) car to this show." Tom explains. "Scott had a prototype of a tuner car with a 380-hp LS1 which a company down in Atlanta, GMMG, built. Scott says,'You gotta drive this car. You won't believe it.'

"I took this chambered-exhaust, 380 LS1 for a ride around the Speedway. I drove that car and said, 'This thing's great. How do I get one?' That's when they introduced me to GMMG's owner, Matt Murphy who said, 'I'm doing some for Berger (Chevrolet) and (Dale) Earnhardt (Chevrolet).' Berger had already done 50 2000s. He said Earnhardt was comin' on and that he would include me for '01, but I needed to order at least five cars or it wasn't worth it. I came home, started poundin' the pavement and found it was easy to sell five. Then, I jumped in with both feet and sold a lot of them."

Thirty-two TH-SSes were built, three '01s and 29 '02s. There were: three automatics, 29 six-speeds spread amongst Nine coupes, 17 T-Tops and six Convertibles. Other than two Convertibles with "Phase 2" engines, Tom Henry SSes had LS1s modified with a carbon-fiber air box, high-flow MAF, 180° thermostat, ported exhaust manifolds, a Stainless Works chambered exhaust system and a reprogrammed ECM. GMMG rated these engines at 380-hp for manuals and 350-hp for automatics. TH-SSes also had a 3.73 axle ratio.

The Phase 2 Tom Henry SS, a mid-'02 offering, had the 380-hp short block upgraded with GM Performance Parts', CNC-ported, 10.5:1 compression, LS6 heads; a different cam; a ported throttle-body; headers and a 6500-rpm rev. limit. This made a 435-hp package and included a 4.10 axle.

 Henry retained a Phase 2, '02 Convertible for his collection and it joins his '68 RS and the '98 Brickyard 400 Pace Car. It was the 11th TH-SS built, the first retrofitted on '05 with a Ph2 motor and the car you see on these pages. It has  typical Tom Henry appointments: 1.5-in. lower height via Eibach springs, American Racing Torque Thrust wheels (18x8s in ft, 18x10s rr), Dunlop SP Sport 900 tires (245/40ZR18 ft, 275/35ZR18 rr.), THR instrument cluster with silver gauge faces, Hurst shifter and seats with houndstooth cloth inserts. This TH-SS, also, some special touches: Baer AlumaSport calipers and EradiSpeed Rotors, a McLeod clutch and Red Line Synthetic lubricants, 10W30 Engine Oil in the motor, MTL in the trans and 75W90 in the rear axle.

 
I asked Tom why a Convertible. "I knew the ZL1 Supercar (the final GMMG product) was coming. I didn't want a hardtop and the ZL1s were 60-70 grand list price. I felt I could build my own LS6 convertible because open-air driving really appeals to me.

"I crossed my 380-hp SS and GMMG's ZL1. I did two–one for me and another for a buddy of mine in Indiana. I ordered mine new. It was drop-shipped to GMMG for the basic 380 work then I had my people here in Bakerstown make it a Tom Henry SS and add the Phase 2 engine stuff. When I was done, the car went for $55,330.

"I enjoy the topdown, open-air feeling. Most of the guys (the second sticker dealers)–Berger was doin' all T-roofs, Earnhardt was doin' all T-roofs–nobody was doin' a Convertible.

"The car has about 2500 miles. It's been to the GM Nationals down in Carlisle in '02 and '03. It was in the Pittsburgh CarQuest World of Wheels in '03. Other than that, I drive it once every week or so. I'll keep that car a long time. Who knows–I might 'Phase 3' it, now that the 427 (LS7) is available as a crate engine."

We asked Tom why not upfit some other Chevrolet. "From a business standpoint, it was easy. They (Camaros) were available. GM constrains Corvettes, so you can't do any volume. With the Vette, I can't say, 'Hey Chevrolet, I'm doin' this package and I need 20 or 30 cars.' They'd tell ya, 'Forget it.' I could get as many Camaros as I needed. Also, I like the motor in the Camaro and the sound. It's just a neat package. I got two kids. They can't go with me in a Vette. With the Camaro's back seats, they can.

"Actually, since Camaro went away at the end of '02, we did something else for a while. It's a full-sized, short-bed, straight-cab, pickup called the "THR Supercharged Silverado". It's got a Magnuson Radix Supercharger on it. The five-three version makes 500hp. Our website, www.tomhenryracing.com, has some stuff about those trucks."

It was time for lunch. Tom blew me away when he quipped, "You drive." and tossed me the keys. Right away, I understood why Tom Henry likes his Phase 2. On Route 8 just north of the dealership, I didn't  pop the clutch, didn't even floor it. I gave it, like–3/4s throttle. The motor hit about two grand and those big Dunlops smoked. I banged second, barked the tires, then the car hooked and I buried the gas. That Tom Henry SS took off like a shot with the chambered exhaust making a glorious sound. I tagged the rev limiter in second, upshifted and stayed hard on it well into third. I was totally liking this car. Seeing a cop in a Crown Vic up ahead, I stood on the Baer brakes and drove by the nice police car like an honest man. I had a fleeting thought that this would kinda feel what the 2009 Camaro might feel like.

Later, over lunch, I asked Tom if he would resume building Tom Henry SSes once the new Camaro, to be built on GM's "Zeta" platform, arrives in 2009. "Oh yeah. We'll be in this time. Now I know where and how to advertise and market the Tom Henry SS. We could really take it and run with it. I think this will be a V8, rear-drive, sporty coupe and I bet we could make twice as many in first couple of years as we did in '01 and '02.

"Another thing's that's interesting is my SS, with the Phase 2, 435 horse motor has about the same power and might be about the same weight as the '09 Z28, SS or whatever they'll call the uplevel performance convertible. You take the difference between a regular Z28 from back in '02 and my '02 Tom Henry SS, then factor that into the difference between a regular V-8 '09 and a future Tom Henry SS and...wow...500-hp! That oughta be a fun car!"

We can only hope, Tom.

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