Bob Nobile is not your typical car tinkerer. The body shop man from Perry Hall and owner of Automotive Advanced Concepts has carved out a place among locals for his religious-like devotion to ear-splitting, head-rattling horsepower. For example, Nobile is the force behind a 1962 bubble top Bel Air owned by Pro Stock Truck World Champion and Baltimore native Larry Kopp, who was a prolific racer for many years. More recently, Nobile finished converting an unlikely Scion xB into rear wheel drive, V8-powered racer.
Nobile knew the best way to attract attention for his new race car business would be to make his business model his car. The 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 was about to become a Pro Street super car.
Nobile had no doubt he had the wherewithal to create a strip-worthy car, he only had to look as far the Camaro in parked in his driveway.
“That car has an interesting history in its own right,” said Nobile. “In ‘81, a family friend bought that car brand new. I remember taking a ride in that car. And then all these years pass. He called me and asked if I was interested in buying it. I went and looked at it and I decided to purchase it.”
No sooner did he take delivery of the car in 1988 then he began tearing it apart. The Camaro had the right mechanical foundation and body type for strip racing even though Nobile said he did not have Pro Street racing in mind when he started beefing up the engine.
“Those decisions were made along the way. As I put a new motor in the car to make it go faster, I would need more chassis work to make the car perform properly. The car progressed as power increased. I made changes based on what it required.”
What was required were three separate rebuilds on three separate occasions. To achieve Pro Street standards, Nobile cut the car in half, put it up on stands and stripped the rear suspension and interior out of the car. Next, he removed the factory floor pan, creating what amounts to a big empty hole underneath the car. Nobile then welded together a sub frame and roll cage assembly to reinforce the structural integrity of the vehicle.
To build the interior, Nobile turned to aluminum, a medium not for the faint of heart given its sometime difficult form flexibility. The first step was to create an entire dashboard out of the metal for the purposes of matching the look of other accompanying pieces and demonstrating his expertise as a fabricator. Nobile used different grades of aluminum for different functional components in the car. A stronger, yet lightweight, grade was needed for parts subject to higher stresses like the fuel pump. Under the hood, he opted for 5052 aluminum, which he said is pliable, forms well, and takes paint better than other grades.
Nobile’s careful planning on the Camaro all points back to his desire to create a capable track car, both to advertise his business and satisfy his own personal standards of quality which he demands from himself.
But it took years getting used to the car he was building. Nobile said he did not like his car for some time. It had only been in recent years that he had a clear enough vision of where he was taking the car’s design.
“I like to think that after having been taught how to build and create cars from scratch, that my own car is in some small way a tribute to all those people who took the time to teach me,” said Nobile.
What do you drive?
It’s an ‘81 Z28 Pro Street car powered by an 871 blown 540.
Why do you drive it?
The thing’s just a blast to drive. It’s basically a rolling billboard for my company. It shows people just what we can do with the facilities available to us. If they required a custom car to be built, here’s an example of our work. That’s the purpose the car serves.
What makes this car so special?
It’s all steel. It weighs 4200 lbs. The car runs 9.50 at 142 mph on motor. There’s also a 500 shot of nitrous on that thing, but the time was generated without the nitrous being engaged. So there’s plenty left in this combination. It’s got a complete handmade interior, dashboard and center console having been hand-crafted out of aluminum.
What is your most memorable driving experience?
I think the most memorable one was about a year or two ago. I was invited to come up to Maple Grove, PA at the race track and promote my business under the ATI banner. What I didn’t realize was my friend John had made arrangements so that I could drive right down the return road in front of all those people who were sitting up in the stands. Everyone’s looking at it. It’s an unbelievable experience. All the drag racers you routinely see on television are standing on the start line and I drove right by all of them.
What was the first car you owned?
Back in high school I had a ‘67 Impala with a big block automatic. That was a great car and I wish I still had it. Today they are worth a great amount of money.
What’s currently in your CD player?
I let the engine perform the function of an 8 cylinder symphony. (laughs) It’s pretty thumpy in there.
And your first ticket? What was it for?
Definitely speeding. I got my license in 1980. I might have had it 5 days and I got nailed. I didn’t start off well.
Check out My Stats:
Engine: Chevrolet 540 cu in big block.
Horsepower: 1100 hp (motor)
Performance: Weiland 871 supercharger, SRP pistons, Eagle crank and rods, ATI Turbo 400 transmission, ATI harmonic balancer, Competition Engineering 9” sheet metal rear end, wheelie bar, handmade exhaust w/ Flowmaster mufflers, Brodix cylinder heads, Demon carburetors, 4:10 rear differentials
Wheels: Aluma-Star wheels 15 × 3.5 (front) 15 × 14 (rear)
Tires: Hoosier Quick Time Pro rear tires
