The Godfathers Of Chevy Muscle: An Exclusive Q & A Session With Joel Rosen Of Motion Performance

If any of you have followed my previous blogs, or even my published articles with Power Auto Media, then you no doubt know that my style of automotive journalism is one that has been--at best--retrospective. Truth be told, it's not any easier to get our favorite motoring legends in an interview then it is to get our most cherished rock stars on the phone, but it's still possible with a little persistance.

This particular blog focuses on some of the technical and performance-oriented milestones that have been accomplished in the world of GM performance. For that reason, there was no one who I could've thought to focus more on than "Mr. Motion" himself, Joel Rosen.

Rosen's horsepower-infused creations, during the late '60s and early '70s, left way more of a mark on the street/strip scene then did the COPO-based creations of Yenko Chevrolet. Where Yenko made some cool tweaks on a series of 427 cars that were ordered through dealer fine print, Rosen's Motion Performance, in conjunction with Long Island's Baldwin Chevrolet, built horsepower masterpieces that came turn-key with track equipment standard.

 
There weren't many new Chevys that could make that claim back then, but Rosen and the Baldwin-Motion supercar program had one guarantee, and that was an 11.5-second pass in the quarter mile or your money back, that simple.

It's a legend that's been uttered in motoring circles for the last 40 some odd years since the EPA's environmental crackdown during the 1970s, but when it came to the history of Baldwin-Motion performance, there were critical questions that had to be asked of the Baldwin-Motion brainchild himself.

With all of this in mind, I am pleased and honored to present this exclusive Q & A session with "Mr. Motion" himself, Joel Rosen:

Q: So this is kind of an elementary question, but what was the fastest car you'd ever built?

A: That would have to be a '70 Camaro with a 454 that was an NHRA record holder.

Q: And what was your favorite platform to build with?

A: Camaros and Corvettes

Q: What makes did Motion cover outside of Chevy?

A: We covered all American makes

Q: Buick's Grand National was the door-slammer of the '80s, but what kind of track times were you able to make with the modded GNs that you built during the decade?

A: Mostly 10s and 11s

Q: What would you say is your word of advice to the amateur builders of today who would like to pursue a street or race car project?

A: Definitely stick with Chevy

Q: In your opinion, is the muscle car era dead?

A: No, in fact it's better now than before; just look at what you can buy or build

Q: How do you feel about the C7 Corvette, and should GM have built a mid-motored version?

A: That was my friend, Zora Duntov's dream, but the new Vette is fantastic

Q: Will there ever be another Motion Performance car?

A: Possibly

Q: What do you predict motoring enthusiasts will be doing or will accomplish around 10 years from now?

A: They'll definitely be going faster

Q: How do you think that the motoring hobby, as it currently stands, can be made even better?

A: Get more young people to buy and think American, and get them to build cars again; get rid of the "rice burners"


My profound gratitude goes out again to Joel Rosen, who in all reality is the Bowtie world's equivalent of Shelby. He's one of the motoring world's greatest performance innovators, and the fact that he would take the time to answer my car questions says volumes about who he as a human being.

The Motion Of The Ocean: What Did Joel Rosen Do After Motion Performance?

Motor Trend

Truth be told, there were several Supercar builders aside from Nickey of Chicago and Yenko in Pennsylvania. In fact, Dana and others also championed the 427/4-speed conversion that was popular on 1st-Gen Camaros during the late '60s and early '70s, but for some reason, it was Nickey, Yenko and their few contemporaries who were celebrated in the American muscle canon.

Car Guy Chronicles

Long Island, New York housed their own Supercar hero during the horsepower war's peak, and it was Joel Rosen who would become the region's godfather of everything Chevy performance. His tried-and-tested merger with nearby Baldwin Chevrolet would become the brainchild of Long Island's street and strip scene, and even the V-8 Vega trend of the 1970s was largely a creation of the Baldwin-Motion Supercar program. In fact, shoehorning a 454 mill into the compact Vega was one of Motion's greatest, automotive achievements.

Boldride.com

Joel Rosen's famed "SS427" and "Phase III" Camaros, the first of which was done with a 1967 platform, were notorious in the worlds of AHRA and NHRA drag racing. This, of course, meant that the Motion-converted 1st-Gens were as strong in professional motorsport as they were at America's stoplights. If anything, for the simple fact that Motion cars--Camaros, Chevelles and Novas--were unique in that they came turn-key with all race equipment standard.

