Engine Conspiracy

I don't believe I've recanted this experience here...

Many years ago I bought a 1978 Chevy Blazer. Over the years I had done a bunch of restoration work to it so it was a pretty nice rig overall. The only thing missing back then was I needed a better engine for it. A buddy of mine had a '69 Camaro project car he'd put tens of thousands into. One day he calls me up and asks for a hand pulling an engine out of a wrecked Camaro. The wrecked Camaro was even nicer than my buddy's (think: show car / hot rod). The story went that the guy was just totally in LOVE with his car and was so totally and absolutely heartbroken at crashing it that he just parted it out for pennies on the dollar. When we got there he explained he was racing some kid, broke traction and spun it out. He went off the road backwards and slammed into a dirt embankment and destroyed the rear end of the car including the frame.

The engine this thing had in it was a brand new 'built' Corvette LT-1 and my buddy wanted it for his Camaro. So we pulled the engine and ultimately put it in his Camaro. My buddy's car was then officially a 'rocket'.

A couple months went by and one day my buddy calls me up and tells me I can have his engine for my Blazer for $500 bucks if I want. I'm all over that, but what happened? He tells me he was out Saturday night drinking out at the Gorge (Flaming Gorge), him and another guy got to racing on the way back and he crashed (badly) completely destroying the rear end of his car. He also wound up getting a DUI when the Highway Patrol showed up so he needed the money.

So out of the Camaro came the LT-1 and into my Blazer it went. By this time I think this motor might have had 200 miles on it if that. The first guy had bought it as a crate engine (new) and had it built from there. Now my Blazer was the rocket. With the full time 4WD i could get that Blazer to literally leap off the ground with all four tires from a standing stop. All I had to do was mash the throttle once, lift and mash it a second time and it would leap (I've even got pictures of it somewhere). That was the coolest Blazer ever and I had a lot of fun with it over the years.

Fast forward about 6 years and about 50k miles, my wrenching and restoration days were taking a backseat to my career so I decided to sell "The Blaze" as everyone called it. I put it up for sale and had it sold within a couple days. The kid who bought it had a Camaro and he wanted "The Blaze" for her engine and he was going to sell the rest. His girlfriend was hot, hot, HOT, so I agreed to sell it to him if he'd promise to bring his Camaro (and his girlfriend) by after he was done with it. A couple weeks later he did just that and his Camaro turned out pretty dang nice. Did I mention his girlfriend was hot, hot, HOT??? Anyway, that was the last I saw of the Camaro.

Recently (about two years later) I ran into this guy in the grocery store by chance. I asked him if he still had the Camaro. He told me he didn't, that he'd crashed it shortly after we'd last spoken...and yep, you probably guessed it...he'd crashed it backwards into a bridge abuttment totaling out the car on the back end!

There was some kind of a conspiracy in there somewhere, but certainly the irony of it all was unmistakeable! That engine either hated Camaros or loved Blazers I don't know which, but it certainly had a funny way of seeming to always survive itself.

(true story)

reply to post by Flyingclaydisk


I enjoyed reading that. The engine named Christine !

As you probably know there are stories of "cursed" vehicles and even parts of vehicles. The Dean car comes to mind as one of the most famous. But I have a hard time believing these things to be more than coincidence. I do believe in paranormal activity, having had a few unmistakable experiences myself, but in cases like this I don't think that is the answer. It is more likely that the engine, although an LT-1 is not all that fast stock, having some work done on it, simply caused some slippage on these cars and made them wreck their back ends. I mean it is relatively common for a race car of that nature to break loose and fishtail, so smashing the rear end does not seem all that strange to me. And the less experienced the driver, the more likely they will wreck a fast car. I trust older drivers who have been racing a while much more than younger drivers with little to no experience.

Not only do they push their limits more than experienced drivers, they lack that experience to get them out of hairy situations. And since you didn't crash your blazer, probably just coincidence. Unless as you say, that engine didn't like Camaros...

reply to post by Flyingclaydisk


Yeah that motor delivered to much horse power to the rear end (the light end of the car) and just slid around on them other guys.

Get going fast and turning the wheel causing the rearend to swing around.


Good story to pass around to friends though.

Well, I do drive race cars. I grew up in karts. So I can drive a little.

Just bought the wife an Audi A8L so she's happy. Have an R8 loaner in the garage tonight. Man, that is one fast car (with the v-10 Lambo engine in it).

The wife can actually drive a little too. The A8 is her car, not mine.

She deserves this car. She really does.

The R8 goes back tomorrow. The A8 stays here, as we own it.

It was fun, but the A8 is better, (maybe not faster), but better.