Cars That Matter

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1969 Yenko Camaro
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1963 Bunkie Knudsen Styling Corvette
Greg Boehme: ‘Cars That Matter’
Written by David M. Brown
Early 1970s Seattle, Wash.: Young Greg Boehme has a
1969 Z28 Camaro, $20 tucked in his Levi’s, and gas has
topped off at 24.9 cents a gallon. And, every time he pulls
into the service station, an attentive attendant offers a window wash and four drinking glasses, if he fills up. This was
freedom, America is beautiful and life good.
By then, he already had the passion for anything automobile. “Amazing” grandfather Charlie was his biggest fan,
says Boehme, who visited the Valley during Auction Week
in January with his extraordinary SR2 Corvette, a ‘50s racing
Corvette which he proudly displayed at Scottsdale Sport &
Classic Motorcars.
Granddad had a service station on Cherry Street downtown. He was a competitor, too, traveling throughout the
West midget-racing in the late ‘40s and ‘50s.
“I spent every minute I could in his garage and loved it,”
he says. From an early age I was able to identify the brand,
model and year produced of most cars on the road. What
intrigued me about cars? Everything: the style, shape, color,
and, most of all, their specific performance capabilities.”
Chris Economaki notwithstanding, the ‘60s were not
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intent on television coverage of motor racing, so the family
kept tuned to their TV Guide. “Charlie, my father Joe and I
never missed a chance to watch televised racing,” he says,
noting that when Parnelli Jones’ STP Indy turbine car visited the nearby Firestone tire store in Renton, he persuaded
his mother to drive him there to see it.
Since that first ‘Z, he’s assembled a superlative garage,
including, in addition to the stunning SR2, a ‘66 Dodge Trans
Am factory lightweight, an ‘89 Porsche 928 4S 16,000-mile
original-mile car, a 2000 Lamborghini Diablo GT, one of only
80 produced, and other cars he discusses below.
His drive for great cars, as with other collectors: killer
styling, great design, rarity and horsepower. He’s been smart
about his buys. Most cars he’s collected have appreciated in
value, and when he has sold them, occasionally, most have
been very profitable.
Still, Greg understands worse scenarios are possible.
“Although I have been very good a picking cars that are or
will be collectible, seldom was this my motivation in purchasing the cars.”
Which to buy? Buy the best you can afford, and never
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apologize. “If you love the car, that’s enough. You may have
more fun with a lesser value car than I do with cars worth
millions. Sure, ‘important’ cars are expensive and they are
viewed like art, but this has no relationship to pure enjoyment. Buy the cars you love and are passionate about; they
will be the cars that reward you over time.”
Greg enjoys car shows and chatting with enthusiasts, but
he often doesn’t do local shows as many of these are very
valuable. For him, they are “cars that matter”: rolling history
with great stories:
•1969 Yenko Camaro –– The great production-plus muscle
car was sold new at Joseph Chevrolet in Cincinnati, Ohio,
and documented with the original Protect-O-Plate plus
Certificate of Authenticity from Ed Cunneen (COPO connection at Chevy) with a vintage photo of Don Yenko and
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the car in the background. Featured in Chevy Rumble magazine in 2007, it was a class winner at Meadowbrook
Concours d’Elegance that year.
A short list: a hi-performance numbers-matching L72
427/425-horse engine, M21 4-speed transmission, 12-bolt
4.10 ratio posi-traction, correct smog system, Cowl Induction
system, power disc brakes and tachometer.
And, a somewhat longer one: gauge cluster, Delco AM
radio, black standard upholstery, front and rear spoilers, 15x7inch American mag wheels and Goodyear wide-tread tires.
One of the first group of 50 Yenko Camaro’s ordered,
this is a so-called double COPO, receiving Central Office
Production Order #9561 and #9737 (sports car conversion,
specifically engineered for drag race competition. Greg has
rotisserie restored it and refinished it in classic original
Hugger Orange with black Yenko decals.
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Ford Racing agreed to take the GT chassis and homologate it
into the Ford GT3 for the European FIA GT3 Championship.