Turn-key cars guaranteed by Rosen to run what he described back then as "11.50 at 120 miles per hour" were what differentiated Motion's builds from the competition, and it was the race-oriented nature of the Baldwin-Motion builds that made them just a tad different then Yenkos and others.

In addition to Camaros, Chevelles, Novas and even compact Vegas, the Baldwin-Motion Supercar program was also known for it's 427 and 454 conversions on the 3rd-generation of the Corvette family (Car Guy Chronicles).

Factory and dealer warranties weren't as much of a thing in the golden age of muscle as they are now, but Rosen did issue the aforementioned guarantee of an 11.5-second pass. After issuing that guarantee, Rosen never once had to refund customers' money, or their cars for that matter.

Official Baldwin-Motion

But what did Joel Rosen do after the EPA smothered his performance car operation in 1974? According to Baldwin-Motion media man, Martyn L. Schorr, Rosen continued to work with contemporary automotive tech in order to keep the supercar spirit alive, "He built Grand Nationals in the '80s to take on the 5.0 Mustangs, but I don't remember exactly what he did to them," says Schorr of Rosen's short-lived experiments with late model machines. Among this list also included a few Motion-modified IROC-Zs and G-Body Monte Carlos.

Motion and Rosen's most recent attempts at high-tech horsepower include the "Supercoupe" '69 Camaro, a retro-modded 1st-Gen that, in 2005, was fitted with the industry's best in adjustable coilovers and unequal length control arms, and a 540-cube Merlin motor that pushed 600 brake horsepower in its base form. It was Rosen's first attempt at a super Camaro in years, and it was more than suitable for the SEMA show block at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Joel Rosen's '69 "Supercoupe" Camaro from 2005 (Conceptcarz.com)

But the fact that Rosen and Motion Performance were willing to stuff small and big-blocks into pint-sized Vegas, while writing off cars as "off-road and export only" proved without doubt that the Motion experience was one that was willing and able to bend to the environmental standards of the time. And the fact that Rosen himself raced a modified Grand National during the '80s showed that Supercar construction could always be made possible, even in the midst of what many motoring enthusiasts have now dubbed, the "smog era."

Joel Rosen and Redline Motorsports built 427 and 454 versions of the 5th-Gen Camaro, until Rosen's contract with the Florida speed builder expired in late 2012 (Official Baldwin-Motion).

Even in a time of electronics and pollution control, however, Motion muscle found a way. In fact, Rosen contracted Redline Motorsports of Pompano Beach, Florida to help in the construction of a series of 5th-Gen Camaros, fitted with various manifestations of GM's LS7 and LSX mills. The late model, Camaro builds were labeled by Rosen and Redline as their "Motion SS" and "Phase III" conversions. Either in 427 or 454 form, the radical 5th-Gens would only last so long during the muscle car renaissance of the new Millenium, "The contract [between Joel Rosen and Redline Motorsports] expired in 2012, almost 2013," Martyn Schorr explains. "The guy who was contracted on the 2005 Supercoupe does still occasionally take assignments."

This "Phase III ZLX" 1st-Gen was one of Motion's rarest Camaro builds, and it was one that started its life as a Z28. Originally purchased from Curtis Person Chevrolet of Millington, Tennessee by Chuck Hamilton, the F-Body was raced until 1974, when Hamilton shipped the car to Motion Performance to undergo a build involving the install of a special, dual-quad 427 with "ZLX," open-chambered aluminum heads. The ZLX mill made over 600 horses, and though Rosen never did fully receive the $12k for the conversion, Hamilton did continue to race and campaign the pony as "Mr. H" (Mecum Auctions).

The story of Joel Rosen and Motion Performance is one that reinforces the Supercar tradition, one that carried itself even into an era of turbochargers and LS platforms. Even during the "hairspray decade," Rosen would continue on in the Motion Performance spirit, Don Yenko simultaneously caving to the turbo performance trend, with the "Turbo-Z" Camaro that became one of Yenko's rare attempts at "smog dog" performance.

(Car Guy Chronicles)

But where Yenko, Nickey and others may have either closed shop doors, or else attempted to make old-school grunt out of new age tech, Rosen brought back one of the American Supercar tradition's most beloved trademarks, and it was one that though diminished only recently, really hasn't gone anywhere at all.

Baldwinmotionreport.com