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REBIRTHof
S S E N MAD
TRIKES? S T N E ID C C A N A N E WH WHAT CAN YOU DO LACRONE, YOU
IF YOU’RE TROY
story by
TOBY
Brooks
story and photos by
Troy LaCRONE
T
his is a hard one to write, friends. Less than a week before press time, I got word that my friend Troy LaCrone had been involved in a testing accident. Thankfully, although Troy had emerged shaken and sore, he was otherwise okay. It certainly could have been much worse. That was the good news. The bad news was that his gorgeous 1968 Camaro that had graced the cover of our March 2018 issue and went on to be awarded our 2018 Top Gun of the Year didn’t fare so well. First, a few
100 april 2020 | RPM Magazine
PART 1: THE
pics started popping up on social media. Then video of the car rolling and landing shiny side down emerged. By the day after the accident, I saw for myself: one of the most beautiful street/ strip cars I had ever seen had been wadded up and awaited a ride on a flatbed to determine its fate. Was it totaled? Could it be rebuilt? What about Drag Week? Troy had piloted the car to a second place finish in the Pro Street Power Adder class in 2018 and was hoping to capture the crown this summer. As the pictures kept coming in, it became increasingly likely
REBUILD.
UNTHINKABLE
that the car was done. I chatted with Troy two days after the accident and he had decided to build an all-out Unlimited version of a 1968 Camaro in tribute to his fallen mostly steel Chevy. However, after sleeping on it another night and talking it over with his team, they decided to rebuild the car. It won’t be easy. But it’s family. Troy battled grave illness a few years ago, and the first-gen Camaro you see here gave him purpose and helped fuel him toward long-term recovery. You don’t just throw that away. The sentimental value was too
great. “Blue Madness” (as the team has taken to calling the car) would ride again. Then it dawned on me: although nearly totaling a racecar is something NONE of us would want, surely there are lessons to be learned for our readers. I contacted Troy again and asked if he’d like us to chronicle the rebuild in our pages. He gladly agreed. What is to follow are Troy’s words. In the coming months, we plan to bring you the highs and the lows of the Herculean effort it will take to rebuild, repair, and resurrect the Madness. Read on to check it out.