With the factory close to the legendary Nürburgring, the
cars had hours of lap time. In only the second year of
racing the Ford GT3, the team won the European FIA GT3
Championship in 2008 by more than 30 points, Greg says.
Matech-prepared cars, many under Matech GT Racing,
competed in several national series including the British GT
Championship, Belcar, the GT3 Brasil Championship, VLN,
as well as the FIA GT3 European Championship and the
FIA GT1 World Championship.
The GT1 is powered by a Roush-Yates version of Ford’s
5.3-liter modular engine, which uses 102-octane unleaded
racing fuel. The naturally aspirated double-overhead cam V-8
delivers 650 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque. An X-Trac
6-speed sequential gearbox with adjustable-slip differential
makes it capable of 200 mph. Carbon discs clamped by
AP Racing six-piston monoblock calipers make stopping
exhilarating, too.
2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition
•1963 Bunkie Knudsen Styling Corvette –– This very early
1963 Corvette convertible, number 148, was prepared by GM
styling and engineering for presentation to Chevrolet Motor
Division president, Semon ‘Bunkie’ Knudsen. It follows the
inspiration of the 1963 convertible given to retiring styling
chief, the great Harley Earl.
The car features chrome plating and crinkle-finish black
on the small-block fuelie 327, producing 360 horses. The
engine bay was modified to accommodate the special exhaust
system, which included trimming the heater box for clearance and relocating the battery behind the passenger seat.
The exterior paint is Crimson Firefrost Metallic lacquer
with a full-length white racing stripe. Inside, the custom shift
console assembly is flanked by 1964-type seats upholstered
with white Naugahyde and maroon accent stripes.
The door panels are similarly covered, with chrome-plated
brass trim plates and crossed-flag emblems, and slotted stainless steel floor grille plates, a common feature in GM styling
cars of the era, replaced the stock floor mats.
The twin-spoke steering wheel features two types of wood
on the rim, behind which 1964 instrumentation was used in
the color-matching dash. Greg later upgraded the instrumentation and added 1967 seat belts.
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“The restoration project was unusually complex, needing
special attention to recreate the custom interior and stainless steel exhaust system, the latter requiring the skills of
eight different machine and fabrication facilities and at least
a dozen expert craftsmen,” he says.
•2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition –– “I started buying
Heritage addition GTs several years ago, and I think it’s the
only American car worth collecting since 1971,” Greg says.
“These cars have rightly so skyrocketed in value.”
The car series began in 2005, inspired by the great GT40.
This is one of 343 produced, and Greg drives it regularly. The
all-alloy aluminum-bodied car carries a 5.4-liter supercharged
motor with 550 horses hitched to a 6-speed transmission.
“I knew that was an important car, and it still is,” he says.
“Pulling into a filling station, I’m often met with three or four
other cars pulling in just to talk. They want to know about
the car, and most have never seen one. The fact they had to
stop and see the car says it all.”
•2010 Matech Ford GT GT1 –– Ford returned to the great
years at Le Mans when it delivered the 2005−06 GT, a midengine supercar patterned after the GT40.
In 2007, the Swiss racing team Matech Concepts and
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The 18-inch BBS forged aluminum wheels with Michelin
12-inch front and 13-inch rear tires are located by upperlower A-arms suspension with four-way-adjustable coil-over
shocks. With its lightweight carbon fiber body panels over
an aluminum frame, the car weighs just 2,646 pounds minus
driver and fluids.
Matech Concepts produced six Ford GT GT1 racers, two
later destroyed in accidents. The remaining four cars are privately owned. This is chassis number 003.
The car competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship at
Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Germany’s Nürburgring,
achieving one win and three pole positions in two years of
competition. Wearing the Marc VDS Racing Team livery, 003
last competed in 2011 at San Luis, Argentina, finishing 11th
in the final race of the season.
If you or someone you know has a GreatGarage and would
like it to be considered for an upcoming issue, please e-mail
us at [email protected].
2010 Matech Ford GT GT1
1956 Corvette SR-2
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